Thursday, April 26, 2007

Cheney Comes to Tulsa—But Can the Unpopular Vice President Really Help Jim Inhofe?

Dick Cheney's coming to T-Town.

Sen. Jim Inhofe is bringing the Republican "Big Gun" to Tulsa Friday to help him raise re-election cash. Dick Cheney, perhaps the most unpopular vice president since Spiro Agnew, will headline a GOP event in town Friday.

There's no doubt that Cheney's visit will bring out Tulsa's big-time GOP donors and give Inhofe's campaign a new infusion of cash.

But reasonable Oklahomans might question the wisdom of using Cheney as a GOP cheerleader for Inhofe. Cheney, after all, has little popular support outside a small core of "red meat" Republicans, and even they have to overlook Cheney's dubious record as a leader.

In case you're the forgetful type, here's a quick overview of Cheney's political life:

• A militant hard-liner today, Cheney had "other priorities" during the Vietnam era and never served a day in uniform.

• Asked by President-elect George W. Bush to lead his vice presidential selection committee, Dick Cheney settled on the perfect candidate: Dick Cheney.

• In the selling of the Iraq invasion, Cheney assured the public of direct links between the 9/11 terrorists and Saddam's government. Cheney's evidence turned out to be wrong.

• In the run-up to the war, Cheney says there is "no doubt" that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. As we all now know, Cheney's evidence turned out to be wrong.

On the lighter side, Cheney's hunting accident in Texas resulted in only minor injuries to an elderly Republican attorney.

With a record this consistent and error-prone, we hope Sen. Inhofe brings Dick Cheney to Oklahoma more often. Every time he comes, it's likely to remind voters of why we need new leadership in the Congress and in the White House.

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