CHENEY: THE BIG CHILL - HALLIBACON KEEPS CORK IN VEEP'S MOUTH, PORK IN SUBSIDIARY
THE NEW STONEWALL: 77 DAYS AND COUNTING, ANSWERS? YOU WANT ANSWERS? FUGGEDABOUTIT
sfgate.com
Cheney's disappearing act
Vice president to surface - and give speech - in S.F.
Marc Sandalow, Washington Bureau Chief Sunday, August 4, 2002
Dick Cheney's disappearance to an "undisclosed secure location" after Sept. 11 was well accepted by most Americans, and even the source of laughs on "Saturday Night Live."
Now, with a federal inquiry into the accounting practices of Halliburton Co. , which Cheney formerly headed, the vice president's ultra-low profile is the source of taunts and derision by Democrats, and frustration among some conservatives who fear they have lost one of their most outspoken spokesmen.
It has been 77 days since the vice president has answered a question from a member of the news media. He has not agreed to a newspaper interview since his trip to the Middle East in March. Besides fund-raisers, his recent public appearances have been so routine that the White House last posted one on its Web page June 6.
The vice president will emerge in San Francisco Wednesday to deliver a speech on economic and national security issues to the Commonwealth Club of California, before traveling to the Central Valley to raise money for state Sen. Dick Monteith, a Republican running to replace Rep. Gary Condit, D-Ceres. If the club holds to its tradition of permitting questions, as expected, it will be a rare opportunity to interact with a man whose below-the-radar public presence belies his elevated stature in the West Wing.
By most accounts, Cheney remains the most influential vice president in the nation's history. His role in foreign policy matters is unprecedented for a second-in-command, and he is, after President Bush, the GOP's top fund-raiser. At the same time, his public profile may be lower than any vice president since Hubert Humphrey, who wallowed in President Lyndon B. Johnson's shadow nearly four decades ago.
Quality, not quantity, is key
"He's probably the single most significant vice president as far as being part of decision-making on key issues," said Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California. "The key to Cheney's public presence -isn't quantity, but quality. He -doesn't go on TV often, but when he goes there . . . he's probably the best person in the Republican Party when it comes to the interview."
Cheney's role has not always been confined to off camera. He was the administration's point man on energy during California's electricity crisis last year. He appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" to describe the White House's anti-terrorism campaign just five days after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and did three network interviews the week of Bush's State of the Union address in January.
Yet here's how badly things have deteriorated between Cheney and the press.
When the vice president spoke at a GOP fund-raiser in Iowa last week, reporters were told to arrive at a holding area two hours before he began speaking. Reporters who had to go to the bathroom required an escort so that they would not be in a position to question Cheney about Halliburton, according to the Associated Press account.
The White House says the suggestion that Cheney is dodging questions is utterly false. [[RD: You bet, and I'm the Queen of England!! <g> ]]
A dozen events last month
"It's ridiculous. There has been absolutely no change in the rate of public events he's done," said Cheney's spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise. She said Cheney attended at least a dozen events last month, including stops at Fort Bragg, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and aboard the battleship Wyoming.
Some involved national security, she said, and were not open to the press. However, Millerwise said that restrictive security rules, such as the ones imposed on reporters in Iowa, are typical of White House events, and in no way reflect an effort to restrict access.
No one in Washington doubts that given the chance, the first questions asked by the press would be about Cheney's role as CEO at Halliburton. The Houston-based oil company is the subject of a review by the Securities and Exchange Commission for a change in its accounting rules that boosted its reported revenue by hundreds of millions of dollars during Cheney's tenure. The change, which appears to be entirely legal, was not reported to stockholders for more than a year, which may be a violation of reporting rules.
Some Republican loyalists believe it pointless to parade Cheney before a hungry media mob in the midst of the corporate accounting scandal.
"If the vice president were to go out there and talk to Dan Rather, Dan Rather would go into an apoplectic fit of obsession on this topic," said GOP strategist Mike Collins.
"The vice president could come out and announce a cure for cancer, a cure for AIDS and a settlement in the Middle East conflict, and Dan Rather would ask him about the Halliburton investigation," Collins said.
Longing for his return
Other conservatives lament the loss of Cheney's public persona and long for the return of what they regard as the most effective voice in the Bush administration.
"The Halliburton controversy does seem to be a 'nothingburger' served up by the Democrats," wrote Kate O'Beirne, Washington editor for the conservative National Review. "But as a result, they have taken out Dick Cheney, and that's not nothing."
GOP strategists express concern that if Cheney were to say anything, he would be seen as trying to pressure the SEC and be blamed for influencing its deliberations.
"The vice president has not, and will not, comment on an investigation at the SEC," Millerwise said. "It would not be appropriate for him to do so."
White House officials acknowledge the vice president's public appearances are far more restricted than those who have served before him.
"This is also the first vice president not using the office for name recognition and to reach higher office," said a White House official who asked not to be identified. "Someone running for office needs to increase their public profile. This is a very different dynamic. He's here to serve the president."
On the campaign trail
One place the vice president has been conspicuous is the campaign trail, where he has already raised money for several dozen GOP candidates and expects to raise more than $10 million for at least 60 candidates before election day.
In Fresno on Wednesday, anyone willing to contribute $250 can hear Cheney speak at lunch and couples willing to spend $2,000 can have their picture taken with the vice president.
Some Democrats insist that Cheney's corporate connections make him a political liability, limiting him to fund-raising appearances because while candidates need money, they do not want the publicity surrounding Halliburton.
Aides to Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, the Democrat who is running against Monteith for Condit's seat, said it would help their candidate if Cheney's picture appeared on the front page of the Fresno or Stockton paper with his arm around their GOP opponent.
Cardoza campaign manager Mark Garrett said Cheney's only value to Monteith, especially in a district that leans Democratic, is in the dollars he attracts.
Calls to Monteith campaign were not returned. However, in Washington, Republican strategists insist Cheney is the party's most sought-after campaigner after Bush.
"The vice president excites Republican voters, excites independent voters," said Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for the House Republicans' election committee. "His presence in the campaign is incredibly helpful. We are thrilled he is out there campaigning." |
