Batfink's Beep -- 02-17-06

Condi for VP

February 17, 2006

Since early 2004, when Bush hadn't even won the re-election I considered a foregone conclusion yet, I have been telling my family whenever the subject of the next GOP nominee comes up that it would be Condi Rice. This was not always received as a likely proposition, but it was more than just wishful thinking combined with the conviction that she would make a great president, and an essentially unbeatable candidate, about which more in a moment.

My thinking went like this: The power of incumbency is not something to be sneezed at, and the proposition of a general election without even a veep to run for the top slot, in an America where no advantage, however small, is to be eschewed, seems inconceiveable. It would be a waste. Now, as we know, Dick Cheney will not be running for the big chair. Aside from his age and health, he never seemed to want it in the first place. There have been those who have had the idea that he can be convinced, but that won't happen. Besides, he would by no means be a shoo-in in the general election, even if Iraq is all settled pretty by then.

It won't be Cheney. So he'd have to leave at some point, if we are to have an incumbent veep.

But Bush would never fire him, for three reasons: first and foremost, he's doing a good job. There's also the famous Bush loyalty; And last but not least, it would just plain not look good. It would give credence to the idiots who say he's been a disaster, and would also look like a lack of faith both job-wise as well as politically. So how would it happen? Well, Cheney is well-known as a team player. He doesn't want to go any farther than he is now. It seemed obvious that, at some late point, he would simply resign, begging off on the basis of some health issue. How implausible could it seem? At that point, Bush would have a choice to make, and he would do it with the full benefit of political advisors who know how to appraise prospective candidates for the next general election.

I always thought it would be Condi. She would be, first of all, a great VP. She has the intellect, she has the knowlege and coolness under fire. And she thinks like Bush does, which means he would have no good reason NOT to pick her. And, since the opportunity to select the next Presidential candidate will be in his lap, let's just say it: she would be by any measure, unbeatable. The defection of even as few as a quarter of African Americans to her side would by itself make her the next Commander in Chief. Hillary, who probably won't be the Dem nominee anyway, with the way her stock has been falling lately, would not even try against someone who was already the first female VP, as well as being the first black candidate for President. She'd know she didn't have a prayer, and that her claim to be the black candidate (remember Bill saying he was the first black President?) would be not just laughable, but actually insulting, against an ACTUAL black candidate who had already made history as the first black VP (and from the GOP!)

Anyway, this was my thinking years ago. Whenever angry liberals would scream for Cheney's head for one manufactured reason or other, I would smile and say to myself, "careful what you wish for, chumps." Well, fast forward a few years, and only the details have changed. The Cheney hunting accident is, well, clearly that, nobody was killed, and if they had any brains, the left would be careful about asking for the VP to leave or be fired. But, God bless them, they're doing it anyway. Bush could give it to them, or more precisely, for the reasons explained above, Cheney could do what he must have been planning to do at some point anyway, and step down. He could spin it however he liked: for the good of the President, because he's become a distraction, whatever. He would still be a trusted advisor; there's no reason he'd have to actually go anywhere. But we'd have our nominee for 08, and the Dems could save themselves the trouble of bothering to field an opponent.

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