Two ships pass in the night. One ship doesn't want to be seen with Cheney.

Cheney at Fund-Raiser, but Not With the Candidate

By DAVID W. CHEN
Published: March 21, 2006

NEWARK, March 20 — In the biggest campaign fund-raiser yet on behalf of State Senator Thomas H. Kean Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney traveled to New Jersey on Monday and praised Mr. Kean as someone with "the experience, the values and the vision to be a superb United States senator."

But there was one problem: Mr. Kean was a no-show.

Actually, Mr. Kean did show up at the event, which was held at the offices of the IDT Corporation in downtown Newark. But he did not make it until 6:15, roughly 15 minutes after Mr. Cheney's motorcade had left.

So what should have been a routine political story about a successful fund-raiser, netting close to $400,000, became one in which Mr. Kean was asked repeatedly whether he had deliberately avoided being photographed with the vice president, who is deeply unpopular in New Jersey. Mr. Kean's spokeswoman, Jill Hazelbaker, said: "There was no concerted effort. It was two ships passing in the night."



Who introduced Vice President Dick Cheney in Newark on Monday? Larry Bathgate, right. Who didn't? Thomas H. Kean Jr., who was late.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/21/nyregion/21kean.html

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