The choice of Cheney was never in the long term interest of the GOP

[wuushew]

In the twentieth century the Vice-Presidency has been considered a leap stone to the Presidency. Hoover followed Coolidge, Nixon followed Ike and Bush 41 followed Raygun. Of course Gore should have followed Clinton as well. In most cases the Vice President has been younger than the man he serves. Kennedy broke this rule perhaps unwisely as LBJ died in 1973 of a bad heart.

Knowing that the long term demographics are against them did the GOP consciously decide to run a very conservative, very pro-business ticket knowing that they had to do the most damage possible in only 4-8 years?

[displacedtexan]

1. They had to run someone older and smarter...

That was a test of your gag reflex...

Without Cheney, I doubt that the Supremes would have selected the freak monkey.

[Wickerman]

2. Nah, they knew Bush* was malleable enough to do their bidding

had the name recognition and family connections, but didn't care enough about anything except Nintendo to get in the way of Cheney and Co running the country (into the ground). Jeb was their followup. Only problem is that Cheney doesn't have enough plan to keep GWB in power for 8 years and should, by rights, have mucked up the Bush name enough for even the most ignorant GOP support to have tired of the whole family. When Bush* goes down in flames in 4 years, just like Daddy, Bush* is going to be the dictionary definition you turn to when you want to find out what Loser means.

[Nite Owl]

3. Seems very possible.

They sure have done a lot in just the first three years. They came in with a plan and just went about executing it right away. Everything was in place for them. Think they would like another four to complete the job. Seems like they are more on a mission. Hopefully the Repukes in Congress are getting an earful at home and are afraid of losing their jobs. Getting the feeling that they would rather be in opposition to a Dem president so they wouldn't have to actually be responsible, right now they are left with all the blame.

[NEOBuckeye]

4. When George loses this fall, Jeb is most likely out of the picture for '08

That's not 100% certain, though the Florida Dems can (and likely will) destroy his chances by running a successful candidate to beat him in the 2006 Florida Governor's race. Jeb needs that upcoming validation as Governor to boost himself to a Presidential race. If he loses, then the GOP leadership will likely see him as too weak to run.

And even if he does win, it's entirely possible that the Republican party leadership in general is beginning to really tire of the Bush family. In hindsight, they probably would've preferred John McCain as President, who would have at least maintained a more stable moderate course, and would be in a good position now to get reelected. Memories of Bush will likely remain with the population for quite some time to come, and they won't be fond ones. Once he's out of office, I think people will be hard-pressed to find anything remotely good about his reign. That won't help Jeb at all.

[LiberalFighter]

11. JEB could avoid that by not running for a 3rd term.

Provided he has proven that he was good governor. But of course, his brother never proved he was.

[Florida_Geek]

5. Remember Cheney picked HIMSELF

Bush had asked Cheney to submit names of people he thought would be good VPs and Cheney's selection committee pick Duh Cheney.

[DBoon]

6. Cheney was a vast improvement over

Dan Quayle, Bush I's VP.

Picking miserable VPs seems to be a trend here.

[wuushew]

8. Jack Kemp seemed a decent choice for Dole in 96

I can't explain Quayle, truly one of the worst vp picks in political history.

[DBoon]

9. You know for 24 hours

Dole/Kemp almost seemed like a "not bad" Republican ticket. For all his conservative supply-side economics, I had a feeling Kemp almost really wanted ordinary people to do better.

Until Kemp started caving into the "know nothings"...

[Drifter]

7. Just a familiar name to help ...

Numb Nuts.

Cheers
Drifter

[Cleita]

10. This is not a normal administration.

This is a cabal of PNAC'ers of which Cheney is a high standing member. The way they got into power is without a doubt a coup. The normal way of doing business doesn't interest them. I am really concerned that if they are going to play the game in November, pretending to still follow a democratic election procedure and if the charade doesn't go well for them, what might they try to pull?