Dick Cheney's Non-Walk Back Walk Back on Sarah Palin

Associated Press
Eric Randall 2,898 Views Aug 6, 2012

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has walked back—or let's just say "updated"—his comments that it was a mistake to select Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate in 2008. Talking to ABC News' Jonathan Karl last week, Cheney said:

"I like Gov. Palin. I met her. I know her. She is an attractive candidate, but based on her background – she had only been governor for about two years – I don’t think she passed that test of being ready to take over."

And in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity airing Monday night, Cheney said, via Time's Mark Halperin:

It wasn't aimed so much at Governor Palin as it was against the basic process that McCain used…my point basically dealt with the process in terms of that basic requirement, is this person prepared to step in to be president of the United States when they're picked? And it was my judgment — I was asked if I thought the McCain process in '08 had been well done or was it a mistake and I said I thought it was a mistake. That's not…meant so much as a criticism of Governor Palin as it is that I just thought it was not — the process didn't meet the standards I would like to see our candidate pursue when they pick a — a running mate.

This doesn't seem all that different. Previously he was saying the campaign didn't do a good job of assessing whether Palin was ready for the presidency, based on her background. Now, he's just saying they didn't do a good job of assessing whether Palin was ready for the presidency, but let's put aside her background.

We're assuming Palin will stands by her snarky retort that, "Seeing as how Dick — excuse me, Vice President Cheney — never misfires, then evidently he's quite convinced that what he had evidently read about me by the lamestream media, having been written, what I believe is a false narrative over the last four years..." 

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