Daily Herald
Vice President Dick Cheney may have a 34 percent approval rating in
the most recent Gallup poll, but Brigham Young University is hoping to
give him a warm welcome next month.
BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said members of the first presidency of
the LDS Church, acting as chair and vice chair of the BYU board of
trustees, extended the invitation to Cheney.
It will be one of only two graduation addresses by Cheney this spring,
said spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride, who declined to identify the other
school.
"It turns out that in 2006, President Bush was invited and unable to
attend," McBride said from Washington, according to an Associated
Press report. "We reached out this year to the BYU board of trustees.
They were excited at the suggestion and sent a formal letter of
invitation."
Kelly Patterson, director of BYU's Center for the Study of Elections
and Democracy, predicted Cheney will find a "very receptive and very
hospitable" audience.
Marian Monnahan, chairman of the Utah County Republican Party, said
Cheney would find a lot of friends at BYU.
"We're still one of the reddest counties in the reddest state,"
Monnahan said. "I expect there will probably be somebody who is going
to protest, but in general I think he will be warmly received here."
Cedar Hills Mayor Mike McGee, who is the party treasurer, said he
couldn't speak for others, "But I think its an awesome opportunity to
hear something from somebody who has something important to say. I
only wish I had a personal invitation."
Cheney was in Utah in 2002 to stump for Republican congressional
candidates, and returned in 2003 to raise funds for the 2004
presidential election.
Former presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush have also spoke at
the BYU campus.
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