(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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What a discovery!! Only about 3 1/2 years late!! People knew that before the 2008 election Dick!!!
$arah Palin was a disaster waiting to happen. Unfortuntetly she is still around cashing in on her 15 minutes of fame. When she endorses someone in my state then I know who not to vote for.
DUH!!!....ya' think? Only thing Cheney has ever said that I agree with!
Palin is a petty thief and Dick "Halliburton" Cheney just didn't like her Amateur status.
Again the pot calls the kettle "black". Neither of them are concerned with our Nation'ws welfare; only aquiring personal wealth.
McCain was a very poor choice for President!
For a change I agree with Cheney! But then again, thanks for stating the obvious Mr. Cheney!
More wisdom from Dick Cheney... Today's definition of a walking talking zombie! GO AWAY!
She quit before a full two years so she didn't even have that. She knew how to lie though, that got her new clothes and paid vacations for awhile.
As soon as Palin gave her speech, I knew McCain was toast. If he would pick that Bimbo for his running mate, I would hate to think how he would make very important decisions concerning our country. Thank God he didn't have to make those decisions.
Romney makes Palin like mistakes constantly-but his Harvard education just makes them sound better-Corporations are people my friend-criticizing the British olympics, giving Israel the green light to attack Iran-and those are just a random selection from the sociopathic liar and etch a sketch -I was for it last week but not now man
And Obama was qualified for president? What a double standard!
He just figured that out. That is funny!!
Maybe Cheney is not the brainless idiot that I have taken him for. However, he certianly was the evil force behind the Bush administration. Tortue and graft in the no-bid contracts with Halliburton is how the world will remember him.
I still feel that the main reason Sarah Palin did not run for POTUS this year is that she did not want to deal with one on one confrontation and during the GOP primary debates should would have had to have done just that. Palin is a very good attack dog on Obama and the left.....
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No...the main reason is money. Sarah Palin has also put Sarah Palin first. Between speaking fees, books, and her contract with Fox News. She makes much more money now than if she was to run for and be President.
Plus she can still be her usually idiot self and Fox will still pay her.
Cheney is one to talk about being a mistake. Cheney is the one who started base closure years ago and helped GWB try to take over the world with his misguided talk about WMD and recommending we invade every country possible
Cheney is a clairvoyant his hindsight is legendary. Romney is almost as numb as Cheney but is he really Presidential? And for God Sake don't get me started on Palin i could list the problems with Sleddog Sarah but it would take more effort than it was worth.....Charles Bowen Solomon Stone For President
Irony, The guy that broker our financial back and killed thousands on a lied into war has comments about Palin. Craw back into your hole and stay there.
Gee Dick...ya think?
Now tell us how you feel about Romney or would you rather wait a few years before you say anything.
The only one worse than Palin out of the GOP was you.
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.
Hmmm. Anyone else we know who has only been governor for two years? May we assume now that dick cheney won' t endorse or support Mittens?
Why would anyone still care what Cheny thinks? Why did anyone ever care what Palin is all about? Both of them need to find oblivion and stay there.
Hindsight is always 20/20. Yes Palin was not the right choice for many reasons, but at the time McCain let his ambition cloud his better judgement. Chaney proved that a VP could end up being extremely influential and potentially dangerous. Having a VP with ties to corporations that profited from administration decisions just made things much worse. We are all more enlightened by both VP choices. I’m not all too pleased with Biden as VP either. Maybe it’s time we expected more from our government and what we end up with in the end. We need an administration that focuses on America and not party politics; however I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
THe news is not that Palin was a bad choice, Everyone sees that, the real news is that Chenney is finally right about something!
In retrospect, it appears picking Cheney was also a mistake. He, along with Dubya, destroyed the economic structure of the country for the next several years.
So Darth Vader says Palin was a mistake...
If I was Palin, I would take this as a compliment.