Will Cheney Run for President?

Posted by Guest Blogger at 4:26 AM on July 25, 2007.

This post, written by Faiz Shakir, originally appeared on Think Progress

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 widely mocked." Apparently, once wasn't enough.

Tagged as: cheney, campaign08

Faiz Shakir is the Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Editor of ThinkProgress.org and The Progress Report.