Speculation has swirled about the status of Dick Cheney in this election, with some suggesting that the Vice President may be an albatross in the general election. Cheney has been a lightningrod for controversy in the run-up to the war in Iraq, with the lunatic fringe -- and others -- charging that the war only served to inflate Cheney's Halliburton holdings. (Way out on the lunatic fringe of the lunatic fringe, Ted Rall thinks that Cheney went to war in Afghanistan so his buddies could build an oil pipeline.) But today in Washington, Cheney told MS-NBC that Bush has asked him to run again:

"He's asked me to serve with him on the ticket again for the next 4 years,'' Cheney told Fox News in one of a series of cable television interviews. "I'm happy to do that as long as I can be of assistance and he wants me in that spot, I plan to serve.''

While this alone won't eliminate the speculation, especially since Cheney mentioned that a medical problem would change everyone's mind, it should dampen the enthusiasm of those who have been busy suggesting replacements, including me. I still think that Cheney could still serve in a second Bush term in some other role, perhaps in the NSA, and allow Bush to find a running mate that brings more positives and fewer negatives to the ticket, but I'm not unhappy or surprised that he's sticking around for the election. I doubt that Cheney will make much difference to the Left whether he's there or not; they're focusing their rage at George Bush, and even if he had Mother Theresa as his running mate, nothing would change that.

UPDATE: Jon at QandO makes a good point about Bush's loyalty, which I should have considered as well.

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