Sarah Palin indicated during last week’s debate that she agreed with Dick Cheney’s (in photo) “unitary executive” theory of the vice presidency. “We have a lot of flexibility in there” under the Constitution, she said, adding that she was “thankful that the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president also, if that vice president so chose to exert it.” But as a New York Times editorial noted: “The Constitution does not state or imply any flexibility in the office of vice president. It gives the vice president no legislative responsibilities other than casting a tie-breaking vote in the Senate when needed and no executive powers at all. The vice president’s constitutional role is to be ready to serve if the president dies or becomes incapacitated.”
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