32%

That's the percentage of people who actually think Darth Cheney could be president, according to the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll from March 9-11, 2007.

Nevertheless, among this braintrust, there is a champion:

"For all the talk about potential candidates who haven't entered the 2008 presidential race — from Mayor Bloomberg to Vice President Gore to Senator Thompson and Speaker Gingrich — the one that who would bring the most to the race is Vice President Cheney."

Wait for it. WAIT FOR IT:

"Mr. Cheney has virtues as a candidate in his own right. He has foreign policy experience by virtue of having served as defense secretary, and he has economic policy experience, having served as a leading tax-cutter while a member of the House of Representatives. His wife, Lynne, would be an asset to the ticket in her own right, a point made by Kathryn Jean Lopez in a post on the topic at National Review Online back in February. By our rights, Lynne Cheney would make one of the greatest First Ladies in history. Mr. Cheney, in any event, is more than four years younger than Mr. McCain, and, if elected, would be 67 years old at his inauguration, younger than Reagan was when he took office. His health, while a topic of frequent speculation, hasn't interfered with his service as vice president."

I'm speechless.

A recurring nightmare of mine is that something would happen to Bush, and Darth Cheney would take over-officially, that is. I never imagined someone would actually suggest that it was a good idea.

However, it does explain the inexplicable appearance of Cheney, behind the bushes at the Press Conference.

"Someday...it will all be mine!"

via Daily Kos and Innisfree.