The Cheney Litmus Test

I first read this at Andrew Sullivan's blog here. The question was posed to both VP nominees by Katie Couric, what were the best and worst things done by VP Dick Cheney?

Senator Biden on Cheney's worst:

I think he's done more harm than any other single elected official in memory in terms of shredding the constitution. You know --condoning torture. Pushing torture as a policy. This idea of a unitary executive. Meaning the Congress and the people have no power in a time of war. And the President controls everything. I don't have any animus toward Dick Cheney but I really do think his attitude about the constitution and the prosecution of this war has been absolutely wrong.

Senator Palin on Cheney:

Worst thing I guess that would have been the duck hunting accident--where you know, that was an accident. And I think that was made into a caricature of him. And that was kind of unfortunate. So the best thing though, he's shown support, along with George W. Bush, of our troops. And I've been there when George Bush has spoken to families of those who have suffered greatly, those who are serving in the military. I've been there when President Bush has embraced those families and expressed the concern and the sympathy speaking for all of America in those times. And for Dick Cheney to have supported that effort of George Bush's, I respect that.

The VP nomination is, quite seriously, style vs. substance. We don't need winking and "aw shucks" mentality. This country doesn't need a Vice President (or, for that matter, a President) who is a cheerleader. We need a real leader.

And we definitely don't need someone who admits that one of their goals is to "bleed" executive authority over to the other two (coequal) branches - from ThinkProgress.