Posted on 02/17/2006 4:06:00 PM PST by Cornpone
United States Vice-President Dick Cheney badly handled a damage limitation exercise after accidentally shooting a hunting partner and could now become a case study for future politicians, experts said.
"This is a classic one," said political analyst Larry Sabato.
"It will be studied as one of the big ones -- an example of how a modest mishap goes completely out of control," said Sabato, head of the Centre for Politics at the University of Virginia.
In US politics, where spin and image control are crucial skills, the handling of the controversy has shocked many experienced White House hands.
The vice-president said he had accidentally shot lawyer Harry Whittington (78), during a quail hunt on Saturday on a Texas ranch.
The one-day delay in announcing it to the public -- and the way it was announced by the ranch owner to a local newspaper -- stunned many observers.
Cheney only spoke publicly about the incident, which he called "one of the worst days of my life", in a television interview on Wednesday -- four days after the event.
"He had an obligation to disclose it himself, and he should have done so Saturday night or Sunday morning," said Ari Fleischer, a former spokesperson for President George Bush.
"The vice-president has brought this on himself and on the White House."
He added: "It would have been a serious story, but it would have been a one-day story, with a follow-up on the gentleman's health."
Marlin Fitzwater, who was White House spokesperson from 1987 to 1992 under the administration of the elder George Bush, told Editor and Publisher magazine he was "appalled" by the administration's handling of the story.
He also said the story should have been made public straight away.
"It would have been the right thing to do, recognising his responsibility to the people as a nationally elected official, to tell the country what happened," Fitzwater added.
"It would have been confined to the vice-president. By not telling anyone for 24 hours, it made it a White House story," Fitzwater told the magazine. "It becomes a story about the White House handling of it."
Cheney's interview with Fox News Channel on Wednesday has also been criticised as too little, too late.
"Giving an interview to one individual, particularly in a forum deemed friendly to the administration, is unlikely to silence the criticism," the Miami Herald newspaper said in an editorial on Thursday.
"There are more questions to be asked and other angles to be pursued. The vice-president should hold a news conference and answer questions from a larger circle of interviewers if he wants to put this public relations debacle behind him."
Opposition Democrats have seized on Cheney's behavior as emblematic of his secrecy. Some in Cheney's Republican party have also conceded that he bungled the incident.
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer also demanded Cheney "clear the air" on a number of issues by holding a news conference.
"The press corps and American people deserve answers, not avoidance from this administration," Schumer said.
Respected New York Times columnist Bob Herbert called on the vice-president to resign in a column on Thursday.
He said the shooting imbroglio was the last step in a career sullied by scandals over the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, leaks of classified information and a penchant for secrecy.
"It's time for Dick Cheney to step down for the sake of the country and for the sake of the Bush administration," Herbert wrote, citing "Cheney's controversial and even bizarre behavior as vice-president."
Whatever he does at his point, Sabato said that the episode, which might have been a fleeting if embarrassing incident, now becomes forever associated with the vice-president.
"It confirms what they already know about Cheney: that he is secretive by nature. This is just another example of that," he said.
"It's permanent now in peoples' minds," Sabato added. "It will be in his obituary."
"It will be studied as one of the big ones -- an example of how a modest mishap goes completely out of control,"
Huh???
Guess, they think if they repeat it enough times it will become true.
Respected and NY Times columnist don't belong in the same sentence. Dream on Guardian!
Only in their own sick little minds...
If Cheney were to step down, the Democrats would be really angry, once they think about things, because they would allow GWB to anoint a likely successor in the 2008 Republican convention. GWB would be under tremendous pressure to choose McCain if Cheney stepped down. And that would cost the GOP a Senate seat right there.
"It will be studied as one of the big ones" -- Sabato
It should be. An out of control group of metrosexuals, the White House Press Corps.
Well, if Cheney does decide to step down, this will allow Bush to name his heir apparent. Vice President Condoleeza Rice, anyone?
Here they go again. If we can get rid of Cheney, then we can go ahead with the "Impeach Bush" business without fear. They are too dumb for words.
I thought the "right" to privacy was all important to liberals.
Do you dive in liberal port-o-lets to find this BS?
Where has Ari been the last 6 years?
Nothing is out of control except for our ADHD journalists. The accident was reported to police immediately, and reported to the local press first thing in the morning.
The victim, a friend of Cheney's, is going to be OK. I'm sure for most of us, that is the important thing.
A host of journalists screaming like little girls has added little light to this situation. It makes one long for the redemption of this profession. It would be nice for the adults to show up.
People calling calling for Cheney to step down over hunting accident. Muslims going bonkers over cartoons. his world we live is crazy.
The vice-president SAID he had accidentally shot lawyer Harry Whittington (78), during a quail hunt on Saturday on a Texas ranch.
As if that fact were under suspician.
What is there a shortage ot tall building to jump off where these clowns come from - this is to funny - sad but funny.
good point
Wrong. This will have absolutely zero political effect. Rather, it is a case study in how the White House Press Corps and much of the legacy media is out of control, focusing on the trivial and the meaningless instead of doing a professional job.
Does anybody seriously believe that, had the Vice President called a televised press conference within a half hour after the incident, we would see "respected New York Times columnist Bob Herbert" congratulating Cheney on his Vice Presidential abilities and quick and forthright response on such a matter of critical importance? Nonsense. Would the joke writers at the Letterman and Leno shows have held their fire? Nonsense. Would Chuck Schumer have praised Cheney instead of savaging him? Not a chance. Would the moonbats on the left have moderated their craziness? No way. The media are playing with a stacked deck. If Sabato had any credibility beforehand, he has squandered quite a bit of it with his laughable "analysis" of this incident...
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