Analysis: Cheney attacks may not help GOP
By STEVEN R. HURST – 4 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — To the chagrin, perhaps, of Republicans looking to rebuild the tattered party, Dick Cheney has grabbed the spotlight.
The recurring theme of the once-reclusive and largely unpopular former vice president: President Barack Obama has put Americans in danger of a new terrorist attack by promising to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and banning torture.
When Obama took office, former President George W. Bush went quietly to his new house in Texas, slipped intentionally into anonymity and honored protocol by staying silent about his successor.
But Cheney, widely remembered for heading to undisclosed secure locations at times of national crisis and for working invisibly behind the scenes, has done just the opposite.
Most recently he took a shot at Colin Powell, Bush's first-term secretary of state, a retired Army general, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and lifelong Republican who endorsed Obama's candidacy.
Through a spokesman, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele declined to discuss Cheney or his remarks, which have dominated cable news political debate and talk radio since the former vice president spoke out most recently last Sunday.
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As Republicans seek to broaden their appeal — create the proverbial big tent — after dismal showings in the past two national elections, siding with Limbaugh shows Cheney is "not an institution builder," Baick said. "He's not erecting tent poles. He's knocking them down. In terms of building the party, the remarks about Powell were over the top."
Perhaps.
One thing is certain: Glee among Democrats who are only too happy to see Cheney and Limbaugh — given their narrow appeal — flood into the Republican leadership vacuum.
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