While appearing with Tim Russert on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” observers say, the vice president seemed distracted, looking over his shoulder repeatedly as if trying to see his own shadow.
A review of the broadcast indicates that Vice President Cheney appeared to see his shadow, and shortly afterward concluded the interview with Russert “abruptly,” in the words of one observer.
Cheney remained in Washington through the president’s State of the Union Message Tuesday night, but then returned to his secure, undisclosed location, which is believed to be underground.
“You can read anything you want into Cheney seeing his own shadow and disappearing,” one Cheney-watcher said. “Yes, it may mean six more weeks of winter, but it may just mean that he’s trying to stay as far away from this Enron mess as possible.”
President Bush made no mention of the vice president’s putative control over climatic conditions in his State of the Union Message Tuesday evening.
But the following morning at the White House, Press Secretary Ari Fleischer attempted to downplay the increasingly widespread impression that Vice President Cheney can influence the seasons.
“Vice President Cheney is a respected voice in this administration, but he does not control the weather,” Fleischer told reporters. “Only the president can do that.”
