Dick Cheney, Channeling Fred Thompson

Or perhaps just prefacing his economic platform:

The combined effects of recession and national emergency could have been devastating for America's economy. Yet President Bush's tax cuts - following through on a promise he had made to the voters - resulted in a shallower recession, a faster recovery, and a platform for growth that remains sturdy to this day. The fact is that in a time of unprecedented challenge, the United States has experienced nearly six years of uninterrupted economic growth and added more than eight million new jobs since August 2003 - more than all other major industrialized nations combined.

The economic growth encouraged by the President's tax cuts is now producing sharply increased federal tax receipts - up by nearly 15% in fiscal year 2005 alone, nearly 12% in fiscal year 2006, and projected to rise nearly 7% in the fiscal year that will end this month. That is the highest growth in tax receipts in consecutive years since 1981.

To which FDT merely has to add: "Tell me again why we need to change this policy?"

The veep has a harder row to hoe defending the Bushies on the spending side of the ledger; to which Mitt Romney makes passing reference in his latest ad:



I suspect "It's time for Republicans to start acting like Republicans" is a line Big Time agrees with, but obviously can't say so for another sixteen months. Ditto the GOP nominating electorate, which has been saying so for years. But Romney may be a poor messenger for this message, which in turn helps explain why Fred is wresting that mantle and the lead in the Republican race.