Democrats taking aim at Cheney: WASHINGTON Democrats running for the presidential nomination have consistently trained their sights on President George W. Bush, but the candidates and party leaders have spotted another target they believe shows that the administration's policies are conceived in secrecy and skewed to the rich: Vice President Dick Cheney.
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The low-key, tough-talking vice president is portrayed by Democrats as a sinister operator behind the curtain of the Bush administration, secretly meeting with oil executives to formulate energy policy and intimidating intelligence officials into bolstering the case for overthrowing Saddam Hussein.
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In particular, Cheney's past ties to the oil services company Halliburton, which is involved the rebuilding of Iraq, provide fodder for attack ads that are being considered for the fall campaign, Democrats say.
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In two ways, those criticisms of Cheney represent novel political attacks on a vice president, political analysts say.
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Previous knocks on vice presidents suggested they were unfit to serve as president if something happened to the chief executive, but the criticism of Cheney instead hints that he is the real force behind the administration and a symbol of everything about it that is seen as wrong.
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"He personifies a whole set of problems with the administration Democrats want to point out," said Harrison Hickman, a Democratic pollster who worked for Al Gore.
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Republicans see a very different Cheney: a steady, conservative voice in dangerous times who has served in four administrations, including a stint as defense secretary for the president's father.
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"You've got an extremely articulate, experienced person sitting in the vice president's chair offering advice and counsel," said Jim Willox, chairman of the Republican Party in Wyoming, which Cheney represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1977 through 1988.
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The dueling images of Cheney are likely to surface in the general election campaign.
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Last week, Bush drew laughs at a fund-raiser in Connecticut with a familiar line: His mother - wife of former vice president George H.W. Bush - might disagree with her son's claim that the United States has had no finer vice president than Cheney.
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During a Democratic debate in South Carolina the same day, former governor Howard Dean of Vermont repeated his accusation that Cheney had berated CIA officials in an effort to shape the intelligence the administration cited to justify going to war in Iraq.
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"It seems to me that the vice president of the United States therefore influenced the very reports that the president then used to decide to go to war and to ask Congress for permission to go to war," Dean said. Cheney's office denies any such intervention, and says the vice president meets with intelligence officials as part of his job, not to influence their reports.
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A Gallup poll conducted last autumn found that a majority of Americans and 69 percent of Republicans want Bush to keep Cheney as his running mate. Cheney has said he plans to stay on and would only leave if that would be best for Bush.
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The Boston Globe WASHINGTON Democrats running for the presidential nomination have consistently trained their sights on President George W. Bush, but the candidates and party leaders have spotted another target they believe shows that the administration's policies are conceived in secrecy and skewed to the rich: Vice President Dick Cheney.
.
The low-key, tough-talking vice president is portrayed by Democrats as a sinister operator behind the curtain of the Bush administration, secretly meeting with oil executives to formulate energy policy and intimidating intelligence officials into bolstering the case for overthrowing Saddam Hussein.
.
In particular, Cheney's past ties to the oil services company Halliburton, which is involved the rebuilding of Iraq, provide fodder for attack ads that are being considered for the fall campaign, Democrats say.
.
In two ways, those criticisms of Cheney represent novel political attacks on a vice president, political analysts say.
.
Previous knocks on vice presidents suggested they were unfit to serve as president if something happened to the chief executive, but the criticism of Cheney instead hints that he is the real force behind the administration and a symbol of everything about it that is seen as wrong.
.
"He personifies a whole set of problems with the administration Democrats want to point out," said Harrison Hickman, a Democratic pollster who worked for Al Gore.
.
Republicans see a very different Cheney: a steady, conservative voice in dangerous times who has served in four administrations, including a stint as defense secretary for the president's father.
.
"You've got an extremely articulate, experienced person sitting in the vice president's chair offering advice and counsel," said Jim Willox, chairman of the Republican Party in Wyoming, which Cheney represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1977 through 1988.
.
The dueling images of Cheney are likely to surface in the general election campaign.
.
Last week, Bush drew laughs at a fund-raiser in Connecticut with a familiar line: His mother - wife of former vice president George H.W. Bush - might disagree with her son's claim that the United States has had no finer vice president than Cheney.
.
During a Democratic debate in South Carolina the same day, former governor Howard Dean of Vermont repeated his accusation that Cheney had berated CIA officials in an effort to shape the intelligence the administration cited to justify going to war in Iraq.
.
"It seems to me that the vice president of the United States therefore influenced the very reports that the president then used to decide to go to war and to ask Congress for permission to go to war," Dean said. Cheney's office denies any such intervention, and says the vice president meets with intelligence officials as part of his job, not to influence their reports.
.
A Gallup poll conducted last autumn found that a majority of Americans and 69 percent of Republicans want Bush to keep Cheney as his running mate. Cheney has said he plans to stay on and would only leave if that would be best for Bush.
.
The Boston Globe WASHINGTON Democrats running for the presidential nomination have consistently trained their sights on President George W. Bush, but the candidates and party leaders have spotted another target they believe shows that the administration's policies are conceived in secrecy and skewed to the rich: Vice President Dick Cheney.
.
The low-key, tough-talking vice president is portrayed by Democrats as a sinister operator behind the curtain of the Bush administration, secretly meeting with oil executives to formulate energy policy and intimidating intelligence officials into bolstering the case for overthrowing Saddam Hussein.
.
In particular, Cheney's past ties to the oil services company Halliburton, which is involved the rebuilding of Iraq, provide fodder for attack ads that are being considered for the fall campaign, Democrats say.
.
In two ways, those criticisms of Cheney represent novel political attacks on a vice president, political analysts say.
.
Previous knocks on vice presidents suggested they were unfit to serve as president if something happened to the chief executive, but the criticism of Cheney instead hints that he is the real force behind the administration and a symbol of everything about it that is seen as wrong.
.
"He personifies a whole set of problems with the administration Democrats want to point out," said Harrison Hickman, a Democratic pollster who worked for Al Gore.
.
Republicans see a very different Cheney: a steady, conservative voice in dangerous times who has served in four administrations, including a stint as defense secretary for the president's father.
.
"You've got an extremely articulate, experienced person sitting in the vice president's chair offering advice and counsel," said Jim Willox, chairman of the Republican Party in Wyoming, which Cheney represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1977 through 1988.
.
The dueling images of Cheney are likely to surface in the general election campaign.
.
Last week, Bush drew laughs at a fund-raiser in Connecticut with a familiar line: His mother - wife of former vice president George H.W. Bush - might disagree with her son's claim that the United States has had no finer vice president than Cheney.
.
During a Democratic debate in South Carolina the same day, former governor Howard Dean of Vermont repeated his accusation that Cheney had berated CIA officials in an effort to shape the intelligence the administration cited to justify going to war in Iraq.
.
"It seems to me that the vice president of the United States therefore influenced the very reports that the president then used to decide to go to war and to ask Congress for permission to go to war," Dean said. Cheney's office denies any such intervention, and says the vice president meets with intelligence officials as part of his job, not to influence their reports.
.
A Gallup poll conducted last autumn found that a majority of Americans and 69 percent of Republicans want Bush to keep Cheney as his running mate. Cheney has said he plans to stay on and would only leave if that would be best for Bush.
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The Boston Globe |
