Former U.S. Ambassador Dan Simpson writes for the Toledo Blade. In his July 18, 2007 column, he writes:
I thought that by now the White House would have decided that the strains of the job on his health were too much for Mr. Cheney to continue as vice president, that he would then have stepped down for valid health reasons, and the Republicans would have plugged into the position a viable 2008 presidential candidate.
I can think of several reasons why they didn’t do that (I will give them credit for enough intelligence to at least realize they had a problem). First, Mr. Bush felt he couldn’t live without Mr. Cheney around. Second - and I suspect this is probably the truth of the matter - Mr. Cheney didn’t want to step down and Mr. Bush decided in the end that he didn’t care what happened to the Republican Party after he was out of the White House.
There is also the late-at-night, eerie concern that Mr. Bush has in his head some sort of scenario where, for reasons of national security - real or drummed up - the 2008 elections will have to be postponed and he will get to stay on.
My suspicions have at their base the feeling I have that, given their operating style now, this bunch will not leave the White House easily in 2009.