Death and Politics

Now that the campaign is getting under way and the nominating conventions are just a bit away, I feel that some good political analysis is in order. "Analysis about what?" you ask. Analysis about Dick Cheney. That's right. Mr. Vice President.

Recently, there have been some calls from various factions of Republicans that it may be time for dear Dubya to dup Dick. Undoubtedly, this criticism of the vice president is in response to the temporary jump in opinion that Democrats have experienced since Kerry named Edwards as his running mate. Temporarily, at least, some Republicans are clearly uncomfortable with Dick Cheney as the vice president and here's why. There's three reasons: 1) image 2) health 3) candidacy for president.

Even, the most loyal Republican has to admit that Cheney suffers from a minor image problem, which has only been magnified since the charismatic Edwards has been nominated. Liberals excluded, many moderates sense Cheney as somewhat cold, calculating, and aloof. His incredible experience and intelligence simply can only do so much for his image. It is worrisome that against Edwards he could appear lackluster even though he may be more intellectually acute. With Cheney, Republicans are banking on voters' ability to see through more to the candidates' and their issues. This may be overoptimistic looking at the 2000 Election: it was perfectly obvious to anyone who looked objectively at the issues that Ralph Nader was the best choice. Lo and behold, it was not Nader, nor the cold, stiff Gore, but the humorous and barely-charming Bush that won.

Cheney's poor health only compounds his image problem. People want to have a good guarantee that their vice-president is not going to break down from poor health in the middle of his service. Regardless of the likelihood of this happening to Cheney, it still affects the perception of him.

Perhaps the most concerning problem of all is the fact that Cheney will almost certainly not be the Republican presidential candidate for 2008. There are plenty more Republicans with equally good resumes that have more charisma and vitality for the candidacy. Cheney is simply not good at populist politics, but he excels at working at policy out of the spotlight.

In any case, several factors play to the vice president's advantage. He is extremely popular among much of the Republican base and could help voter turnout. Furthermore, the element of continuity between the current administration and the possible next Bush White House is very important. People will feel much more comfortable voting for Bush if he does not appear to be scrambling so late in the campaign, and if many of the key players in the possible next administration are the same as they are now. As the Republican campaign seems to depend on this element of stability, security, and experience with terrorism and foreign relations, keeping the administration constant may prove advantageous.

Sorry for typos, it's late. I've got to get to bed.