Larry Sabato: The dragging anchor on the Bush ticket

[question everything]

As expected, the Kerry campaign has put George W. Bush in a box with the selection of John Edwards. And there is probably no way for Bush to win this part of the presidential battle.

How has Bush been cornered? Almost any Democratic veep selection – not just Edwards – would have contrasted favorably with the incumbent vice president. It is hard to remember, but four years ago the selection of Dick Cheney was met with near-unanimous approval across the political and journalistic spectrum. "Cheney is a mature veteran of the public and private sectors, one of the best and brightest on the GOP side," the chorus said. "He's well prepared to be president if he has to do it, and he's the voice of experience in the ear of a relatively untested presidential nominee, George W. Bush."

To put it bluntly, Cheney has blown it. One would have expected a classic Washington establishment insider to know how to keep his reputation intact through innumerable controversies – calling the "right" people here, consulting the "wise" men and women of D.C. there, taking the puffed-up press poobahs of the Capital City to lunch at the White House here and there. Anybody recall how Henry Kissinger came out of the Nixon sleaze and the Vietnam disaster smelling like a bouquet of yellow roses – at least with the bunch that counts in D.C. and New York – despite the fact that he was in both situations up to his eyeballs?

Instead of being Kissinger, Cheney has been Nixon in the Bush term. He has hunkered down in the White House and "undisclosed locations." He has been uncommunicative with the broader public and unconcerned about his image until it's too late. He has often appeared to be the sinister puppeteer, pulling Bush's strings on critical matters like Iraq. He is more associated with the Halliburton scandal than anything else in the public mind.

More..

Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040718/news_mz1e18sabato.html

Sabato is director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. The Web site is www.centerforpolitics.org/ crystalball.

[Cha]

1. I know I was glad when Kerry choose Edwards of

the viable candidates for VP..Sometimes experience isn't the most important thing. Especially when said experience ends you up like dick go fuck yourself cheney.