“This cycle is the first exercise of the mechanics in my voting lifetime (when we don’t have a pre-ordained successor candidate) of the primary process, and it’s totally broke.”
And that’s another reason why I say both Bushes have trashed and weakened the Republican party built up by others.
Neither of the two VPs selected by the Bushes became a strong presidential contender after the Bushes, Quayle because he was so unknown when selected and too easily diminished by the media, and Cheney because of health considerations and maybe age.
But neither Bush picked a VP that could logically became a strong presidential candidate. They picked for purely personal reasons (many guesses what those were), and as with many of their decisions, did nothing to strengthen the party or its future prospects. Each seriously damaged the party’s future, and their selection of VPs is just one more example.
I agree completely. GWB should have “accepted” Cheney’s resignation for his second term. God bless Dick Cheney for his service, we couldn’t have had a better VP. I would love to have him for President if his health was OK.