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.