Paul Weyrich notes that, with Bush already having picked Cheney to run with him next year, Bush has cut off any damaging speculation on who might be replacing Cheney.

Clearly, President Bush did not dangle the second term vice presidency over the heads of attractive figures. Quite the contrary. By making his announcement early, he cut off the possibility that serious boomlets would develop for Secretary of State Colin Powell, Attorney General John Ashcroft, or Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

At the end of a second Bush-Cheney term, the road will be clear for anyone who wants to run. Might that be Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida? By giving the nod to Cheney this early, he has probably helped his brother as much as he can.