Former vice president Dick Cheney on Monday backed off his comment that it was “a mistake” for the GOP to pick Sarah Palin as its vice presidential nominee, suggesting the comment was more about the VP process than about Palin herself.
“It wasn’t aimed so much at governor Palin as it was against the basic process that (John) McCain
used, “ Cheney told Fox News’s Sean Hannity in an interview airing
Monday night. “My point basically dealt with the process in terms of
that basic requirement: Is this person prepared to step in to be
President of the United States when they’re picked? And it was my
judgment — I was asked if I thought the McCain process in ‘08 had been
well done or was it a mistake, and I said I thought it was a mistake.”
Cheney said in his interview with Hannity that his intention was not
to criticize Palin, but rather the process of her selection.
“That’s
not ... meant so much as a criticism of governor Palin as it is that I
just thought it was not — the process didn’t meet the standards I would
like to see our candidate pursue when they pick a — a running mate,”
Cheney said.
(Although we would argue that the two aren’t mutually
exclusive; there’s only a mistake if the end result is a bad one.
Palin’s selection was that end result, so there has to have been
something wrong with her, in Cheney’s mind. If a good pick emerged from a
flawed process, you wouldn’t call it “a mistake.”)
If nothing
else, Cheney’s decision to walk back his comments shows just how much
heft Palin retains when it comes to the conservative base. If Cheney,
who has no more electoral ambitions for himself and generally says what
he wants, is concerned about offending Palin, that says something about
her political capital.
It’s also worth noting that Cheney’s daughter, Liz Cheney, came to Palin’s defense after her dad’s comments. (Full Story)
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