Vice President Buzz

The latest from the Political Grapevine:

VP Buzz
One day after a front-page article in the New York Times trumpeted rumors that President Bush might replace Vice President Cheney (search) as his running mate, a new Gallup poll shows that 59 percent of Americans, including 71 percent of Republicans, want Cheney to stay on the ticket. In fact, the survey indicates Cheney now enjoys "more" support among all Americans than at any time over the past year, according to the survey. Oddly enough, Republican support appears to have remained steady, while support for Cheney as VP among Democrats has gone up 8 percent — a sign pollsters interpret as a hope among Democrats that Cheney will stay on the ticket ... and hurt it.

Republicans Responsible?
Actress Whoopi Goldberg (search), who was fired as Slim Fast spokeswoman after making vulgar puns involving part of her anatomy and the president's last name at a Democratic fund-raiser, now blames the Republican Party for losing the Slim Fast gig. Goldberg says, "The fact that I am no longer the spokesman for Slim Fast makes me sad, but not as sad as someone trying to punish me for exercising my right as an American to speak my mind."

Calling for Conservatives
More than half of the Republicans in the House have signed a formal complaint asking President Bush to give pro-life conservatives at least one prime time speaking role at the Republican Convention. Meanwhile, the anti-abortion group "Democrats for Life in America" is now urging John Kerry to add a pro-life speaker to the line-up at the Democratic Convention later this month.

Leaving The Liberals?
Top Senate Democrat Tom Daschle will not be at the Democratic Convention when John Kerry accepts the presidential nomination later this month. Instead he will be at home in South Dakota. The Washington Post reports that some Democrats feel Daschle is leaving the convention early to avoid posing on stage with Kerry and Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, two of the most liberal members of the party. Daschle faces a stiff re-election challenge from Republican congressman John Thune, who has often called the Senate minority leader too liberal to represent South Dakota. But Daschle's spokesman denies he is trying to avoid appearing with Kerry and says he merely wants to spend an extra day campaigning.

Maximum for Motrin
Last month we told you about a 15-year-old girl who was given the maximum sentence for drug possession by an Alabama school board, after she was caught taking Motrin to relieve menstrual cramps. A judge has now overturned the sentence, calling the punishment of 15 days at an alternative school "both excessive and unfair."

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report