Cheney in surprise CPAC visit: Obama is ‘one-term’

Fresh off his weekend back-and-forth with the Obama administration, former Vice President Dick Cheney took his fight to the heart of the political right, making a surprise address Thursday to the Conservative Political Action Conference and telling them President Obama will be defeated in 2012.

“I think Barack Obama is a one-term president,” he said.

Mr. Cheney’s appearance was greeted by a standing ovation, with some even getting on top of their chairs.

“Unbelievable! Thank you!” shouted one, while a small group shouted, “Run, Dick, run.”

“A run like that is almost enough to make me want to run for office. But I’m not gonna do it,” Mr. Cheney said.

Despite the unpopularity of President Bush, whose name has been all but absent from CPAC, Mr. Cheney retains the loyalty of many conservatives. Already, a Draft Cheney 2012 group has formed and announced plans Thursday morning to try to have people write his name in for CPAC’s presidential straw poll.

Last weekend, Mr. Cheney engaged in a back-and-forth with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. over the Obama administration’s decisions to try suspected terrorists in regular courts and to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.