In from the cold: Dick Cheney meets with House Republicans

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has not appeared to enjoy as much interest from his party in retirement as he had while in office.

Once a fixture at the Republican lunches every week in the Senate, Cheney has not been seen much in the halls of the Capitol since he and President George W. Bush made way for President Obama.

Always considered the darker yin to the sunny Bush’s yang, Cheney was confined mostly to a memory at the Republican convention in Tampa in 2012 when the party nominated Mitt Romney as its presidential candidate. He had gone fishing in Canada, reports said.

But that may all change on Tuesday when Cheney pays a visit to House Republicans.

The meeting is billed as a pep talk before the fall election, when Republicans are favored to gain seats. Cheney’s visit with the House GOP will be held at the Republican National Committee headquarters.

But on the eve of President Obama’s address to the nation about an offensive against Islamic militants, Cheney’s presence brings to mind an earlier era of the Iraq war under Bush.

“Vice President Cheney was invited to articulate the importance of growing the House Republican majority,” said a GOP aide who did not want to be identified discussing the visit.

Both parties bring guest speakers into their private caucus sessions to address rank-and-file members from time to time, and the visit by Cheney -- considered among the most powerful vice presidents in history -- falls in that tradition.

Whether his talk will be welcome by a party that has become more libertarian -- and isolationist -- since the Bush administration will become more clear after Tuesday morning’s session.

For now, Cheney is back.

Staff writer Michael A. Memoli contributed to this report.

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