In April, the New York Sun published an editorial entitled “Cheney’s
Chance,” encouraging the Vice President to jump into the
presidential race. The Sun argued that having a “defender
on the campaign trail” would boost Bush’s approval
ratings.
In a review of Stephen Hayes’ new biography of Cheney, Ira
Stoll — the editor of the Sun — recycles his plea. Stoll
writes that he believes the Hayes book is part of an effort by Cheney
to drum
up support for a potential campaign run:
The book quotes Senator McCain as saying, “Dick doesn’t
like campaigning.” Nothing in the Hayes book suggests that
Mr. Cheney is about to do it — except for that the vice president
spent nearly 30 hours cooperating with the author and apparently
gave the okay for many of his friends and colleagues to grant similar
access. The Richard Cheney described in this book isn’t
vain enough to do that simply for his reputation in history. My
own guess — okay, hope — is that Mr. Cheney has taken
a look at the Republican presidential field and sees an opening.
If Iowa and New Hampshire Republicans start receiving copies of
“Cheney” in their mailboxes, Mr. Cheney’s popularity
may yet begin to climb.
Stoll acknowledges that his previous editorial calling for Cheney
to run was “was
widely mocked.” Apparently, once wasn’t enough.