Tuesday, February 14, 2006
The GOP's Chappaquiddick?
There is an excellent article on the Cheney Shooting Incident by Paul Begala on Josh Marshall's TPMCafe site. Well worth reading. It also has a slew of excellent, informed comments to it, as well.0 comments
I started to leave a simple comment of my own to it, but, of course, got carried away. I reprint the comment below.
Despite CNN's Lou Dobbs' complaint last night that the Cheney Shooting Incident was dwarfing other issues in the news (i.e., immigration), here is why the coverage is all on point:
1) The basic facts alone: The Vice President of the United States (someone the American people must depend upon for cool headedness and steely resolve under pressure), while carrying a fully loaded and cocked weapon, was startled by something around him; panicked; responded reactively; swung his shotgun around at a level, non-raised angle, and reflexively and heedlessly pulled the trigger. Thereby shooting in the face, a friend and campaign contributor who was close enough to the VP for Dick Cheney to read the serial numbers on the man's checks.
This weekend's event, and its resulting cover-up, strikes a chord with many Americans since it seems to mimic much of the overall blustering, careless, bully image Americans have of Vice President Richard Cheney, and the generally privileged lawlessness which—many people have felt—seems to follow him. The VP's public opinion ratings have consistently been in the 20s for most of his tenure. The White House can only see them plummet from here.
2) The shooting affair goes right to the fears of the American people about Dick Cheney's possible unfitness for office.
The core question being asked sub-rosa in all of this coverage is the one Scott McClellan ducked the fastest during Monday's press briefing:
Whether simply by temperament, or—as was mentioned in earlier posts on this thread—by his physical ailments, or the impairments from his many surgeries or the effects from the many drugs his condition requires, is Dick Cheney simply not up to the task of carrying out the burdens of his high office? And should he be asked, or forced, to resign?
Is the Second Most Powerful Man in the World capable of being responsible in all situations? Of thinking clearly in a crisis? Of being morally and ethically strong? Can Americans trust him to lead?
Or is the average American now afraid to be left alone in the woods with the Vice President of the United States?
3) This affair is an extremely important moment in the political fortunes of GOP-held Washington, DC.
George W. Bush may be the Chairman of this government, but Cheney clearly is its CEO and acknowledged leader. He is their rock. If he is hobbled, physically or politically, a major section of the foundation of the GOP movement crumbles. The carefully crafted image of the White House as a testosterone-rich haven of the strong, John Wayne American (always correct; always good) sits on a precipice.
Simply put, Corpus Christi is a PR and political disaster for this White House. Their strong man "behind the curtain," is being shown to be a dangerous, reckless simpleton, with callous disregard for others around him. Hardly the strong, unwavering leader spoken about on Sunday Beltway Talking Head Shows. This White House cannot bear to lose its father figure.
Doubts among the American people have grown steadily as the country's seen the administration's overall competence level crumble. But they've always held onto personal trust for the WH's leadership.
This episode strikes to the very heart of that confidence. Hunters especially -- a sizeable segment of the GOP base -- have turned on Chaney fully. They clearly see exactly how reckless the VP was this weekend. Theirs may be the angriest of all the voices currently heard on this issue. GOPers up for re-election cannot be happy at that.
But with combining the incompetence of Katrina, the failure to capture bin Laden, the failure to secure the most vulnerable targets across this country, the spying on the communications of the Average Joe, the lack of concern to provide proper, decent jobs for the American worker, the looting of the U.S. Treasury and the total breakdown of the U.S.'s military capabilities, the cumulative effect is becoming more than the excellent White House PR machinery can withstand.
THEN, add onto that the whole unseemly 24-hr. delay / make the sheriff's deputies go away / have the Halliburton-heiress hostess become a makeshift press secretary / full-CYA boondoggle, and you're looking at the Chaney Shooting Incident becoming the GOP's own version of CHAPPAQUIDDICK.
posted by Gotham 1:46 PM
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