Cheney To Seek Higher Office?

When it comes to needling Democrats in one of their most sensitive places, Liz Cheney is proving that the apple doesn't fall far from the family tree.

The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney started the work week dunning the Democrats for being congenitally unable to defend the nation while accusing President Obama of "weakening" the country against its enemies. And oh, did I mention that she may be considering political office in her own right?

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece, Cheney slammed recent speeches by President Obama in Cairo and Russia for papering over the nature of good and evil and the battle between "tyranny and freedom." More specifically, she wrote of the president that "he proclaims moral equivalence between the U.S. and our adversaries, he readily accepts a false historical narrative, and he refuses to stand up against anti-American lies."

But that was just a warm-up for her appearance on the Washington Times' America's Morning News radio show today, where Cheney responded to a weekend report in the New York Times that her father ordered the CIA to conceal a covert spy program from Congress. Democratic leaders, including Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, have since called for an investigation.
Cheney told her radio hosts that the Democrats were only marching toward a political trap of their own making.

"I am really surprised that the Democrats decide that that's what they want to fight over. I mean, if they want to go to the American people and say that they disagree with the notion that we ought to be capturing and killing al Qaeda leaders, I think it's just going to prove to the American people one more time why they can't trust the Democrats with our national security."

She later described as "shameful" reports that Attorney General Holder may designate a special prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's interrogation practices." Asked what her father thought, Cheney said he was "very angry" about possible prosecution plans.

"You know, he is very angry, as you've heard him say publicly. You know the notion that this administration is going to come into office and they're going to prosecute the brave men and women who carried out this program that kept America safe. It is, it is un-American. It's something that hasn't happened before in this country, in terms of somebody taking office and then starting to prosecute people who carried out policies that they disagreed with, you know, in the previous administration. He's been very public about that."

Her comments were in line with Cheney's previous statements about the propriety of the tactics used by U.S. interrogators of prisoners held in Guantanamo. In an April appearance on MSNBC,Cheney offered a staunch defense of waterboarding and other harsh treatment to extract information from detainees.

But instead of playing the role of political surrogate for the Republican Party, Cheney might soon be taking her policy prescriptions to the body politic for ballot approval. In the same Washington Times interview, Cheney indicated that she'd be open to running for elected office. "It's something I may very well do," she said.

She worked in the U.S. State Department during the Bush administration as deputy assistant secretary of state and principal deputy assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs.

With President Obama's national support slipping to 57%, according to the results of the latest CBS News poll, Cheney has chosen as good a time as any to air her criticism. One point to note: the drop in the president's approval rating was largely a function of skepticism about his administration's stewardship of the economy as well as doubts about the efficacy of the stimulus package.