Cheney to Face Nats Fans

President Bush is throwing Vice President Cheney to the wolves -- or, more specifically, to the Nationals fans.

According to longstanding precedent, one of the two of them had to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the home opener of Washington's home team on Tuesday -- and face the inevitable boos and catcalls.

Bush is sending Cheney.

The Washington area remains stubbornly Democratic even at the best of times for Republicans -- and these are not the best of times. Furthermore, unlike people at most presidential or vice presidential venues, ballpark fans are not too bashful to express their displeasure vocally.

Last year, when Bush threw out the first pitch, he was greeted with a fair number of boos amid the cheers. And at that point, his job approval ratings were hovering around 50 percent -- not to mention that it was a day of giddy celebration as baseball returned to the nation's capital after more than three decades.

This time around, Bush's approval ratings are in the mid-30s. Cheney's are even lower, in the low 30s -- and his favorability rating hit 18 percent in one recent poll.

So it could get ugly.

How does Cheney feel about this? Well, it's hard to imagine that the unathletic, cantankerous, notoriously private vice president actually volunteered for this duty.

Rather than face the Nationals crowd himself, Bush threw out the first pitch in Cincinnati on Monday. And although he received scattered boos there, he insulated himself from the worst by walking out to the mound accompanied by two injured American soldiers and the father of a soldier who was killed in action.

Cheney's best bet would be to do something similar -- or have the Secret Service be particularly finicky about letting people in. After all, last year, many fans were late to their seats because security lines at the metal detectors installed for the president's visit were still 20 deep when the game began.

Here's the Associated Press story on Cheney getting the call.

Associated Press reporter and baseball historian Frederic J. Frommer recently wrote: "For most of the past century, when Washington was home to a baseball team known as the Senators, presidents typically took center stage on Opening Day."