Monday, December 27, 2004
Succession Plans?
Looking for Bush's Heir.
Well, the President has solidified his power and is looking to lay the foundation for his legacy (Since adding $2 trillion to the debt and the whole Iraq fiasco probably won't get him in the top ten), there remains a huge gaping whole in his plans to remake America and the Republican party...a successor. Vice President Cheney has repeatedly said he's not interested and a host of moderate Republicans (hooray!) have already lined up to run in 2008. But there has yet to emerge a viable successor to carry on Bush's ideology.
Senator Frist is often mentioned as the heir apparent, and rumors in Washington are rampant that Cheney will step down to allow Frist to become the Vice President to better position him for a run at the White House. But as we're seeing with Frist's battle in the Senate, he may be damaged goods as soon as mid-January. To make matters worse, talk in DC is rampant that the whole Bernard Kerik fiasco was in fact engineered by Rove to hobble Guiliani's chances of winning the nomination in 2008 (after all, Rudy supports abortion rights, has gay friends, cheated on his wife...not stuff that would motivate the Jesus crowd.). So while the powers that be are busy with the purges, they're not doing a good job in setting the stage for a Republican successor in 2008.
Well, the President has solidified his power and is looking to lay the foundation for his legacy (Since adding $2 trillion to the debt and the whole Iraq fiasco probably won't get him in the top ten), there remains a huge gaping whole in his plans to remake America and the Republican party...a successor. Vice President Cheney has repeatedly said he's not interested and a host of moderate Republicans (hooray!) have already lined up to run in 2008. But there has yet to emerge a viable successor to carry on Bush's ideology.
Senator Frist is often mentioned as the heir apparent, and rumors in Washington are rampant that Cheney will step down to allow Frist to become the Vice President to better position him for a run at the White House. But as we're seeing with Frist's battle in the Senate, he may be damaged goods as soon as mid-January. To make matters worse, talk in DC is rampant that the whole Bernard Kerik fiasco was in fact engineered by Rove to hobble Guiliani's chances of winning the nomination in 2008 (after all, Rudy supports abortion rights, has gay friends, cheated on his wife...not stuff that would motivate the Jesus crowd.). So while the powers that be are busy with the purges, they're not doing a good job in setting the stage for a Republican successor in 2008.
