2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Primary Factors [View all]H2O Man
(73,536 posts)that Cheney et al did was to embed neoconservatives in un-elected, "career" positions. Some, for example, are at State, and more are in other various positions. One could easily mistake their being at 3rd or 4th tier positions as rendering them powerless. And, at times, they almost are. But in other key times, they are able to influence what information is sent up the chain.
Every president in modern times -- Democrats and republicans -- have had instances of being ill-served by career bureaucrats who purposely impact the flow of information. That obviously is bad in any instance, but it becomes much more significant when you have a Dick Cheney or a Donald Rumsfeld, using the inaccurate information to push their agenda.
I would say that none of the republican candidates should ever be either president or vice president. But some among them are far more dangerous, and largely due to the neoconservative agenda in international relations.