Dick Cheney came out firing in his most recent interview with NBC saying he does not believe that Obama's policies are as popular as the President thought they were going to be. This may be the case but his assertion that President Obama will be a one term President, even considering the poll numbers, is not a statement that can be spoken with as much confidence as he appears to have.
Firstly, we must take into account the reality that President Obama is a phenomenon, whose popularity is not linked to his beliefs or ideals but to the person he is. He speaks well and eloquently, not to mention calmly, and through this he projects an image of intelligent confidence which the American public responds well to.
The President so far has been able to buck the trend of his party. Whilst the natural pattern of politics is that one party is voted in and then a few years later the public tires of this party and elects the other one, it does not seem like this will be the case for President Obama. The American public are now entering their fifth year of a Democratic controlled Congress and they are tiring of it as was seen in the 2010 Mid-Term elections.
Nevertheless, Barack Obama seems to be above this trend. Recent polls show that he leads all of his potential 2012 contenders comfortably, even Mike Huckabee whose popularity is high among independents.
Cheney suggested that Obama's policies were not as popular as he thought they would be but as Obama himself noted, in most polls, fifty percent of Americans still support 'Obamacare' which considering the animosity this piece of legislation has incited amongst conservatives and independents, is surprisingly high.
For a Republican to win in 2012 they need to recapture Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Indiana. Four traditional Republican states that Obama was able to win in 2008. The reality is, for a Republican to win the Presidency in 2012, because of the phenomenon that President Obama is, more states are in play. Funding for ads and other political needs will be directed from swing states back to traditional Republican states providing Obama with an edge before the race has even begun.
In his interview with NBC, Cheney also noted that he is considering a heart transplant. Cheney's heart has been a major heart issue for him for a long time. He has suffered five heart attacks throughout his life, his most recent being in 2010. Cheney has been using a heart pump to stay alive and he noted that recent improvement in technology in this medical field had enabled a smoother transition between a heart pump and a new heart.
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