Back in 2000, What Did Dick Cheney Bring To the Game?:
Today is a Rude Pundit travel day, so just a quick one:
Remember the days of yesteryear, when choosing a Vice-Presidential candidate wasn't greeted with bowel-evacuating panic by the opposition? Here's Time magazine on Bush's choice of Dick Cheney back in the day: "The choice of Cheney strengthens the argument that even though George W. himself may not be widely experienced or knowledgeable, he has the good judgment to select sound people to work with him. . . Cheney, an unflashy choice, is, first of all, a grownup. He adds maturity to the Republican ticket without making George W. Bush himself seem immature. " Damn, now that's some spin on saying, "Bush doesn't know jackshit about leading, but he sure can pick people who do." In fact, check out this headline from AP: Cheney "adds experience to the ticket." The article goes on to say, "Cheney, 59, brings the ticket a wealth of foreign policy experience and political stature -- traits that Bush, a two-term Texas governor, lacks himself."

Interestingly, Bush had promised an "electrifying" choice. One assumes we all should have read into that the future President's propensity for overstating the case.