Condi for President

So I was listening to some talking heads discussing Rudy Giuliani throwing his hat into the ring for Republican presidential candidate, and I was trying to remember the last time a presidential election had been this wide-open for both parties, and I realized: never, because there has almost always been either a Vice President waiting in the wings or an incumbent President for one party, so it's usually just wide-open for the opposition.

And why is it wide-open this time? Because Dick Cheney isn't now, and never really was, a serious contender for President. He's too... unlikeable, old, and after six years in this administration, tainted.

So I was wondering, since no one really likes Cheney anyway, what would happen if he resigned in the next year or so, and President Bush was able to select his successor? Wouldn't that more or less anoint that person as the front-runner Republican party candidate for 2008? I realize he (or she -- Condi for president, anyone?) would need to be confirmed by the majority-Democratic Congress, but would that really be that difficult? Is this something that can happen under our Constitution?

Just wondering. Anyone out there know the answer?