Velvet Hammer for Vice President?



(image via timeinc)

The near-simultaneity of the Scooter Libby conviction coupled with the blood clot suggest that Vice President Dick Cheney's days in the White House might -- might -- just be on the wane. Wishful thinking? perhaps. But what of James Baker, the Velvet Hammer, as a possible replacement?

Surely you have noticed that there is a resurgimento of Pragmatism and Realpolitik emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Our posture towards Russia -- which The Corsair has been railing on for years -- is changing; our Latin American agenda is clearly changing towards a more "soft power" approach.

Baker, an old Bush family friend ("Il Consilieri"), who fell out of favor because of his perceived selfishness in dragging his feet over resigning as Secreatry of State to run Bush 41's struggling '92 Presidential campaign. Even the Left appears to be willing to try on the Realist hat, if only for a moment, in lieu of the disaterous Idealism of the Wilsonian Neocons. Ultra-Realist Secretary of Defense Gates was nearly unanimously approved by both Democrats and Republicans.

So is a Baker Vice Presidency out of the realm of possibility? Clearly, it would be upward ascent for a climber like Baker. We know Baker, more than anything, hates the label of "Fixer," which Margaret Thatcher affixed to his lapel, during the Reagan Administration. Baker wishes more than anything else to be a statesman.

Vice President? Stranger things have happened.