Cheney: Picking Palin in 2008 was a 'mistake'
(CNN) – Sen. John McCain made a mistake in 2008 by picking then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, former Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview that aired Sunday.
Cheney led the vice presidential search for Gerald Ford in 1976, and again for George W. Bush in 2000. That last search resulted in Cheney himself being selected, and he served as Bush's number two for eight years.
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On Sunday, Cheney said Palin failed to meet the number one requirement for a vice president: a readiness to step into the top job if needed.
"Based on her background, she was only governor for two years, I don't think she passed that test of being ready to take over. And I think that was a mistake," Cheney said in an interview with ABC News.
Cheney, who said he knows and likes Palin, argued that considerations about which demographic a potential candidate could help pull in clouded the 2008 decision to put Palin on the ticket.
"Those are important issues but they should never be allowed to override that first proposition and I think that's one of the problems that McCain had," Cheney said.
READ MORE: McCain, Liz Cheney push back on Palin 'mistake'
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First time I have ever agreed with Cheney.
For one, Why is the meanie Dick Cheney still in the news. Didn't he retire to his ranch in Wyoming?
It doesn't take any brains to say that "Palin was a mistake." Of course she was a mistake. The day that she walked on the scene to the podium to speak. Wow. Wrong, wrong, wrong for America. But WE are stuck with this female monster, the queen of hate and she will be around for awhile. How sad for America.
We are stuck with the Palin family. With Bristol once again returning to DWTS this fall, and daddy/hubby Todd with a new show in the fall...a military game show...
Haven't we all had enough of the Palin family!
Ironically Dick Cheney was a bad choice back in the 2000 election!
Cheney is about 4 years behind everyone else with this comment. Real news would be announcing when he and George Bush would be brought up on charges of crimes against humanity.
And if anybody knows about bad VP picks, it's Cheney,,,,,
Republicans make good clowns but not good leaders.
Pee-yew. On a stink scale, I'd give Darth a 10, and Sarah about an 8.
In a country that put an inexperienced community organizer in the White House Sarah Palin looks like a comparative genius.
THESE Repubes are PATHETIC!!!! and they call themselves patriotic! what a laugh
Whaddya know! Cheney"s actually right about something! Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day, so they say.
Palin could possibly be charged with fraud for continuing to collect donations for a Presidential bid, when she'd long since decided (according to Bristol) not to run but delayed announcing it for months. She clearly was just in it for the money.
Worst part of it is, try as they might, the GOP can't get rid of her. She just keeps trying to stay relevant.
If Cheney had figured this out .... about 4 years ago .... could be a different world. But he didn't.
I wish he'd shut up and go away already. Everyone already knew this, anyhow. Geez! YOU"RE IRRELEVANT, Mr Cheney. Go away now. We're through with you.
Cheney left out the other VP mistake: himself.
So, after seeing 20 years of Mitt's tax returns (or should I say "no tax" returns, in that, the evidence is mounting that there were several years where he paid little to no federal taxes), McCain chose Palin. Now we know why. Seeing how he is doing on his Overseas "prelude to defeat tour", I can yet another reason see why. Even a ding-dong like Palin knows more about foreign policy than Mitt the Twit, as he is known in the U.K., even after Romney goofed around for three years in France converting no one to LDS faith (I just can't use the word Church, I've spent too much time around "those people" – like Ann-toinette Romney) and avoiding the VietNam draft.
Tells you the GOP is at. They found an empty suit with even less between his ears then Palin. I don't care how much money the Supreme Courts has allowed his campain (do I hear W.) BTW, have any of you seen any Romney bumperstickers? I guess they must have been made in China and wouldn't stick.
Remember when "Dick' bragged about being wisked off to the safety of his bunker during 9-11? Sitting on his throne of money while real Americans were dying is his brand of courage. When the country needed leadership he ran and hid. His parents couldn't have picked a better name.
He's bringing it up now because McCain is looking like he's getting ready to go off the reservation and he is doing proactive damage control to discredit him. (and what could they have seen in Willard's 20 years of tax returns vetted in 2008 that made them pick Caribou Barbie as the VP candidate INSTEAD of Mittless?). The possibilites boggle the mind.
Guess the old geezer's new heart finally got his noggin working! Musta've been an epiphany when he realized what the rest of the world has known all along, that the dimwit from Wazilla was the worst curse ever bestowed on any political party anywhere. Only people grateful are the denizens of that Godforsaken place; they got their 15 minutes of fame AND got rid of the odious arpy
The mistake was picking McCain, picking Palin gave him the only chance he had of winning. She awoke and electrified the Republican base that McCain had put to sleep. She was vastly more qualified for VP than the socialist that is now destroying the country was/is for President, and for that very reason, the leftist media knew they had to destroy her and did, with the help of the old elitists in the old GOP like Cheney, The old GOP is dying, long live the TEA Party!!!!!!!
The worst calling someone the "Worst". Pot and kettle. Of course Cheney also has the distinction of being the most evil VP ever, so he gets the nod as "Worser!"
Rather candid of Cheney here. I never accused him of a lack of intellectual integrity. It takes an honest man to say, hey, sure, the compelling choice for Republicans was to choose an obvious anti-intellectual that affirms the inherent stupidity of the electorate, and betting that a VP choice that pandered to their assumed ignorance was a winning strategy.
No, it was not a mistake. the Republicans knew there was no way the mess left by Bush could be corrected in four years, So, make it that a Republican will no be elected and then blame the current president for not being able to correct
the mess completely. To assure this they nominated a nitwit as Vice President.
When I heard about Cheney's remark regarding Palin in 2008, my first thought was "Good grief, it finally got through to Cheney that Palin was on the ticket in 2008". Four years to get through to him, well, that is about right.
Today is a new dawn! Why keep discussing the past – it is gone! Palin must still be an interest or we would have forgotten what wasn't. OMG