Cheney Appears on Meet the Press

For the first time in three years, Vice-President Dick Cheney made an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press. The majority of questions asked by the show’s host, Tim Russert, had to do with national security and the global war on terror. Cheney, ironically enough, slipped past the questions with the gracefulness of a ballet dancer. Russert restated the same basic question, which dealt with the war on terror, several times. Every time he got the same answer from Cheney. Russert was able to show the disconnect between the views of Dick Cheney and the views of the American people.
Russert first demonstrated this disconnect by displaying a recent survey that concluded 54% of Americans think the war in Iraq is creating more terrorists, while only 15% feel it’s eliminating terrorists. Cheney responded by saying, “I can’t buy that.”
Throughout the interview, Cheney stressed the importance of the war in Iraq as just a single front in a global war on terror. Russert proceeded to show him a survey asking Americans “Is the war in Iraq part of the War on Terror.” 53% of Americans said it was not. Cheney only said, “I beg to differ.”
Russert kept inquiring on why Cheney’s views differed so greatly from the people’s. He said only 39% of Americans thought the war in Iraq was worth it. Cheney said, “Well, Tim, people are obviously frustrated.” Apparently, the thought has yet to cross his mind that the war in Iraq might not be worth it.
Russert asked about a statement Cheney made the last time he was on the show. Cheney had said, “My belief is that we will, in fact be greeted as liberators.” Russert asked on 2003 show, “If your analysis is not correct, and we aren’t treated as liberators, but as conquerors, and the Iraqis begin to resist, particularly in Baghdad, do you think the American people are prepared for a long, costly, bloody battle, with significant American casualties?” Cheney simply said, “I don’t think it is likely to unfold that way.”
Had the Vice-President not even considered the consequences of the war not going as planned? Again, Cheney showed a deep disconnection, between not only his thoughts and the American people’s, but also his thoughts and reality.
Russert then put Cheney on the defense by asking him about Scooter Libby. Russert asked, “Do you think the President should pardon Scooter Libby?” Cheney responded, “I’ve said all I’m going to say on the subject, Tim.” Russert rephrased his question and Cheney responded with the same thing, word for word.
Russert ended by asking Cheney if he had been hunting since his accident. Cheney said, “No, sir, that was the end of the season.” The following conversation pursued:
Russert: Should I be relieved you didn’t bring your shotgun in today?

Cheney: Ah, I wouldn’t worry about that, you’re not in season.

Russert: Mr. Vice-President, I hope I never am.

Santorum and Casey have Heated Debate

On August 22nd, Bob Casey Jr. accepted an invitation to engage in four debates with his opponent, a Republican incumbent, Senator Rick Santorum. The first of the debates was held Sunday on Meet the Press. The moderator, Tim Russert, asked questions covering a spectrum of important issues such as the war in Iraq, deficit spending, social security reform, abortion, and Casey's record in state government.
Tim Russert began by exploiting comments Casey made about the war in Iraq that seemed to contradict each other. Bob Casey never directly stated during the debate if he would vote yes or no for the war now; he added that with the information we had today he felt there would have been no vote at all.

CASEY: If a lot of Americans ... knew then what they know now, they would have thought that this war was the war that shouldn't have been fought, based upon the misleading of this administration.

Casey sat side-by-side with Santorum and often addressed Rick personally. Casey demanded several times that Santorum either pledge support for, or "denounce" several unpopular Republicans.

SEN. SANTORUM: I think Secretary Rumsfeld has done a fine job as the defense secretary,...

SEN. SANTORUM: I think [Bush] has been a terrific president, absolutely.

Statements of approval, such as these, could prove fatal to Santorum, who has been trying to distance himself from the unpopular president throughout his campaign. Throughout the debate, Casey worked to associate Santorum with Bush, who Rick votes with 98% of the time.

CASEY: When you have two politicians in Washington that agree 98 percent of the time, one of them's really not necessary. We could have a machine have that kind of vote. We need someone who's going to be truly independent, who has the character and the integrity to stand up to his party and his president, especially at a time of war.

Santorum criticized Casey for giving "No specifics, no answer" to solve social security, in response Casey said:

CASEY: I had a much better answer than yours, because yours is what The Philadelphia Inquirer called "snake oil." They called his so-called guarantee "snake oil." His proposal is to privatize. His proposal drains a trillion dollars out of the trust fund. We agree that we shouldn't drain the trust fund.

Casey continually showed a quick-witted, humorous side in his responses, though at times he was smothered by Santorum attacks on his failure to stop the Pennsylvania State legislature pay-raise.

SEN. SANTORUM: You didn't do anything when you could have stopped it, Bob. Why didn't you try to stop it?

Just hours after the debate, Casey's Webpage http://bobcasey.com posted a quote from Brett Lieberman, a Patriot News reporter, proclaiming: " if there was a winner of this morning's debate, it was Casey." That is yet to be seen.

The Final Casey-Santorum Debates:
-October 12th, in Pittsburgh-cosponsored by KDKA and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
-(2 debates)October 16th, in Philadelphia-one on radio KYW-AM(1060) and one cosponsored by 6ABC (channel 6) and the League of Women Voters