Man did Joe Scarborough drink himself a heavy dose of Cheney Kool-Aid before this Monday's show. After hearing Liz toss out the idea of her daddy running in 2012 on Fox News Sunday the day before, Scarborough argues that Cheney running would be a wonderful idea and that no one could take him on in a debate. Jonathan Alter points out that the Bush administration was not exactly popular with the American public but that doesn't seem to phase Scarborough one bit. He wants Cheney out there fear mongering for the GOP and says at much at the end of the clip.

Rough transcript:

Scarborough: By the way I'm glad she did that because I have been pressing, by the way the buttons for like a couple of months-Cheney 2012.

Brzezinski: (laughter)

Scarborough: What's so funny?

Brzezinski: Ah...just the thought...makes me a little tired. That's all I'm going to say.

Scarborough: Tired in a way like you're going to be so excited and you can almost sense the confetti falling in your hair? I know you're excited about it too.

Meacham: But you know what? Dick Cheney running for President would be a principled experienced way of having the debates that we're having in sort of a fake way I think with Palin. He has a strong point of view.

Scarborough: You know Dick Cheney also; Dick Cheney has from time to time been turned into a cartoon character over the last decade... And remember he was turned into a cartoon character back in 2000, and everybody thought Joe Lieberman was going to mop him up in the 2000 debate. Didn't happen...Dick Cheney...all I'm going to say is. And I will guarantee you--I would make this guarantee--it would never happen, but if you had Dick Cheney sitting here and Barack Obama sitting here debating foreign policy, debating Gitmo, debating bringing terrorists into New York City, politically that would not end well, Jonathan Alter for Barack Obama.

Alter: Oh I think he'd hold his own okay. That Dick Cheney's the most deceptively ambitious guy we've seen. Remember when he was running Bush's search in 2000? "Oh I'm not interested in being Vice President", but he ends up Vice President. Then he has this whole independent operation, basically his own White House as Vice President, all the time saying "I'm the first Vice President in history who hasn't wanted to be President" so...

Brzezinski: Yeah.

Alter: ...I'm above politics, you know, you can't go after me because I don't have any ambitions.

Scarborough: Yeah exactly. (crosstalk)

Halperin: There's an emerging profile of the kind of Republican who I think, whom Barack Obama might be vulnerable in reelection. Cheney has a lot of his elements. First and foremost experience making the argument we let this guy in and he wasn't up to the job, this is an adult who's ready to come back in. Dick Cheney's not the right person though to be that... (crosstalk)

Scarborough: Hold on for a second though. I know that there was a problem, you're right. There is a problem with over the past ten years a lot of people have problems with Dick Cheney, but you look at him. He's always been fiscally conservative. I'm talking about let's get the Darth Vader mask over for a second. Here's a guy, he's got the Republican strengths on, on foreign policy issues he drives progressives crazy, but remember when he went out talking about Gitmo and some of these other issues he was sitting at 19% because he'd stayed quiet, let the press define him. Now his approval rating is above, it's in the 30's.

Halperin: And he could get Rachel Maddow's endorsement because he's pro-gay marriage.

Scarborough: And he's pro-gay marriage.

Brzezinski: There you go.

Scarborough: Exactly.

Meacham: But let's be clear. He designed, forged and put on the Darth Vader mask. I mean this is an image to some extent that he has cultivated particularly since the inauguration and my point is let's, if he wants to continue to weigh in on these questions, let's get him in the arena and adjudicate this in the public debate.

Scarborough: I would have loved to see any administration official, and any administration official sit down for 90 minutes no commercials across the table with Dick Cheney where they don't have certain people in the press putting the Darth Vader mask on him and I would like to see how any one of them would hold up. I would guess if you took a flash poll afterwards it would not be good for the Democratic official taking him on.

Halperin: And Biden would whoop his butt.

Scarborough: Yeah. (crosstalk)

Alter: Look the idea of his being a fiscal conservative after that administration... (crosstalk).

Scarborough: I was talking about when he was in was, when he was in the House.

Alter: Yeah, when he's associated with that administration and it was not exactly one of the more popular administrations...

Scarborough: No... well listen. I understand--I'm just saying, I'm trying to give the other side, because again these are the type of guys that sneak up on people in Washington...

Brezezinski: That's true.

Scarborough: ...and everybody again turns him into a cartoon character, but when he gets out and gets his say there are more than a few independents out there that go "Okay you know what, that guy makes a lot more sense than the guy saying let's bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to New York City.

Brezezinski: Then you look at the polls of the country because incumbents right now are facing a very tough line...

Scarborough: I'm just saying I'm afraid of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed so work your fear magic on me Dick Cheney.