Quote of the Day: Cheney Questions Whether Moderate Powell Is Even A Republican
Our political Quote of the Day comes from former Vice President Dick Cheney, who made one of the clearest statements yet indicating that moderates who don’t agree with conservative Republicans should take a hike from his part — this time questioning whether former Secretary of State Colin Powell even IS a Republican, and openly siding with mega-partisan conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh:
Cheney, appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation, said he was taking the side of Rush Limbaugh over Powell in the ongoing dispute in the GOP between the conservative talk show host and moderate retired general.
“Well if I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I’d go with Rush Limbaugh,” Cheney told moderator Bob Schieffer. “My take on it was Colin had already left the party — I didn’t know he was still a Republican.”
A somewhat taken-aback Schieffer asked: “You think he’s not a Republican?”
Cheney responded by pointing out that Powell had endorsed President Barack Obama last fall.
“I assume that that’s some indication of his loyalty and his interest,” Cheney said.
Several things:
1. Cheney’s comment is a particular slap in the face to the many REPUBLICANS who voted for Obama in 2010 — and who have started to swell the ranks of independent voters (the fastest rising voter category) as they’ve deserted the increasingly exclusive and sinking GOP ship.
2. To certain extent, Cheney’s comments are not unexpected and perhaps even old hat. But they again bring the thought to mind: This is the kind of divisive, doctrinaire, ultra-partisan ideologue who the United States had a heartbeat away from the Presidency for 8 years? To Americans who aren’t Rush and Sean fans, there must be a sigh of relief that he is safely out of the federal government.
3. This is yet another sign of the GOP at the crossroads. It can never attract many independents, moderates and young voters (who polls show are increasingly Democrats and even more anti-Republican than they are Democratic) by telling those who don’t agree with the talk radio political culture of demonization and exclusion to get lost. These voters most assuredly will, but they’ll be found on election day — in the final voting tallies for Democratic candidates.
3. Cheney’s comments are interesting in another context. It’s no secret that many more moderate Republicans who supported the first George Bush for President didn’t like Bush and Cheney. By several accounts, George Bush barely communicates with Cheney anymore. By one account recently made on cable by a talking head, Bush allegedly blames Cheney for how his presidency turned out.
It used to be a stretch when people compared Cheney to Darth Vader but now, to those who seek a politics that puts a premium on dialogue and coalition building, he is a dark force of American politics — overtly endorsing the Rush Limbaugh style of slice-and-dice Republicanism. But perhaps that’s not surprising: in national polls Limbaugh and Cheney are ranked near each other – at the bottom of the national popularity barrel. They are loved: by their own choirs.
CLICK HERE to see the full CBS video of Cheney’s appearance with Schieffer (CBS’s last anchor truly descended from the Walter Cronkite tradition).
23 Responses to “Quote of the Day: Cheney Questions Whether Moderate Powell Is Even A Republican”
The moderates and Independants are rejecting the extremism on both ends of the political spectrum.
We are the new generation of pragmatists. I said that before but sometimes it needs repeating..; )
Ain't it strange and kind of chilling how GW Bush's words — “you're either with us or you're with the terrorists” — has now morphed into something that says 'you're either a Republican or you're a Democrat'.
Cheney leaves no room for Americans who love this land to be thoughtful and caring about their country, to disagree and debate on issues — no room to speak up and ask questions. You're either with us, or against us, he says. So much for freedom of thought and expression, the foundation on which the country was built. How stunning and depressing it is to try and understand how people like Cheney can live in such a black and white world.
And one other thing. Why does Cheney keep getting these prominent interviews? I don't recall ANY other outgoing VP who got as much air-time and so much coverage, this far into a new administration, than Cheney has. Why's that?
This is the latest instance in which a prominent Republican politician has echoed Rush Limbaugh. That's the ongoing story of today's Republican Party. When Rahm Emanuel called Limbaugh the leader of the Republicans, he was spot on. I think the media have been remiss in fully exploring the connection. It goes beyond Limbaugh as a talk show host.
A few months ago, Limbaugh received a $100 million bonus from his employer, Clear Channel. I think the Republicans are gunning for Limbaugh's money. Follow the money! It is what makes politics work. How is Limbaugh spending his money? That is what's happening here!
As far as I am concerned, Cheney should just keep on talkin'. It can only do liberal, progressive politics good. Keep giving those interviews, Dick.
“Ain't it strange and kind of chilling how GW Bush's words — “you're either with us or you're with the terrorists” — has now morphed into something that says 'you're either a Republican or you're a Democrat'”.
Actually this has been going on a lot longer. The Bush administration has long demonized Dems. and kept them locked out of the room. Unfortunately many Americans didn't see it and now that the GOP mindset is coming to light many Americans are realizing how truly vile the GOP leadership truly is.
At one time people (politicians and the average citizen) “excused” such comments as being from the “radical” faction, and that the “radical” faction did not speak for everyone. However that “radical” faction of the GOP includes some of the most powerful members of the GOP who are are practically openly telling everyone else to leave. Before it was the “this is our position as Republicans and you have to stick with us or else you'll give the Dems power” routine which kept party members in line.
Oh and this is supposed to be the party which roots for the freedom. Some freedom if you don't even have the freedom to have your own thoughts and speak your own mind.
Kathy, I with you on that (Cheney should keep talking). Though I'd like to say that the Dems don't always demand party loyalty like the GOP and there is disagreement within the Democratic Party. Hopefully the Dems can have good discussions on policy and legislation since the GOP has abdicated all responsibility on any reasonable leadership. I just don't like the idea of one party getting their way. But I guess it's necessary for the Dems to do all the work. I think Americans will elect many moderate Dems, which can help keep a check on the far left faction (not that I'm necessarily against the far left, but I don't agree with much of the far left).
People always talk about extremists “on both sides.” But almost the entire GOP these days is comprised of extremists. Where are the extremists on the Democrats' side? There aren't too many, and they don't control the Democratic Party, which embraces moderates.
Cheney is not the republican party just one member.
The truth is it is pretty hard to reconcile belief in the party platform (republican) and voting for Obama who is diametrically opposed to every position except gay marriage. If you voted for Obama because of his positions on issues then you are not a republican. I don't mean it as a bad thing, I'm not a republican either, but it seems self evident. If you don't believe in a single thing on the party platform then move to the next party.
Where are the extremists on the Democrats' side? There aren't too many, and they don't control the Democratic Party, which embraces moderates.
The obvious exception would be the way Joe Lieberman was treated when he was almost run out of the party for disagreeing with what amounted to a single issue. I have also read about movements by the MoveOn types to run more liberal Democrats against incumbent moderates in the primaries. I think one challenge for Democrats will be to keep from shooting itself in the foot the way the GOP has.
As a GHW Bush (41) worshipper, huge Colin Powell advocate, and 3x Operation Iraqi Freedom vet; I applaud the comments of one 5x draft dodger complimenting another draft evader (anal pollop) and admitted drug user's advocacy of purging a decorated war hero, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of State from the party. I love the deathspiral of my former party of Eisenhower and Bush (41) (both WWII war heroes). Ring the bell the “Points of Light” and “fiscal conservative/social moderate party is dead”. Thanks Lincoln (Blackhawk Wars vet) rolls in his grave.
“The obvious exception would be the way Joe Lieberman was treated when he was almost run out of the party for disagreeing with what amounted to a single issue.”
Yeah, Lieberman was voted off the island and turned Independent because the Democratic voters in CT did not think Joe was representing their views. As we all know Joe went on to win the general election by a narrow margin. He may be registered as an Independent Dem and he may vote with the Dems much of the time, but in my mind he's an independent. And that's a good thing.
It seems to this moderate Democrat that the Republican party has every right and indeed need for a vigorous internal debate (and yes even a fight) over the future direction of the party. Such is healthy and pragmatic. (Cathartic, in Hillary-speak.) They cannot move forward without a resolution of this power struggle, and the battle must be joined for any consensus to be built prior to the next election cycle. That said, why in the world the Republican's ugliest talking heads like Cheney and Limbaugh choose to publicly display there dirty laundry with political backstabbing every Sunday morning TV cycle is beyond me.
Personal I think Bush's people basicly muzzeled Cheney at the end to keep him from going nuts in the press. GW is done and the leash is off and now Cheney can spout anything he wants and is doing so.
EEllis: Personal I think Bush's people basicly muzzeled Cheney at the end to keep him from going nuts in the press. GW is done and the leash is off and now Cheney can spout anything he wants and is doing so.
Yeah, you're probably right. And ain't it special? I mean you can claim he's “just one member” of the Republican party, but that's kind of like saying a great white shark is just a fish. Not too many minnows don't get interviewed on FTN and such. The saddest thing is, I really do think he thinks he's doing the GOP a service by bashing Colin Powell and endorsing Rush Limbaugh. The problem as I see it is that in a feeding frenzy, even great whites have been known to eat their own.
By the way, I disagree with Wanda Sykes — I hope Dick Cheney stays remarkably healthy for a long time — I just hope he finds the sense to shut the hell up for approximately as long.
keelaay I think you nailed it. The problem is the internal debate may destroy the party if it hasn't already. I'm not seeing a great deal of receptiveness to internal debate among the GOP base, indeed they seem to be closing ranks.
I have a “reasonable guy” theory about politics, ie people will vote for someone whose views aren't exactly 100% aligned with theirs as long as the candidate seems like a reasonable guy. In Limbaugh, Hannity, Cheney, etc the public images of the GOP fail the reasonable guy test. Outside of the GOP base they are viewed negatively as zealots.
Why the GOP faithful can't understand that is beyond me. Even if you agree with Rush you need to have a better spokesman for your views, otherwise you will not win elections outside of conservative areas.
Both moderate and liberal Democrats attacked Lieberman for backing McCain – - and Lieberman is an independent! The liberal side of the party (the Cheneys of the left) called to throw the bum out as did many in the center who were sick of Lieberman's buddying up with the right. Catching fire is the inevitable risk the moth takes when it flies too close to the flame. Much as I can't stand the Cheney / Limbaugh crowd, General Powell knew what he was getting into. When a party stalwart supports the opposition candidate, he will of course draw serious fire, especially from the party's hard core. That Cheney, Limbaugh and the neocon right have called out Powell as a defector for supporting a liberal Democrat for president should be news to nobody. General Powell is a moderate voice of reason, but he is not immune to harsh party politics, especially when he publicly eschews party loyalty at the presidential level.
Well I guess I need to rebut my own post. Cheney / Limbaugh / et al are not stupid. Everything they are doing is politically purposeful and calculated, and very clever to boot. These appointed attack dogs aren't targeting moderates, they are viciously attacking the underbelly of their own party in an effort to win a serious and monumental battle for the future of the Republican party. They see a chance to form a far right, nationalist party, of power and relevance. Notice that neither is beholden to an electorate? Cheney and Limbaugh have, in differing ways, nothing to lose and thus are the designated flame throwers. They anticipate the indignation from the moderate wing of the party and feed upon it. Don't think that a far right or left ideological wing cannot take over a party much less a nation. Take a look at the globe… These guys are clever and dangerous. Moderates need to fight back, not sit on our heels assuming the far right will implode. I don't mean to be paranoid or cynical here, but these guys have a clear strategy that I believe moderates need to be very wary of.
The only headline Cheney should be making these days is for showing up in court in Spain. Cheney = BAD Republican, Anti-Patriot. Powell = GOOD Republican. Great-Patriot.
>>People always talk about extremists “on both sides.” But almost the entire GOP these days is comprised of extremists. Where are the extremists on the Democrats' side? There aren't too many, and they don't control the Democratic Party, which embraces moderates.<<
Oh, they're out there – it's just that the influence of the extremist Democrats is heavily diluted by the non-extremists. l
Recent polls have indicated that roughly 20-25% of the population now identifies itself as republican – out of that 20-25% self-identifying group, nearly all of them are hard-core, reactionary extremists. Practically all of the republicans that are somewhat more moderate in their views (even the right-leaning moderate republicans) have left the party for now.
Meanwhile, that leaves 75-80% of the population that does not identify itself with the hard-headed republicans. Out of that group, there are probably the same 20-25% extreme hard-core progressive extremists on the left end of the spectrum (one needs only to head on over to the internet cesspools like dailykos or huffpo to see that) — however they represent the minority view in the party. The coalition of Obama supporters includes these extremists as well as a healthy dose of committed-yet-not-extremist Democrats, left-leaning moderates, middle-of-the-road moderates, right-leaning moderates and even a small handful of committed-yet-not-extremist republicans. As long as Obama is able to maintain a broad array of support, the extremist wing of the Democratic party will continue to be largely drowned out.
Nothing like Republicans being in power to turn moderates and independents off to Republicans….
Nothing like Democrats being in power to turn moderates and independents off to Democrats….
As a member of the Real Republican Majority (which is how I found this blog), I completely agree with you, Joe. This kind of rhetoric is chasing moderate Republicans like myself out of our Party. It is hard to support the GOP when every time you turn around you hear another pundit talking on the radio about moderates no longer being welcome. I wonder, what does the former Vice President want us moderates to do? Should the GOP no longer attempt to be relevant and win votes by expelling all moderates from the Party? Without moderates, the elections won by Republicans will be few and far between? If this is what the far-right wing wants, then I have to wonder who the real Republicans – Republicans that want what is best for the Party- are? The ones that want to return to the founding tenets of the Party and drop divisive social issues; or the ones that seem to be content to drive the Party further and further into the ground with the hopes of making their own personal agendas go further?
BIG TENT: Thanks for your comment…on a day when I got an email from someone who said he was a moderate Republican, denounced me for linking to Andrew Sullivan who he insisted is an extremist, said we were a site of Obama worshippers (by the way: a good many people who write on TMV were or are Republicans and one person who cross posts worked for John McCain), and talked about how anti-GOP the press is. I stand by what I wrote on this post and also with the fact that I WILL continue to link to Andrew Sullivan, Michelle Malkin, John Amato, Ed Morrisey, Kos, Dick Polman, and run Guests Voices by people on the right, left and center (and I have lost readers for running Michael Reagan and will keep running some of his columns). This is a general disease worse than swine flu: this notion that if your eyes or ears make contact with an opposing idea or view you will get cancer and die — or that you will demand someone remove the ideas that don’t fit yours or your definition (of a Republican of a Democrat of a Moderate of a Liberal of a Conservative). The bottom line is: there are people who might not fit into a cookie cutter (athough some will insist they do when they seek to discredit them, often discrediting themselves by showing intolerance of other views). If moderates don’t feel they can go to the GOp they’ll vote to the tent that’s open to them. The GOP in fact CAN screen those who go into the tent. But first they have to make sure they have numbers to fill the tent. The problem right now is that their party affiliations are shrinking. Where are they making up for the moderates who they are losing. It is a FACT that lots of people (including many who write on this site) would be open to serious, substantive Republican ideas on issues or serious, substantive, nondemonizing criticism of Obama’s policies. The Cheney/Limbaugh style is not it.
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