We all know that the conventional (which does not always mean correct) wisdom is growing that Hillary Clinton could be the Democratic nominee in 2008 but did you know that a famous journalist is now suggesting that you-know-who will get the nod on the Republican ticket?
The famous journalist is Pulitizer Prize winning Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward of Watergate fame.
And the you-know-who is someone who insists he won’t run and who most pundits factor out of the race not just because of his denial but due to his health problems: Vice President Dick Cheney. The Denver Post reports:
Speaking in the Paepcke Auditorium as part of the Aspen Institute’s McCloskey Speaker Series, Woodward on Tuesday listed a number of reasons it is “highly likely” President Bush might implore Cheney to seek the Oval Office.
“He would be 67 if he ran and was elected. Reagan was 69. Republicans always like the old warhorse. … Nixon was 68,” said Woodward, best known for exposing the Watergate scandal that led to Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974. “Both parties like to nominate vice presidents. … Cheney would do it, and I think it’s highly likely, so stay tuned.”
The age factor is interesting. Cheney tends to look older than he is. But 67 is still very much in the running in U.S. political culture due to Reagan. And, yes, both parties like to give Veeps a shot at it. On the other hand, GOPers such as Senator Bill Frisk, Senator John McCain, Gov. Mitt Romney and others will not just smile and shout “Never mind!” if Bush annoints Cheney (or Condoleeza Rice) to run. He won’t just be handed it.
Wooward also had some other tidbits:
ON RICHARD NIXON AND WATERGATE:””He spent too much time to not only settle these scores and screw people, but to assert he was in power, he was on top…(When Nixon resigned) he understood the hating is what did him in. … When you look back on it, you have to give him credit. It was probably one of his bravest and most noble acts. … As he said, he impeached himself.”
ON BILL CLINTON VERSUS GEORGE BUSH:”Bush gives very direct answers..If you’d interviewed President Clinton for 3½ hours, you might have time to ask 12 questions. Bush is on the total other end.”
PS: Woodward has been a great nuts-and-bolts investigative report. He did not become famous as a great political analyst so unless he is basing his prediction on some inside info, it maybe simply one more prediction from an analyst based on a gut feeling.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.