Повернись история по-другому, Джон Денфорт стал бы несомненно иным вице-президентом, чем Дик Чейни.
It was in July 2000 that Mr. Bush, then the Governor of Texas and the soon-to-be-nominated Republican presidential candidate, made his selection for a vice-presidential running-mate from two finalists: Dick Cheney and John Danforth. History will record that the suspense was mainly manufactured and that the skids had been quietly greased both for and by Mr. Cheney by Mr. Cheney, whom Mr. Bush had tabbed earlier in the year to oversee the selection process. But at the time, Mr. Cheney’s selection was a public surprise, one eagerly greeted by a pundit class that hailed the former Defense Secretary for providing “gravitas” to a ticket led by the internationally virginal Mr. Bush. It may be difficult, then, to grasp how vastly different the Bush administration and the world it has sought to reshape, might now be if Mr. Bush had instead opted for Mr. Danforth, a former three-term Senator from Missouri who ultimately served for five months in 2004 as Mr. Bush’s U.N. ambassador. <...> Mr. Danforth, who would have been 64 upon his swearing-in, epitomized tact and measure in his political career-and no doubt would have as Vice-President as well. And yet, like Mr. Cheney, he almost certainly wouldn’t have positioned himself for a future presidential bid. In picking between Messrs. Cheney and Danforth seven years ago, Mr. Bush was assured of choosing a partner whose energies would be directed entirely toward his own administration. The problem is that he chose the wrong partner. In Mr. Danforth, Mr. Bush would have been turning to one of the most respected men to serve in the Senate, an ordained Episcopal minister known for his honesty, integrity, and gentle, thoughtful manner. More to the point, he would have been turning to a genuine political moderate, someone who disdains the personal combat that has come to define American politics and a faithful believer in clean and open government. Despite his ministerial background, Mr. Danforth has never had use for the religious right of his party, believing it to be a profiteer of political division. “Republicans,” he said recently, “have turned our party into the political arm of conservative Christians.” He voted against abortion in the Senate, but never made it a litmus test in his dealings with others, stuck with his principled opposition to capital punishment even as his party embraced it, and was instrumental in the passage of the 1991 Civil Rights Act. And while he did sully his name a bit in pushing Clarence Thomas’s nomination through the Senate in 1991, he later professed to be “ashamed” of the pro-Thomas forces’ character assassination of Anita Hill. It is noteworthy, too, that Mr. Danforth’s brief run Mr. Bush’s U.N. ambassador-from June to December 2004-marked a period of atypically cordial relations between the administration’s envoy and the global body. He devoted most of his work to Darfur, not Iraq. Exactly what role a Vice-President Danforth might have played is anyone’s guess. But does anyone believe that he would have hijacked the White House and cunningly implemented his own agenda-on policy and personnel-the way Mr. Cheney has? Nor is there anything in his foreign policy record to suggest that Mr. Danforth would have methodically steered into the administration the “neocon” thinkers recruited by Mr. Cheney-the very people who had Mr. Bush’s ear in the wake of 9/11, beating their drums for a war with Iraq. https://observer.com/2007/06/the-first-bush-mistake-choosing-cheney-over-danforth/
Do you think there’s a home for your brand of conservatism within the Republican Party right now? I think so. I think if it were articulated by a presidential candidate, that candidate would pick up an instant following. About this business of "making America great again", that really is the longing for the man on the white horse. It’s a longing for the powerful individual who will recreate or make the country great. It’s really-it’s dangerous. It’s a dangerous way to look at the country. We’re just going to hope for the superheroes, the Dear Leader who is going to do all this for us, and we recognize from the get-go that that’s not America. So, are we going to chip away at problems? Yeah. Let’s reach in and move the ball forward best we can, and maybe not move it very much, but at least try. And we are a good country. We’re just a terrific country. And our Constitution is just a brilliant document. Some people who claim they’re constitutional conservatives I think don’t understand the Constitution, because the body of the Constitution is a structure for allowing us to stick together even though we disagree with each other. Are you surprised to see a figure like Donald Trump do so well right now? Yeah, I’m absolutely bowled over. What about his candidacy surprises you? That there’s an audience for this self-proclaimed great man, and for the anger and hatefulness that he expresses. https://www.salon.com/2015/12/28/longtime_gop_senator_lets_donald_trump_have_it_theres_an_audience_for_this_self_proclaimed_great_man_and_for_the_anger_and_hatefulness_that_he_expresses/
Повернись история по-другому, Джон Денфорт стал бы несомненно иным вице-президентом, чем Дик Чейни.
It was in July 2000 that Mr. Bush, then the Governor of Texas and the soon-to-be-nominated Republican presidential candidate, made his selection for a vice-presidential running-mate from two finalists: Dick Cheney and John Danforth.
History will record that the suspense was mainly manufactured and that the skids had been quietly greased both for and by Mr. Cheney by Mr. Cheney, whom Mr. Bush had tabbed earlier in the year to oversee the selection process. But at the time, Mr. Cheney’s selection was a public surprise, one eagerly greeted by a pundit class that hailed the former Defense Secretary for providing “gravitas” to a ticket led by the internationally virginal Mr. Bush.
It may be difficult, then, to grasp how vastly different the Bush administration and the world it has sought to reshape, might now be if Mr. Bush had instead opted for Mr. Danforth, a former three-term Senator from Missouri who ultimately served for five months in 2004 as Mr. Bush’s U.N. ambassador. <...>
Mr. Danforth, who would have been 64 upon his swearing-in, epitomized tact and measure in his political career-and no doubt would have as Vice-President as well. And yet, like Mr. Cheney, he almost certainly wouldn’t have positioned himself for a future presidential bid. In picking between Messrs. Cheney and Danforth seven years ago, Mr. Bush was assured of choosing a partner whose energies would be directed entirely toward his own administration. The problem is that he chose the wrong partner.
In Mr. Danforth, Mr. Bush would have been turning to one of the most respected men to serve in the Senate, an ordained Episcopal minister known for his honesty, integrity, and gentle, thoughtful manner. More to the point, he would have been turning to a genuine political moderate, someone who disdains the personal combat that has come to define American politics and a faithful believer in clean and open government.
Despite his ministerial background, Mr. Danforth has never had use for the religious right of his party, believing it to be a profiteer of political division. “Republicans,” he said recently, “have turned our party into the political arm of conservative Christians.” He voted against abortion in the Senate, but never made it a litmus test in his dealings with others, stuck with his principled opposition to capital punishment even as his party embraced it, and was instrumental in the passage of the 1991 Civil Rights Act. And while he did sully his name a bit in pushing Clarence Thomas’s nomination through the Senate in 1991, he later professed to be “ashamed” of the pro-Thomas forces’ character assassination of Anita Hill.
It is noteworthy, too, that Mr. Danforth’s brief run Mr. Bush’s U.N. ambassador-from June to December 2004-marked a period of atypically cordial relations between the administration’s envoy and the global body. He devoted most of his work to Darfur, not Iraq.
Exactly what role a Vice-President Danforth might have played is anyone’s guess. But does anyone believe that he would have hijacked the White House and cunningly implemented his own agenda-on policy and personnel-the way Mr. Cheney has? Nor is there anything in his foreign policy record to suggest that Mr. Danforth would have methodically steered into the administration the “neocon” thinkers recruited by Mr. Cheney-the very people who had Mr. Bush’s ear in the wake of 9/11, beating their drums for a war with Iraq.
https://observer.com/2007/06/the-first-bush-mistake-choosing-cheney-over-danforth/
Reply
Do you think there’s a home for your brand of conservatism within the Republican Party right now?
I think so. I think if it were articulated by a presidential candidate, that candidate would pick up an instant following.
About this business of "making America great again", that really is the longing for the man on the white horse. It’s a longing for the powerful individual who will recreate or make the country great. It’s really-it’s dangerous. It’s a dangerous way to look at the country. We’re just going to hope for the superheroes, the Dear Leader who is going to do all this for us, and we recognize from the get-go that that’s not America.
So, are we going to chip away at problems? Yeah. Let’s reach in and move the ball forward best we can, and maybe not move it very much, but at least try. And we are a good country. We’re just a terrific country. And our Constitution is just a brilliant document. Some people who claim they’re constitutional conservatives I think don’t understand the Constitution, because the body of the Constitution is a structure for allowing us to stick together even though we disagree with each other.
Are you surprised to see a figure like Donald Trump do so well right now?
Yeah, I’m absolutely bowled over.
What about his candidacy surprises you?
That there’s an audience for this self-proclaimed great man, and for the anger and hatefulness that he expresses.
https://www.salon.com/2015/12/28/longtime_gop_senator_lets_donald_trump_have_it_theres_an_audience_for_this_self_proclaimed_great_man_and_for_the_anger_and_hatefulness_that_he_expresses/
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