Time To Dump The Gimp?

"Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to operate, actually."

The quote is from US Vice President Dick Cheney, when asked by a USA Today interviewer about his reputation as a Machiavellian "eminence gris".

Cheney, who was supposed to be a steadying and mature influence to counter-balance Bush's youthful inexperience, still insists there were links between Saddam and Al Quaeda. He still links Saddam and 9/11. He still thinks the two hydrogen trucks found in the Iraqi desert were WMDs, and that more will be found.

Alternet.org reporter Jim Lobe thinks that moderate Republicans might be quietly campaigning to dump Cheney before the November election.

It's a good argument. Recent polls show Cheney's favorability rating (20 percent and falling) is less than half that of Bush. It would make sense for a frightened White House to dump Rumsfeld and try to distance Bush from the neo-conservatives and the Halliburton scandals. But who woud take Cheney's place? Powell? Or - God forbid - Rumsfeld?