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WSJ: Cheney Book, Lobbying Campaign Likely to Affect GOP Race
Sunday, May 31, 2015 08:05 PM
By: Greg Richter
Former Vice President Dick Cheney will likely play a major role in the upcoming GOP presidential race, as he and daughter, Liz, are set to release a book on Sept. 1 outlining their view that the United States needs to assert itself more on the world stage, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Many of the Republican candidates are looking to distance their own foreign policy from that of President George W. Bush, but Cheney's book may help bring the subject front-and-center in the campaign, the Journal noted.
Cheney has advised some Oval Office hopefuls already, though he declined to discuss it. And two of his top foreign policy aides are working for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the brother of Cheney's old boss.
Cheney also makes regular Capitol Hill visits and is headlining Republican National Committee donor events across the country.
Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Holly Shulman welcomed Cheney's participation, believing the vilified former vice president can only help her party.
"If he needs any assistance getting out his message, our team would be happy to help book him for interviews," she told the Journal.
But Cheney is undeterred. He criticized the recent spate of GOP hopefuls saying it was a mistake to enter the Iraq war, "knowing what he know now."
"The relevant question first ought to be directed to Obama, and it's: 'Knowing what you know now, would you have abandoned Iraq and pulled the troops out three years ago?'" Cheney said.
He favors renewal of the Patriot Act and has called Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who is waging a one-man war on the Senate floor to stop it, an isolationist.
"He knows I think of him as an isolationist, and it offends him deeply. But it’s true," Cheney said. Cheney has not criticized any other GOP candidates.
Dick and Liz Cheney have formed the group Alliance for a Strong America in an effort to convince voters of the need to rebuild the military and act more aggressively in the world.
The group already is running ads and plans to become even more visible as the campaign approaches.
Republicans are open to the Cheneys' message, the Journal said, noting that terrorism and national security were ranked the top two issues by GOP primary voters in the 2012 presidential race, but now stand at 53 percent.
