The Daily Caller actually thinks this is something the right should boast about:
Poll of the Day: Dick Cheney 10 times more popular than John Edwards — With John Edwards’ trial for alleged campaign finance violations set to commence Monday, a CBS News/New York Times poll measured the former North Carolina senator’s favorability rating. The results are outstanding for Edwards. Outstandingly bad: 3% favorable, 41% not favorable, 15% undecided, 35% haven’t heard enough, 6% refused.
… Most exciting … is that the poll provides writers the opportunity to write a sentence that many thought might never be written. The last such poll of former Vice President Dick Cheney — from 2010 — showed Edwards’ 2004 electoral nemesis with a 36 percent favorability rating. That means Cheney is over 10 times more popular than someone or something, in this case one Mr. John Edwards. Cheney. Over 10 times. More. Popular….
Yes, Dick Cheney is far more popular than John Edwards, for an obvious reason — or, rather, a two-part obvious reason:
(1) When Democrats and liberals notice that one of our own is unambiguously a scumbag, we reject that person.
(2) When one of our own is unambiguously a scumbag, we actually notice the obvious scumbaggery, which is what leads to rejection.
Republicans do neither of these things, which is why they still love Dick Cheney.
(Edwards poll results here. X-posted at No More Mister Nice Blog.)
Not to mention .. we often times throw people overboard who don’t deserve it .. like a lot of people still haven’t forgiven Spitzer .. yet the GOP never booted “Diapers” Vitter out .. or even shamed him
No, just because Vitter got a pass doesn’t mean that we were wrong about Spitzer. That’s Steve’s point.
other people that are 10 times less popular than Dick Cheney:
Anthony Weiner, Eric Massa, James Trafficant, Gary Condit.
William “Freezer Cash” Jefferson
Who lost, in a deep-blue district, when his crimes had come to light.
What is the scandal that would have caused the right to turn against Cheney?
Cheney was not caught in a sex scandal. He was not convicted of any crime. And the crimes that any thinking person would conclude that he did break (e.g., authorizing torture) were all in service of policies the right enthusiastically backed then and continues to support. The reasons so many people think Cheney is a scumbag are exactly the reasons conservatives still idolize the man.
Democrats don’t support their guys when they cheat on their wife while she’s desperately ill. (Republicans do – hi, Newt! – but that’s neither here nor there.) Republicans do support their guys when they break the law in service of what’s “right.” That’s why Oliver North has had 25 years of wingnut welfare, and that’s why Dick Cheney, if his new heart holds out, can expect the same.
Edwards scumbaggery is pretty small time stuff compared to Cheney’s, and as a rule of thumb most Democrats’ scumbaggery only affects the people immediately around them. I’d take our scumbags over their scumbags any day of the week.
It is a pity that the only Democrat on the national scene to really make a point of mentioning class distinctions turned out to be a scumbag.