CHENEY AND CONDI

There’s a red-breasted rumor bird that’s been flying around Washington for a while now, but recently it’s been nesting in Capitol Hill. Talk to just about any Congressional Committee Chairman and they’ll tell what this bird has whispered in their ear.

“We all know that Dick Cheney has been the best Vice-President of modern times, perhaps in American history,” one told me. “And we know that he absolutely will not run for President in 2008. Further, he has an unfortunate history of heart trouble. So let’s just say none of us will be surprised if, sometime next year, he will step down from the Vice-Presidency due to his health.

“Should this happen, President Bush would need to appoint his replacement, just as Richard Nixon chose Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew. It is quite clear to us whom the President would choose should he need to: Condoleezza Rice.”

Being a sitting Vice-President places Condi in an impregnable position for the GOP nomination in 2008, and sucks every breath of wind from Hillary’s sails. Historically, it’s hard for a party to keep the White House after they’ve had it for eight years. This is George Bush and Dick Cheney’s way to buck history – and make it.

The possibility of Condi as VP next year comes clear in the context of Dick Cheney’s pithy observation of George W. Bush: “He has the biggest set of balls of anyone I have ever known.”