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Cheney stumps for CNY candidate
Vice president lauds Ray Meier; protesters blast administration policies
By Charles McChesney
Staff writer |
Vice President Dick Cheney had a message for 300 or so Republicans gathered at the Hotel Utica Friday evening: Sherwood Boehlert is a great congressman and Ray Meier would be one too.
Protesters outside had very different messages.
Cheney, the guest of honor at a fundraiser for Meier, spoke warmly of Boehlert, with whom he served in the House of Representatives and whose retirement set up a race in the 24th Congressional District between Meier, of Western, and Oneida Democrat Michael Arcuri.
Wyoming has only one congressman, Cheney said, so it was always necessary for him to reach out to representatives from other states. "I quickly became a judge of who you can trust."
Boehlert was one who could be trusted, he said. "I think Ray Meier will be exactly that kind of congressman."
Cheney spent much of his remarks pressing the administration's case for its actions in the war on terror.
He also pointed to economic gains, including a low national unemployment rate and projections that show the national budget deficit falling by more than $100 billion from what the president had predicted.
"The evidence is in," Cheney said. Tax cuts as done by the Kennedy administration in the 1960s, the Reagan administration in the 1980s and the Bush administration today, are the best policy, he told the crowd in the hotel's ballroom.
Meier, a five-term state senator, has credentials on economic matters, Cheney said. "A leading voice for spending restraint in Albany," Cheney called him. "He'll do the same in Washington, D.C."
Cheney quickly moved on to the war on terror, saying, "the central front in that war today is in Iraq."
He blasted Democrats calling for a deadline for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Such a move should be dictated by conditions "on the ground," he said, not an artificial deadline created by politicians.
He also dismissed a proposal by Rep. Jack Murtha, D-pa., which calls for redeploying forces out of Iraq.
"Jack's a friend of mine," Cheney said. But, he said, "Jack's not got it right."
Before Cheney's arrival, more than 100 protesters gathered in a nearby park. Some carried signs calling for the impeachment of Cheney and Bush. Others urged allowing gay marriage. Two were dressed as prisoners at Abu Ghraib, in orange jumpsuits and black hoods. One was dressed in a suit and rubber Ronald Reagan mask, except when he took a break from the day's heat and humidity to smoke a cigarette.
Jeff Miller, an organizer of the protest, said the event came together quickly via e-mail, the Internet and phone calls. "When we heard Dick Cheney was coming to town, there was no way we were letting him come here without protesting".
A group of about 50 protesters came from Syracuse, organized by the Syracuse Peace Council and Central New York Labor Federation.
Also in attendance was Howie Hawkins, Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Hillary Rodham Clinton. Hawkins said he had gotten about 100 signatures on his election petition at the event.
Hawkins handed out pamphlets and a release calling for Cheney’s impeachment.
"Shame on you," some protesters chanted as they pointed at people exiting the hotel. Other protesters kept up a steady beat on bongo drums.
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 *Website by David Doonan, Labor Donated to Hawkins for Senate Campaign* |
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