THE "NEW" CHENEY - AT 11:15 P.M. ET:  The buzz is starting about Liz Cheney, one of the former vice president's two daughters.  Some of you may have seen her on television - articulate, strong, and, most important of all, informed.  She doesn't back down, she has her facts straight, and there's no babble.  Many Republicans see a bright future for her.  Her liability, of course, is that a good chunk of the media will view her as the daughter of the Devil, and treat her accordingly.  The New York Times has a portrait:

NASHVILLE — Liz Cheney looks nothing like her father, but it is clear who he is. She was introduced as “our favorite vice president’s daughter” at a recent gathering of conservative women here. She kept invoking him in her speech, conveying his best regards, and likes to share cute stories about Dad trying to master his new BlackBerry.

Like her father, Ms. Cheney speaks in understated, almost academic cadences, head veering down into her notes. She also shares his willingness to pummel President Obama in stark, disdainful tones, not so much criticizing as taunting him.

“Mr. President, in a ticking time-bomb scenario, with American lives at stake,” she said, “are you really unwilling to subject a terrorist to enhanced interrogation to get information that would prevent an attack?”

By speech’s end, the crowd was standing, and the former vice president’s daughter was being mobbed for photos and hounded to run for office.

Liz Cheney is “a red state rock star,” declared Rebecca Wales, one of the organizers of this event, the “Smart Girls Summit.”

COMMENT:  When Harry Truman left office, his approval ratings were in the low twenties.  Republicans relished in the line, "To err is Truman."  But later, Truman's stock rose and rose, as Americans realized he had made very tough decisions on national security, and usually got them right. 

I hope that Dick Cheney's stock rises as well, as Americans - and maybe even a handful of "journalists" - realize that he was basically correct.  And I hope Liz Cheney follows her instincts, for the ideas she espouses have stood the test of time.

September 28,  2009