For Cheney, GOP needs more Rush, less Powell

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday he preferred Rush Limbaugh's brand of conservatism to former Secretary of State Colin Powell's.

"Well, if I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh, I think," Cheney said in an interview on "Face the Nation" on CBS. "I think my take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican."

Cheney said he "assumed" Powell's support of Obama over Sen. John McCain was "an indication of his loyalty and his interest."

Last week, after Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched to the Democratic Party, Powell said the Republican Party was in "deep trouble" and needed to find a way back to the middle of the political spectrum and away from polarizing leaders like Limbaugh and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. In response, Limbaugh suggested the moderate Powell should leave the party.

Cheney and Powell worked closely together to manage the Persian Gulf War in 1991 — Powell as the Army general who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Cheney as defense secretary for the first President Bush. Under the younger President Bush, they were split over policies on the war and terrorism.