By Ray Barrington
News-Chronicle
In a short speech at a Republican Party fund-raiser Thursday, Vice President Dick Cheney emphasized the leadership of President Bush and the administration's economic and anti-terrorism policy.
Cheney, who will start a bus trip across eastern Wisconsin here this morning, accused Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry of taking multiple positions on the war in Iraq.
He said the U.S. was facing enemies that were "every bit as intent on destroying us as were the Axis powers in World War II. It is not an enemy we can reason with, negotiate with or appease.
"It is an enemy that we must destroy, and with George W. Bush as commander-in-chief, that's exactly what we will do."
Cheney emphasized the capture of Saddam Hussein, followed by Libya turning over stockpiles of nuclear material, and emphasized that international cooperation had helped with trying to shut down pipelines of nuclear material that could go to terrorists.
"We will always seek international support for our efforts, but as President Bush has said many times, there is a difference between leading a coalition of nations and submitting to the objections of a few."
His partisan audience, which interrupted him several times with applause gave its loudest approval when Cheney said "we will never seek a permission slip to defend the United States of America."
According to a release from the Republican National Committee, the event raised $250,000 for the party's Victory 2004 program. A similar event with First Lady Laura Bush in St. Paul, Minn., raised $325,000 Thursday. The fund is used for party efforts at all levels.
Republican officials said tickets for the dinner started at $500 to attend the 25-minute speech, which included brief remarks from the vice president's wife, Lynne. There were 144 seats in the room, with other donors paying more to attend a reception and personally meet Cheney.
The vice president accused Kerry of continually changing his position on the war in Iraq, saying the latest one was "Howard Dean's position, the one (Kerry) was arguing against nine months ago."
Cheney saved his sharpest attacks for Kerry and running mate John Edwards for their Senate votes, when they voted in favor of using force in Iraq but, Cheney said, voted against funding for material for those troops.
"Only four senators voted for the use of force and against the resources ... Sens. Kerry and Edwards were two of those four," Cheney said.
"He explains his decision was 'complicated.' Funding American troops in combat should never be a complicated question."
He said it was not time "for leaders who shift with the political winds." As a senator, Kerry "could be wrong for 20 years without consequences to the nation. A president always casts the deciding vote. And in this time of challenge, America needs and has a president we can count on to get it right," Cheney said.
His speech also emphasized the Bush tax cuts, saying they had led to more jobs and more money in workers' pockets.
He also expressed administration support for a ban on partial-birth abortion, fighting "lawsuit abuse" and supporting medical liability reform and gun rights.
"We believe our nation is 'one nation under God' and the American people ought to be able to say so when they pledge allegiance," Cheney said to cheers.
Cheney was described as "a favorite son of Wisconsin, adopted" by state Republican chairman Rick Graber. Cheney attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison as did his wife, and he reminisced about his days in the state.
"She finished her Ph.D. there; I'm still working on mine," he joked. Cheney worked for more than a year on the staff of 1960s governor Warren Knowles and said he had probably been in all of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
"The first time I came through this part of the state was the 1966 campaign. My job was to follow the governor and hand out 'We Like It Here' buttons. I've still got scars on my thumb from reaching into my pocket," he said.
"I learned that Wisconsin is home to friendly, decent, hard-working people. I also learned they take their football seriously," he said. And he played off a misstatement by John Kerry during a recent visit here when Kerry got the name of the Green Bay Packers' stadium wrong.
"I wanted to see Lambert Field for myself," he said. "He offended a lot of cheeseheads, but that can happen to anybody. The next thing you know he'll be convinced Vince Lombardi is a foreign leader who supports his candidacy."
Lynne Cheney said she was happy to be back in the state and reminisced about the early years of her relationship with her husband and his early jobs.
"When you grow up working hard, you learn some really important lessons and one of those is how important it is for hard-working men and women to keep as much of their paycheck as possible," she said.
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