On ABC’s “This Week” yesterday, George Stephanopoulos asked his roundtable who “the most promising Republican” is who isn’t in the 2016 presidential race.
Some discussion followed with Mitt Romney, John Thune, and John Kasich getting mentions, but leave it to Bill Kristol — yes, he’s apparently still getting Sunday show invitations — to take the discussion in the most Kristol-esque direction.
“If they get to nominate Hillary Clinton, why don’t we get to nominate Dick Cheney? I mean, he has a much — he has a much better record. He has a much better record.”
Tavis Smiley, part of the same panel, could be heard responding a moment later, “God help us all.”
Kristol didn’t elaborate on what he sees as the strengths of Cheney’s “record,” but the odds of the failed former vice president running again are roughly zero — largely because Democrats aren’t that lucky.
As the Republican V.P. was leaving office, a Washington Post/ABC News poll asked respondents, “Do you approve or disapprove of the way Dick Cheney has handled his job as vice president?” Only 30% approved, while twice as many Americans, 60% disapproved.
A year and a half later, Gallup found Cheney’s favorability rating had inched just a bit higher — all the way to 36%. For contrast, note that Gallup shows Hillary Clinton with a 48% favorable rating and President Obama with a 49% rating.
As for Cheney’s ugly-but-ironic rhetoric last week, some Democrats apparently took note.
For Jim McDermott, who was pilloried when he was right, it’s a case of deja vu all over again, especially when he hears Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) suggest the United States could carry out a few days of bombing to take care of Iran, or when one of the lead architects of the Iraq War, former Vice President Dick Cheney, says the Iran talks convince him that Obama is “the worst president we ever had.”“My response to that would be Dick Cheney is the worst president we ever had,” McDermott told HuffPost.
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."