June 11, 2008
McCain Unlikely To Use Cheney In Campaign
Politico: Low Ratings, Rocky Relationship Could Keep Vice President On The Sidelines In '08
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Vice President Cheney is a highly effective fundraiser and a hero to the conservative wing of the party, but it's unlikely he'll appear with presumptive Republican nominee John McCain anytime soon. (AP)
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Timeline McCain's Quest Mileposts in the Arizona senator's race for the GOP nomination and the presidency.
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Interactive Second In Command A closer look at Vice President Dick Cheney's career and his much-publicized health problems.
He’s a highly effective fundraiser in an election cycle where Republicans are starved for cash, a hero to the wing of the party that views John McCain with the most suspicion. He has four decades of campaign experience, ranging from a short stint running Gerald Ford’s election bid in 1976 to two successful races on the presidential ticket.
Yet despite that pedigree, Vice President Dick Cheney is unlikely to share a stage with McCain anytime soon-and may not be called on to play any role at all in the 2008 presidential campaign.
In part, it’s a reflection of political expediency. Though Cheney is one of the nation’s most influential and talked about vice presidents ever, his favorability ratings are near toxic lows.
But Cheney and McCain also have had a rocky relationship.
They have clashed publicly and privately during the Bush years on matters ranging from the treatment of terrorist detainees to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Most recently, they’ve been on opposite sides on the idea of a gas tax holiday and on a Cheney-backed energy bill.
As a result, Cheney finds himself on the outside looking in, without a clear role to play in one of the most consequential campaigns in history and one where his signature foreign policy legacy is on the line.
Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said the vice president had not yet campaigned for McCain and had not, to her knowledge, been asked.
“I don’t think the McCain people want Cheney anywhere near him,” said a former Cheney aide.
Asked about what role Cheney would have in the campaign, McCain communications director Jill Hazelbaker only said: “John McCain will always treat the vice president with respect.”
McCain sources note that there are no plans for Cheney and McCain to campaign together and most observers view such a prospect as highly unlikely, given Cheney’s low poll ratings and Democratic efforts to frame McCain as the third term of the Bush administration.
Still, Cheney sympathizers believe the vice president can be helpful.
“I think it’s clear that McCain’s biggest problem is with the conservative base of the party and that’s where the vice president is strongest,” said a close Cheney adviser. “If McCain’s smart, that’s where he’ll use him,” the adviser added, suggesting talk radio as a possible venue.
“Instead of pushing the vice president away, I’d use him to build bridges with various conservative constituencies,” added Cesar Conda, a lobbyist who worked for Cheney in the first term. “That’s where the party really needs him because the conservative base is in the doldrums.”
But even in a limited capacity, Cheney might make for an awkward surrogate given the prickly nature of his relationship with McCain.
After McCain said last year that Rumsfeld, Cheney’s friend and mentor in the Ford administration, would “go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history,” the vice president made plain his displeasure.
“I just fundamentally disagree with John,” Cheney told ABC News in an interview. “John said some nasty things about me the other day, and then next time he saw me, ran over to me and apologized. Maybe he’ll apologize to Rumsfeld.”
Cheney was alluding to an interview McCain gave to Politico in which he said President Bush “listened too much to the Vice President” and had been “very badly served by both the vice president and, most of all, the secretary of defense.”
Of course, McCain hasn’t always been critical of Cheney.
In an interview he gave to the Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes in 2006 for Hayes’s biography, “Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President,” McCain said: “I will strongly asser to you that he has been of enormous help to this president of the United States.”
Going further, McCain even told Hayes in comments heretofore unpublished that he’d consider Cheney for an administration post.
Asked whether he’d be interested in Cheney had the vice president not already have served under Bush for two terms, McCain said: “I don’t know if I would want him as vice president. He and I have the same strengths. But to serve in other capacities? Hell, yeah.”
For now at least, the two appear to have settled into something of a non-aggression pact. It helps that they don’t talk-and that McCain currently plays little role in Senate policy-making.
There have, however, been some mild flare-ups that have caught the attention of both camps.
Speaking at the National Press Club last week, Cheney made news by dismissing a central element of McCain’s nascent general election campaign: a summertime suspension of the federal gas tax.
“I think it's a false notion, in the sense that you're not going to have much of an impact, given the size of the gasoline tax on the total cost of the gallon of gas," Cheney said.
The following day, McCain returned the favor by holding up his opposition to the industry-backed energy bill that Cheney helped shape.
“[H]e voted for the energy bill promoted by the president and Vice President Cheney, which gave even more breaks to the oil industry,” McCain said of Barack Obama, making sure to get in a dig at the bill’s patron. “I opposed it because I know we won't achieve energy independence by repeating the mistakes of the last half century.”
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds also recently noted in a prepared statement that Obama “voted for Vice President Cheney’s energy bill while John McCain stridently opposed it.”
McBride said she wasn’t sure if Cheney knew about McCain’s support for the gas tax suspension. “There are going to be areas where there is disagreement,” she acknowledged.
Still, McBride emphasized that Cheney supports McCain and mentions him in all his political speeches while also warning of what an Obama administration would look like.
“The vice president has always said he’s willing to do whatever it takes to help Republicans,” she said.
What is most likely, say friends and observers of Cheney, is for the vice president to reprise his 2006 role as down-ballot fundraiser and server of partisan red meat.
“He is incredibly popular with the Republican base,” noted David Keene, head of the American Conservative Union and a Cheney friend dating back to their days battling one another in the 1976 GOP primary between Ford and Reagan. “I think you’ll see him out there, particularly in conservative areas. Members of Congress want him for fundraising.”
Though it has been little-noticed, Cheney has again taken with gusto to the GOP’s rubber chicken circuit.
In the last two months alone, he’s headlined 11 Republican fundraisers, keynoting for Senate and House candidates, state parties and the Republican National Committee’s Victory fund in states ranging from Colorado to Florida to Minnesota.
In the weeks ahead, he’ll raise cash for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Wyoming GOP and a Georgia congressional candidate.
In addition, he’ll speak before friendly interest groups to help push the conservative message. He’s scheduled to speak Wednesday to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors.
“There is a huge segment of the population that thinks Dick Cheney is a hero - despite what the press may think and what liberal Democrats may think,” said Ron Kaufman, a longtime GOP strategist and fundraiser.
The what-to-do-with-Cheney question could get uncomfortable when the GOP meets for theirconvention in September. Lame duck presidents have traditionally spoken at these party gatherings, but there hasn’t been a lame duck vice president.
“No decisions have been made on the program yet,” is all a McCain aide would say about the plan for St. Paul.
What happens after Labor Day, when the focus of the campaign turns away from fundraising and to made-for-media rallies, is also still an open question.
“It’s hard to predict the future,” said RNC spokesman Alex Conant. “In past cycles, the vice president has been a tremendous asset, especially to many of our congressional candidates.”
But a highly visible role for Cheney, even in red states, risks drawing unfavorable attention on McCain and the GOP’s slate of candidates, though.
Citing the party’s financial woes, Kaufman suggested keeping Cheney on the fundraising circuit.
“We’re in uncharted territory with the money deficit,” Kaufman said. “The most important thing I would do with him is have him keep raising money.”
In his highest-profile campaign appearance so far this cycle, Cheney didn’t help much. He stood with a Mississippi congressional candidate at a rally the night before a special election in a conservative-minded House district last month, but couldn’t salvage the race.
“The last time they put him on the road was for the Mississippi special, and look at how he worked there,” crowed Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the former House campaign chief for the Democrats and currently the caucus chairman. “I look forward to and I will pay the travel fees to put Vice President Cheney out on the road to talk about energy policy. Because it will remind this country of where this administration has been and who their friends are. And their friends are doing very well.”
Cheney is said to be philosophical about whether he can or can’t help the GOP ticket this year.
“His view is very much that he will do whatever he can to get McCain elected,” said a close Cheney adviser. “If that means doing nothing or not being out there very much, he’ll do that. If it means being out there, he’ll do that.”
By Jonathan Martin
Copyright 2008 POLITICO
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See all 491 CommentsRUSSERT: The fact is you are different than George Bush.
SEN. McCAIN: No. No. I-the fact is that I''m different but the fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I''ve been totally in agreement and support of President Bush.
McCain went on to insist that, on domestic policies, he and the president had butted heads - which is true on issues like combating climate change and campaign finance.
"But," he quickly added, "I will argue my conservative record voting with anyone''s, and I will also submit that my support for President Bush has been active and very impassioned on issues that are important to the American people. And I''m particularly talking about the war on terror, the war in Iraq, national security, national defense, support of men and women in the military, fiscal discipline, a number of other issues. So I strongly disagree with any assertion that I''ve been more at odds with the president of the United States than I have been in agreement with him."
1. Religous Bigot.. Yes
2. Racist Bigot... Yes
3. Whites Only in the White House Bigot.. Yes
4. KKK, Aryan Brotherhood, Nazi Party & White Separatist Movement Bigot ...Yes.
5. The Souths gonna do it Again Bigot ..Yes
6. White are Right and Blacks get Back Bigot ...Yes
PS: Tim McVeigh is a National Hero and Patriot, also Ted Kaczynski, The Uni-Bomber, The Columbine Killers, & The B2K Killer are all Christian White Cleansing an God Fearing Men and are Blessed of Jesus Christ and dong the Lord Jesus`s will...
In The name of Jesus !!!
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es/0,7340,L-3554776,00.html
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Posted by trishab4 at 08:55 AM : Jun 12, 2008
LMAO! Are you in a panic or something???
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1. Religous Bigot.. Yes
2. Racist Bigot... Yes
3. Whites Only in the White House Bigot.. Yes
4. KKK, Aryan Brotherhood, Nazi Party & White Separatist Movement Bigot ...Yes.
5. The Souths gonna do it Again Bigot ..Yes
6. White are Right and Blacks get Back Bigot ...Yes
PS: Tim McVeigh is a National Hero and Patriot, also Ted Kaczynski, The Uni-Bomber, The Columbine Killers, & The B2K Killer are all Christian White Cleansing an God Fearing Men and are Blessed of Jesus Christ and dong the Lord Jesus`s will...
In The name of Jesus !!!
Gilchrest and Hagel, who disagree with McCain%u2019s views on Iraq, have been mum on their endorsements. Kathy Hicks, spokeswoman for Gilchrest, said, %u201CSince he was not reelected to public office, he%u2019s keeping his thoughts private.%u201D Gilchrest lost in a Republican primary earlier this year.
Jones, who has voted repeatedly with Democrats on Iraq, said he can%u2019t back McCain until he gets %u201Ca better explanation of the plans for Iraq and more discussion on the economy.%u201D Jones added that no one from McCain%u2019s campaign has reached out to him.
This group will be remembered for the awesome destruction of moral values in the US and the killings of over a million innocent people (mostly women and children) in other countries. AMERICA IS ALREADY PAYING THE PRICE FOR ALL THIS MAYHEM.
IMPEACH them to get the whole truth, its guaranteed to make most decent Americans to throw up.
Some Senate Republicans were especially irked with McCain%u2019s role in the %u201CGang of 14%u201D deal on judicial nominations.
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who has been sharply critical of McCain on immigration, told The Hill in February, %u201CI don%u2019t like McCain. I don%u2019t like him at all.%u201D
Tancredo spokesman Mac Zimmerman said Tancredo won%u2019t endorse McCain because he fears the senator would repudiate it like he did with the formal backing of controversial pastor John Hagee.
However, Tancredo told ABC News this week he will reluctantly vote for McCain.
%u201CThe Catholic Church is a giant wh*re.%u201D
%u201CGod made Hitler to create the Holocaust to force the Jews to move to Israel.%u201D
%u201CThe Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment. I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans...I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God. The Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment."
%u201CI believe that the attack on New York on 9/11 was the result of the libertine lifestyle of the population of that immoral city. If God did not punish America it would become the next to Sodom and Gomorrah."
%u201CThe Catholic Church is a giant wh*re.%u201D
%u201CGod made Hitler to create the Holocaust to force the Jews to move to Israel.%u201D
%u201CThe Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment. I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans...I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God. The Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment."
%u201CI believe that the attack on New York on 9/11 was the result of the libertine lifestyle of the population of that immoral city. If God did not punish America it would become the next to Sodom and Gomorrah."
Many of the recalcitrant GOP members declined to detail their reasons for withholding support, but Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) expressed major concerns about McCain%u2019s energy policies and Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) cited the Iraq war.
Republican members who have not endorsed or publicly backed McCain include Sens. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and Reps. Jones, Peterson, John Doolittle (Calif.), Randy Forbes (Va.), Wayne Gilchrest (Md.), Virgil Goode (Va.), Tim Murphy (Pa.), Ron Paul (Texas), Ted Poe (Texas), Todd Tiahrt (Kan.), Dave Weldon (Fla.) and Frank Wolf (Va.).
Throughout his career in the House and Senate, McCain has been at odds with his party on a range of issues, including campaign finance reform, earmarks, immigration, healthcare, taxes and energy.
Some Senate Republicans were especially irked with McCain%u2019s role in the %u201CGang of 14%u201D deal on judicial nominations.
%u201CThe Catholic Church is a giant wh*re.%u201D
%u201CGod made Hitler to create the Holocaust to force the Jews to move to Israel.%u201D
%u201CThe Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment. I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans...I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God. The Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment."
%u201CI believe that the attack on New York on 9/11 was the result of the libertine lifestyle of the population of that immoral city. If God did not punish America it would become the next to Sodom and Gomorrah."
%u201CThe Catholic Church is a giant wh*re.%u201D
%u201CGod made Hitler to create the Holocaust to force the Jews to move to Israel.%u201D
%u201CThe Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment. I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans...I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God. The Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment."
%u201CI believe that the attack on New York on 9/11 was the result of the libertine lifestyle of the population of that immoral city. If God did not punish America it would become the next to Sodom and Gomorrah."
%u201CThe Catholic Church is a giant wh*re.%u201D
%u201CGod made Hitler to create the Holocaust to force the Jews to move to Israel.%u201D
%u201CThe Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment. I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans...I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God. The Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment."
%u201CI believe that the attack on New York on 9/11 was the result of the libertine lifestyle of the population of that immoral city. If God did not punish America it would become the next to Sodom and Gomorrah."
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