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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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 OPINION 
11

Cheney Should Have Run in 2008

VP would have lost big and awakened right, says Douthat

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(Newser) – As he bashes the Obama administration and insists that torture kept the country safe, Dick Cheney sounds less like a retired VP than a man campaigning for a third Bush term. For Ross Douthat, it's a pity he didn't run himself. In his first column for the New York Times, Douthat says that a Cheney-Obama race would have forced the right to acknowledge the failures of "a conservatism of supply-side economics and stress positions."

Cheney the candidate would have been the anti-McCain: disciplined, ruthless, and hard-right. And he would have gone "down to a landslide loss," forcing the conservative movement to reassess its attachment to "tax cuts at home and pre-emptive warfare overseas." Instead, Americans glossed over debates on war and torture in 2008—and in 2009, writes Douthat, "the argument isn’t going away."

A Jan. 5, 2005 file photo shows Vice President Dick Cheney administering the Senate oath to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left.
A Jan. 5, 2005 file photo shows Vice President Dick Cheney administering the Senate oath to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left.   (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson, File)
Former Vice President Dick Cheney appears on CNN's
Former Vice President Dick Cheney appears on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, March 15, 2009, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Former vice president Dick Cheney smiles as he brought in by wheelchair to the House Chambers of the Wyoming Legislature Wednesday Jan. 21, 2008 in Cheyenne, Wy.
Former vice president Dick Cheney smiles as he brought in by wheelchair to the House Chambers of the Wyoming Legislature Wednesday Jan. 21, 2008 in Cheyenne, Wy.   (AP Photo/The Wyoming Tribune Eagle, Michael Smith)
Vice President Dick Cheney responds to a question during an interview with the Associated Press at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009.
Vice President Dick Cheney responds to a question during an interview with the Associated Press at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009.   (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Vice President Dick Cheney waits for senators to arrive to administer re-enactments of the Senate oath, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009, in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Vice President Dick Cheney waits for senators to arrive to administer re-enactments of the Senate oath, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009, in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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11 comments
VIEWING:
 
Hip
Apr 28, 09 6:56 AM CDT
HEADLINE: Dick Heads GOP Reply
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jaguarj
Apr 28, 09 8:06 AM CDT
You mean "Dick Head" heads GOP!!!
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IN RESPONSE:
Hip
Apr 28, 09 9:59 AM CDT
jaguarj, are you kidding? That was my point.
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Mr.C
Apr 28, 09 2:16 PM CDT
lol, hip - I gocha
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NutsInNY
Apr 28, 09 6:57 AM CDT
And his running mate could have been the swine flu. Reply
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