Dick Cheney Takes Questions

Nov. 3, 2006 — -- This afternoon in Colorado, Vice President Dick Cheney sits for an exclusive interview with ABC News Chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos.

In their first one-on-one, Stephanopoulos will press Cheney on the souring national mood over the war in Iraq, Sen. John Kerry's recent controversial comments, and whether the Bush administration expects to find itself, for the first time in six years, out of power in either the House or Senate or both.

In three successive elections, the vice president has been a potent weapon in President Bush's campaign arsenal.

Since taking office, Cheney has hardly ever been off the campaign trail. He raised nearly $40 million at 106 events by 2002, stumping for the president's -- and his own -- re-election in 2004. He has taken in more than $40 million at 116 events during this campaign season.

Cheney's itinerary reads like a military operation, targeting the reddest of red states: Idaho, Montana, Kansas, and his native Wyoming are just some of the fundraising stops between the frequent air base troop rallies and National Guard speeches that have recently filled Cheney's schedule.

This Friday, with less than a week to go in the 2006 campaign, is no different. Cheney takes the stage at Butts Army Airfield in Fort Carson to rally the troops before raising last-minute funds at a Colorado victory rally.

Cheney, whose favorability rating routinely hovers in the low 20s, may not be universally popular throughout the nation, but in such places, Cheney rallies the party faithful, a formula that has led Republicans to congressional gains in each of the last three elections.

Stephanopoulos intends to press Cheney on the role Iraq may play in next week's election.

In the most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, 57 percent of Americans said that the war was not worth fighting.

That included not only 78 percent of Democrats but 64 percent of independents and 40 percent of conservatives. Also in that poll, President Bush's job approval rating dropped to 37 percent, the second-lowest mark of his presidency.

The ABC News "This Week" anchor will ask Cheney whether these stark numbers will take a toll on Republicans at the polls, and whether or not increasing dissatisfaction with Iraq may prompt the Bush administration to take a different approach to the war-torn nation during the last two years of the administration.

In a recent interview, Cheney said, "Whether it's al Qaeda or the other elements that are still active in Iraq, they are betting on the proposition they can break the will of the American people. They think we won't have the stomach for the fight long-term."

Events over the last week have also allowed Cheney to take aim at another favorite target: 2004 Democratic ial contender John Kerry. During an education event at Pasadena City College in California, the senator said, "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," attempting, Kerry claimed, to jab the intelligence of the president, not the troops.

Republicans, including Cheney, seized on the senator's gaffe. Raising funds and promoting the campaign of embattled Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., in Kallispell, Mont., the vice president poked, "You remember John Kerry, the senator who voted for the $87 billion before he voted against it," before adding, "Sen. Kerry said he was just making a joke and he botched it up. I guess we didn't get the nuance. Actually, he was for the joke before he was against it."

In their nearly 20-minute exclusive, Stephanopoulos will ask whether Kerry's gaffe may have helped Republican prospects and what effect the comments could have at the polls.

In the course of the campaign, the vice president has also found himself in trouble over potentially explosive comments. Scott Hennen, a conservative, Fargo, N.D.-based radio talk radio host, asked Cheney last month, "And I've had people call and say, please, let the vice president know that if it takes dunking a terrorist in water. We're all for it, if it saves American lives. Again, this debate seems a little silly given the threat we face, would you agree?"

The vice president replied, "I do agree," but the White House later insisted that Cheney was not referring to the outlawed practice of water boarding, a torture tactic that simulates drowning.

Despite those remarks, Bush once again expressed complete confidence in Dick Cheney this week. Speaking with Rush Limbaugh, the said he would like both Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumseld to remain onboard through the duration of the Bush administration.

In his interview with the vice president, Stephanopoulos will also talk about those remarks, Cheney's support from the president and Rumsfeld's role in extracting U.S. troops from Iraq.

Tune in to "World News with Charles Gibson," "Nightline," and "This Week," and check back at www.abcnews.com for more of George Stephanopoulos' exclusive interview with Vice President Dick Cheney.