The Cheney "Endorsement" - Cheney's Last Laugh?

by: Daniel De Groot

Sun Nov 02, 2008 at 22:18

As suspicious as I am of the motives of the conservatives jumping ship to support Obama (like Powell and Buckley), I am equally suspicious of the Cheney endorsement.  Much like Osama Bin Laden's 2004 "endorsement" of John Kerry, Cheney simply has to know how his endorsement would play.  So why do it?  All I can come up with is simple revenge.  Inside, I'll present the evidence.
First off, to cover the obvious, Cheney is grotesquely unpopular and has been for quite some time.  Yes, I know Cheney's remarks were delivered in Wyoming, where people might still brake if they saw him crossing the street, but I don't think Wyoming's 3 electoral-votes were high on McCain's list of worries.

As for the Wyoming House seat that is in play, recent polling has Trauner 4-6 points down to the Republican.  Even so, let's look at what Cheney actually said:


I'm delighted to support John McCain, and I'm pleased that he has chosen a running mate with executive talent, toughness, and common sense: our next Vice President, Governor Sarah Palin. (Applause.)

As Obama has quite ably been exploiting, when is Cheney ever delighted about anything?  I doubt he has ever felt an emotion more positive than "smugness."  Snark aside, this language is suggestive of Cheney deliberately trying to draw attention to this remark, so it wouldn't be missed.  After all, much earlier in the speech, Cheney had said:


[...] but I do want to join my daughter Liz, who's with me today, and join us in casting your ballots for John McCain and Sarah Palin. (Applause). Our country cannot afford the high-tax liberalism of Barack Obama and Joe Biden. (Applause.)

That would have passed without notice, and was all anyone would expect him to say at a rally to support a threatened House candidate.  

So how did McCain's camp respond?  Here's their reaction/counterpoint when Obama started ribbing them over it:


The McCain campaign wasn't amused by the Cheney hoopla. "Barack Obama and Dick Cheney aren't just cousins, they've shared support for the Bush energy policy and the out-of-control spending that John McCain has fought to oppose," spokesman Tucker Bounds e-mailed reporters. (The e-mail included a handy fact sheet, citing an Obama speech in Iowa in January as the source to note Obama and Cheney's distant family ties.) Apparently the idea was to persuade voters that Cheney and Obama have more in common than Cheney and McCain. Chances are that one will fly about as well as the caged game birds Cheney likes to shoot.

I think the panicked flailing response tells you this wasn't something they were prepared for.

If Revenge, Revenge For What?

The most obvious/likely candidate is McCain's torture amendment from 2005, which generated headlines like this one from Dan Froomkin:  McCain Defeats Cheney


President Bush's cave-in yesterday on Sen. John McCain's torture ban was embarrassing for him -- but it was a total debacle for Vice President Cheney.

Cheney had publicly taken the lead in trying to scuttle McCain's proposal. When that proved both unseemly and ineffective, Cheney was equally publicly pulled off the case.

While it's true Bush would win this fight via signing statement, there is little doubt the political fight with his own party's Senators seriously ruffled some feathers.  Cheney in particular would not like being shown up like that, only able to keep 9 Republican senators on-side. As Froomkin further notes:


Cheney was conspicuously absent when Bush invited McCain to the Oval Office yesterday and announced his decision to embrace legislation that was in almost every way identical to what he had promised to veto five months ago.

Suffice to say Cheney wasn't happy.  

Beyond that, both McCain and Cheney have long histories in government, and may have butted heads on any number of issues.  Cheney's utter exclusion from the RNC probably didn't help.

I wonder if the paragraph preceding his endorsement was a veiled message from Dick to John:


In these decisive years, we've seen above all, the importance that leadership can make by making a decision and setting a course, and putting the interests of the nation ahead of any partisan agenda or personal advantage. Our nation has been fortunate to have that kind of leadership when we've needed it most. And in three days, we'll choose a new steward for the Presidency, and begin a new chapter in our history. It's the biggest decision that we make together as Americans, a lot turns on the outcome. I believe the right leader for this moment in history is Senator John McCain. (Applause.)

Which could be read as "John, even though you tried to embarrass us over doing what was necessary to defend America in your selfish grandstanding way, luckily we won out and the Office of the President is not diminished so the next worthy Republican will have a free hand to interrogate prisoners."  Admittedly I am merely guessing here.

Whatever the reason, for once we are evidently the beneficiaries of Cheney's boundless social dominance.  For one thing, it helps Obama, and for the other, it it a pretty ringing endorsement of Chris' belief that the election is already over.  McCain was already going down in flames, so Cheney decided to get a parting shot in.  
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