New NY Times Columnist Envisions a Cheney Candidacy

Ross Douthat has made his debut as the house conservative at The New York Times, taking over for the much maligned William Kristol.

Douthat's first column, which re-imagines the 2008 election, rings of Kristol in that it presents a ridiculous premise, but unlike Kristol, Douthat duly acknowledges as much.

The title? "Cheney for President."

In the column, Douthat posits what might have happened had a "true conservative" (read: war and supply-side economics) carried the Republican standard in 2008 instead of John McCain. (Who believed in war and supply-side economics but also campaign finance reform.) Douthat acknowledges, with resignation, that no one fits this bill better than Cheney himself.

But unlike Kristol, Douthat never strays far from reality. While he imagines candidate Cheney as "disciplined," "ideologically consistent," and "cunningly effective," he also speaks of the "landslide loss" that would have surely greeted the ex-VP.

Douthat goes on to call Cheney's current trashing of the Obama administration "bad form" and "distinctly unwelcome"-- presumably because he wants to last longer at The New York Times than Kristol did.

With this promising debut unleashed on the public, it's a shame to know that Douthat's first column for the New York Times will also be his last. It's just that-- given the news that Cheney loyalists remain embedded in the CIA and NSA-- we have a hard time believing Douthat will last through next week without having his laptop seized while he is gagged and thrown in the trunk of an unmarked vehicle, never to be seen again.

Then again, the column could continue. Perhaps Douthat will be able to get a wi-fi signal in his new Undisclosed Location.