Dick Cheney was made for second billing.
Quiet and dour, he is most effective behind closed doors, which is where he normally resides. He is to George W. Bush a sage, blunt but discreet political counsel, transforming his office from warm-bucket-of-spit ceremonial to in-the-room influential.
On Wednesday night in Madison Square Garden, he appeared in a place he typically shuns–the spotlight–to do what he has done best in a long political career: set the table for the boss.
He stoked fear and concern about the war against terrorism with the clear message that this was no time to change course in leaders. He bulked up the emerging story line against the Democratic nominee, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, that is certain to be echoed until Election Day–that Kerry is malleable, inconsistent, and lacking conviction. He suggested that Kerry’s Senate record was marginal, noting that a long legislative career can be waged “without consequence to the nation.”
And that was Dick Cheney’s job: Serve up red meat for Red State America.
With a heavy emphasis on war and terrorism, and spare mention of domestic concerns, Cheney framed the stakes in the election in the starkest terms and painted Kerry in the darkest light.
A sampler:
– “Even in this post-Sept. 11 period, Sen. Kerry doesn’t appear to understand how the world has changed,” Cheney said. “He talks about leading a `more sensitive war on terror’ as though Al Qaeda will be impressed with our softer side.”
– “Sen. Kerry denounces American action when other countries don’t approve–as if the whole object of our foreign policy were to please a few persistent critics.”
– “A senator can be wrong for 20 years without consequence to the nation, but a president always casts the deciding vote.”
– “On Iraq, Sen. Kerry has disagreed with many of his fellow Democrats. But Sen. Kerry’s liveliest disagreement is with himself . . . .Sen. Kerry says he sees two Americas. It makes the whole thing mutual–America sees two John Kerrys.”
Cheney portrayed a nation on hair-trigger alert, facing unprecedented danger and presented Bush as the Great Protector. It is a characterization borne in the natural boosterism a running mate shows for the top of the ticket. But the referendum on the war that he so emphasized is not simply a vote for the president; it is a referendum on Cheney as well.
Cheney was a leading–if not the leading–voice in the Bush administration calling for a pre-emptive war in Iraq after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
“On the question of America’s role in the world, the differences between Sen. Kerry and President Bush are the sharpest, and the stakes for the country are the highest,” Cheney said. ” . . . Sen. Kerry has made the wrong call on national security.”
A different VP from 2000
He chose to talk about sacrifice of the troops, but not of the obstacles that they still face or when they might come home. Rather, he left the issue open-ended, one of few opportunities for rebuttal available to the Democrats in his charged address.
It was a much different Cheney on the stage than the one who spoke in Philadelphia four years ago, this former congressman, defense secretary and chief of the controversial defense contractor Halliburton who accepted his party’s vice presidential nomination.
Then he was applauded as the adult in the room with an untested Texas governor. But Cheney has increasingly taken on water, especially for his strong advocacy for invading Iraq and drawing an unbroken line between the Sept. 11 attacks and the regime of Saddam Hussein.
He has become a most favored target of Democrat enmity, an all-purpose recipient for the line of attack on Iraq, corporate malfeasance and class warfare. Some in Washington even floated the idea that he would be dropped from the ticket.
“He’s a lightning rod for criticism of the Bush administration,” said Andrew Kohut, director of the non-partisan Pew Research Center.
Cheney now has approval ratings that put him in league with Dan Quayle at the end of his term as vice president, which is to say record lows. “Cheney has tumbled among women,” said Kohut. “And he has tumbled among a very important constituency–conservative Democrats and moderate Democrats. He’s not a positive.”
Poll: Split on Cheney
Indeed, a look at Cheney’s standing in the polls is a powerful emblem of the state of the electorate. A Gallup survey released Wednesday showed that 79 percent of Republicans view Cheney favorably, while 79 percent of Democrats view him unfavorably. Much of the nation at this point is similarly divided over the presidential race.
It has been more than 40 years since a vice president probably made a difference in a presidential election. And that had more to do with geography than ideology. Few voters will cast their ballot because of the vice president. The running mate’s role is to make the opposition look bad. Even his critics might say that Cheney did that well.
