11:45 am
McCain Hearts Cheney While Cheney Hearts Georgia
From 2001:
All that’s missing is his “I ♥ Dick Cheney” t-shirt. So much for his ads trying to run away from the Bush Administration. If I were the Obama campaign, I’d run this clip into the ground.
Now flash forward seven-plus years. Today, the White House issued the following statement:
Vice President Cheney will travel abroad beginning September 2, 2008. President Bush has asked the Vice President to travel to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Italy for discussions with these key partners on issues of mutual interest. The Vice President will meet with President Aliyev of Azerbaijan, President Saakashvili of Georgia, President Yushchenko of Ukraine, and President Napolitano and Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy, as well as senior officials of their respective governments. In addition to meetings with foreign leaders, the Vice President will attend and address the Ambrosetti forum entitled, “Intelligence on the World, Europe and Italy” in Lake Como, Italy.
I presume Air Force Two will head to Baku straight from St. Paul, as the Dickster is scheduled to speak on Monday, September 1, followed by a brief ceremony where he shoots McCain’s VP pick in the face.
On a serious note, most of my fellow bloggers are viewing this as an effort to get Cheney out of town so as not to distract from McCain. That’s plausible, but I fear a more sinister motive may also be at play.
Think about it: Cheney will be meeting with Saakashvili right in the middle of the Convention. And not meeting with the Russians. Giving John McCain another opportunity to denounce Putin and praise the Georgians, thus making him look strong on national security.
I’d say that is far more provocative than anything Cheney could say or do in St. Paul.