'Dump Cheney' rumors gain momentum

New York Times | July 15 2004

WASHINGTON -- In the annals of Washington conspiracy theories, the latest one, about Vice President Dick Cheney's future on the Republican ticket, is as ingenious as it is far-fetched. But that hasn't stopped it from racing through Republican and Democratic circles like the latest low-carb diet.

The newest theory -- advanced privately by prominent Democrats, including members of Congress -- holds that Cheney recently dismissed his personal doctor so that he could see a new one, who will conveniently tell him in August that his heart problems make him unfit to run with Bush. The physician, Gary Malakoff, who four years ago declared that Cheney was "up to the task of the most sensitive public office" despite a history of heart disease, was dropped from Cheney's medical team because of an addiction to prescription drugs.