Feeling Veepish?



Veep material? (image via icnn.net)

If Dick Cheney is indicted in the Plame leak investigation, President Bush will be faced with a few choices in picking a new Vice President, namely: 1) Does he try to regain his base, or, 2) Does he try to reach out to the center; 3) Does he pick his brother, Jeb? Or, 4) Does he pick an African-American to uplift his abysmal 2% approval rating thus regaining ground that the Republican Party made in 2004 and with Mehlman's courageous apologia.

We don't think he'd pick "Jebby." That's far too cronyish and, quite frankly, it defies the laws of logic. Still, we had to throw it out there.

The President will be certainly be concerned with the matter of his legacy. The question is whether The President will trust his legacy in the hands of conservatives, neoconservatives (most likely), or just buck it all in a gamble and deal with the Center, in an attempt to stave-off the pungent whiffs of "lame duck" that have pervaded the Administration ever since Hurricane Katrina (Frankly, we already wrote him off as a lame duck, but we are in the minority on that position).

If the President decides, as he well might, to go after his base -- to cement an uncertain legacy in the heartland -- he would do well to pick a sitting Senator or Governor from a solid red-state who would bring to the table a constituency and (Haley Barbour? Sam Brownback?).

Conservatives, however, have written Bush off after the Miers nomination; once a Conservative makes up their mind about the nature of a man's character, it tends to stay made up. Jack Kemp, we imagine, beloved among Conservatives (But who got kind on of prickly with Bush, Sr), and even James Baker -- who is beloved by none, but is a Master of the Game of Politics -- might bring some "maturity" to the ticket, and would probably be on the short-list. And how about Bob Dole? Would the erectile disfunction commercial automatically disqualify him? Imagine a Vice President married to a sitting Senator, albeit one nicknamed "Sugarlips."

More interesting is if the President went the Centrist route. Interesting, but highly unlikely. Still, lets say he does. Colin Powell would be the likely choice in that gambit. He is a "twofer," meaning, he is African-American, and can regain lost Republican footing after Katrina, as well as he is a well-respected Centrist, pragmatist and technocrat. He is like McCain, but more predictable. Powell has a lot to prove, as well. His legacy was tarnished at the UN and, we imagine, that keeps him up at nights. The only problem might be getting Alma Powell on board. And getting Rumsfeld to not resign automatically (Which may not be a bad thing, all in all). But if he goes this route we would bet all our worldly possessions on Giuliani as Veep, putting New York State in play (and setting up an astonishing Rudy-versus-Hillary scenario)

Should the President, however, go the Neocon route -- Condi Rice. One: She's a twofer, like Powell; two, she's ultra-loyal, and 3) She's a Neocon, and would cement his legacy among that Krautenhammer Gang. The question is: Is that a crowd -- all intellectual and Harvardish -- that he feels prepared to leave his "Western, folksy Presidential" legacy to preserve? Is he prepared to be the "Straussian President," Philosopher-King? Drawbacks: Condi has no constituency and has never been elected to office and -- in this age of the blogs -- her sexuality, unfortunately, will come center stage.

Our guess: If it happens, it goes to Giuliani. Possibly James Baker, Hailey Barbour, or --long shot -- Colin Powell.