I recognized the Cheney pick from day one as Bush's gift to the GOP for 2008. He wasn't going to be running which left the field open without a sitting VP - i.e. someone tied to the administration who would be a) the inside favorite and b) the guy blamed for all the bad things with no credit for the good.

In a race v. Hillary, the Republicans need someone who is their own man and can distance themselves from the last eight years, making the "vote for change" thing kind of a moot point.

In hindsight, it's an even better deal when you figure that any VP under Bush 43 would get killed by Hillary, no matter who he was.

It is a wee bit concerning that the most influential vice president in history has popularity and confidence numbers that are literally 1/2 of what Nixon had at his nadir.

The Dick man has always played the "heavy" in this administration. Since he has no ambitions for the Presidency he can feel free to say pretty much whatever the heck he wants. If he suffers in the polls? Meh. So what?

And boy he really pisses off the Lefties...Big Time, which I find amusing.

That crooked smile says it all: "I really don't give a damn. If you like what I'm doing, great, if not, you can pound sand." In the vice presidential debates, the former defense secretary had a solid performance against Joe Liberman and made John Edwards look like a shallow ambulance-chaser.

And Congress's approval numbers are even lower than the Bush admin's.

From 1998: Q:'What does Dukakis mean in Greek?' A:'Mondale'.