WTF... GOP's new weapon- "anticharisma" of Cheney

[Bhaisahab]

Cheney reads his remarks with the steady intonation of a priest. His audiences tend to applaud from their seats, not stand up and cheer. He does not have blow-dried good looks or a Colgate smile; on the contrary, he has a pinkish pate and a crooked grin.

And yet, it would be hard to overstate Cheney's appeal to the Republican rank and file.

In crowds like this ? friendly, pro-military ? his charm arises precisely from his unadorned style, which enhances the sense that he's leveling with his audience.

Now, as the presidential campaign moves into high gear, the White House is preparing to make new use of this unusual weapon: the anticharisma of Dick Cheney.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/latimes_ts/20040119/ts_latimes/cheney39slackofflairisjusttheticketformanyingop&e=5

[bluestateguy]

1. And yet we were lectured for 8 years that Al Gore was "boring"

What will they spin next?

[izzie]

3. If GOP say the Dem do anything you can be sure they did it twice.

I love it when they say the Arabs are zealots.

[cthrumatrix]

2. It's called being brainswashed by "fear" ....good thing O'Neill exposed

these idiots for their pre-emptive war and pack of lies.

[buckeye1]

4. Hey.

Potter and Scrooge had it to. For some, greed has lotsa charisma.
Didn't they love Paris Hilton?
Cheney will only speak before the usual suckers.
How can I say that? They are way over promised. O'neil knows this and that is why he sang.

[ellie]

5. What a campaign!

"If we are elected, I promise you non-stop war and violence, reigning throughout the land. I promise you that we will strip more of your civil rights away. And I promise I will make obscene amounts of money off Halliburton's no-bid contracts here and on the moon!"

And the crowds cheered.

[kodi]

6. like being proud of having the ugliest dog in town

.

[DrBB]

7. "Levelling"--and yet in an administration of liars

...he is arguably the most blatant. He's the one who continued to insist on all the Iraq lies even AFTER the Chimp and Rummy and Condi had stepped back from 'em.

And none of that matters. What matters is that you SEEM like the kinda guy--businessman, CEO type, who looks at facts head-on, reads a balance sheet, kind of sneers, a perfect American Daddy, distant, authoritarian, etc etc etc.--that "we" want in charge of "our" country.

The fact that he has been wrong about just about everything, the fact that GOVERNMENT SPENDING is responsible for his wealth (Halliburton's biggest revenue source is our tax money), the fact that he never gives a hint of doubt when he opens his mouth about things he knows nothing about and is completely misinformed on--all that just adds up to what this particular audience MEANS by "dependable, trustworthy, straightforward."

Hey, it's no trick to coming across like that when you're telling the truth. The real skill is doing it when everything you're saying is arrant baloney. America's businessmen know the real thing when they see it.

[Cat Atomic]

8. Good idea! Run on Bush's stupidity and Cheney's corruption.

Maybe they can cite Rumsfeld's incompetence, Ashcroft's religious fanatacism, and Wolfowitz's ivory tower, sanitized bloodlust while they're at it. I'm sure that'll sell great.

[opihimoimoi]

9. The Sheep don't see that way. Their brains are already in

OVERLOAD and semi frozen to the point of not being able to think clearly. The Pubs WANT Confusion, they promote it. Sheep hate confusion because it makes them inadequate. To avoid this, they do the docile thing, drink the drink and stand in line. Say the correct things and keep your jobs, collect the salary.

As long as Cheney is not caught in bed with Anna Nicole Smith or with Ann Coulter, the Sheep will go the Pub Route.