A healthy debate for Cheney, Rangel
WASHINGTON -- To hear Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) and Vice President Dick Cheney tell it, neither is fit for office.
In a heated exchange through the news media, each has cast doubt on the other's physical ability to fulfill his public duties.
Rangel, 74, landed the first blow in an interview on NY1 Friday. Asked if Cheney should step down from the vice presidency, Rangel said, "He should never have stepped up in the first place. ... He's too old for the job and doesn't have the experience."
"I would like to believe he's sick rather than just mean and evil," he added. Rangel had suggested in August that Cheney was too sick to do his job.
Cheney, 64, who has had four heart attacks, responded in kind. In an interview on The Rush Limbaugh Show yesterday, he said, "Charlie is losing it, I guess."
Cheney expressed surprise at Rangel's recent comments, saying, "They were so out of line, it almost struck me that there was some - Charlie was having some problem."
Rangel declined to comment on Cheney's remarks.