[nathanbedford]

I think that Cheney made an uncharacteristic mistake and walked into a trap, partly of his own making, sprung by a media determined to reelect Obama and destroy Sarah Palin. So Cheney was thinking in terms of process and made the mistake of making a substantive observation. He was the director of the process and charged with the responsibility of leading the vice presidential candidate twice in his career and he scrupulously followed is indisputably correct sequence for picking a vice president with the first and indispensable qualification to be whether the individual was ready to be President.

In this context, a process context, Cheney was thinking about the people he had worked with and served under all of whom at the very top, like Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Gerald Ford, who were man of vast experience compared to Sarah Palin. If he had thought about it, he might have observed, as did his daughter, that Palin's experience, especially the quality of her experiences, was in sum greater than the combined experience of Obama and Biden.

On the other hand, Cheney's remark betrays a serious deficiency in the Bush administration, a phobia of partisanship, a hesitancy to plead one's own case, an utter inability to fully appreciate the evil motive of Democrats, a tendency to regard party politics as "smarmy," a tendency to throw fellow Republicans under the bus, a willingness to compromise fundamental conservative principles if regarded to be necessary to advance the war on terrorism.

[KC Burke]

DANG, you are eloquent this morning.

[randita]

On the other hand, Cheney's remark betrays a serious deficiency in the Bush administration, a phobia of partisanship, a hesitancy to plead one's own case, an utter inability to fully appreciate the evil motive of Democrats, a tendency to regard party politics as "smarmy," a tendency to throw fellow Republicans under the bus, a willingness to compromise fundamental conservative principles if regarded to be necessary to advance the war on terrorism.

Very well stated. I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment.

No one McCain picked could have saved him from himself. He was a milquetoast candidate who had two strikes against him already because of the widespread animosity (from all corners of the political spectrum) against GWB. Palin made the ticket somewhat palatable to conservatives, at least. And she was more qualified to be president than O - no doubt about that.

I give McCain credit for bucking the GOP seniority system by picking Palin. Because of that, the false charge that the GOP is "chauvinistic" has been pretty much debunked.

[Sudetenland]

I have never seen any evidence of Dick Cheney to have a "phobia of partisanship, a hesitancy to plead one's own case, [or] an utter inability to fully appreciate the evil motive of Democrats." One thing for certain is that Cheney was the slugger in the Bush Administration. Now, he may have been muzzled by GWB, but he has never been reticent about expressing his opinions. That's one reason he was held in such low regard, he was unwilling to refrain from expressing his true opinions.

Again, this is a ridiculous tempest in a teapot. What Cheney actually said was,

"The test to get on that small list has to be, 'Is this person capable of being president of the United States?'

I like Gov. Palin. I've met her. I know her. She - attractive candidate. But based on her background, she'd only been governor for, what, two years. I don't think she passed that test ... of being ready to take over. And I think that was a mistake."

It was a very carefully explained opinion and the mildest of criticisms. If Palin got angry over that comment, then she has no business being near the White House--she'd be too thin skinned to be granted that much power . . . but then, it appears that she wasn't terribly offended by what he said, she just chose to respond in kind--mildly and with good humor.

What I find most interesting in this whole kabuki theater is how calm Sarah was about Cheney's comments and how hysterical and hyperventilated Sarah's supporters got.

Clearly Sarah has a much better sense of proportion and is far more mature than many of her supporters--especially those posting on this forum.