Bush Chaitred

The Star Tribune printed a piece by Jonathan Chait speculating the GOP will draft Dick Cheney to run for President in 2008. He holds this opinion despite the fact the Vice President has already stated he will not run for President. Since it is only just over 2 months into President Bush's second term Chait's speculations are worth somewhat less than the proverbial bucket of warm spit. However the guy just couldn't resist taking a personal shot at the president:

There's actually something refreshing and even noble about the desire to nominate Cheney. Critics of this administration, like me, tend to believe that Bush owes a great deal of his political support to his personality. In public Bush comes off as folksy, droppin' his g's and fixin' to clear brush at the old ranch. Although this persona strikes me as obviously fake, it strikes most Americans as genuine and wholesome. If he didn't have this regular-guy image, Bush could never get away with policies uniformly tilted toward the rich and the business lobby. That's exactly why Republicans chose Bush in the first place.

The man just goes out of his way to call Bush a phony (and by implication a liar). It doesn't advance his argument in any way, unless implying the majority of voters who put him in office were stupid enough to be fooled by a charlatan of dubious intelligence is a crowd pleaser. Of course, given his personal feelings, expressed here (registration required) or here it's possible he can't just help himself. Just the kind of writer the Strib understands.