Cheneys to speak at Bakersfield Business Conference
| Sunday, Nov 01 2009 12:01 PM
Last Updated Monday, Nov 02 2009 10:21 AM
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Dick Cheney
Lynne Cheney
The Bakersfield Business Conference will return next year with two big "gets" speaker-wise: former Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, it was announced Saturday evening.
But they may not be the biggest names there.
Cheney was not who organizers had in mind when they offered up the clue that one of the speakers would have Secret Service protection, said conference Communications Director Brandon Martin.
Asked if Cheney would be the biggest "get," Martin dodged artfully.
"Everybody has their own favorites," he said.
Organizers plan to reveal the name of one or two speakers every week beginning with this announcement.
Cheney was the nation's 46th vice president from 2001 to 2009 and before that a Secretary of Defense, six-term Congressman, House minority whip and a White House chief of staff. He's also been chairman and chief executive officer of Halliburton.
Cheney was recently in the news for accusing President Barack Obama of "dithering" instead of taking decisive action on whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.
"I'm sure most local Republicans, like me, will welcome Dick Cheney enthusiastically to the Bakersfield Business Conference," said Zack Scrivner, chairman of the Kern County Republican Party. "Like Ronald Reagan, he's a steadfast proponent of smaller government, less expensive government and less intrusive government - that's what most Americans want. And, like Reagan, he believes in keeping America strong throughout the world."
Not everyone's a fan.
"I can't think of anyone I'd less like to see in Bakersfield than Dick Cheney, except maybe George W. Bush," said Candi Easter, chairwoman of the Kern County Democratic Party.
She said many of the Bush administration's problems - like in the handling of the wars - were caused by Cheney.
"They drove the country into a ditch and we're still working our way out of it," Easter said. "I don't know why anyone would celebrate his arrival in Bakersfield. I wouldn't walk across the street to see him."
The day-long conference of speeches and performances is scheduled for Oct. 9, 2010, after what will have been a five-year absence. It has drawn former presidents, world leaders, Nobel Laureates and big names in entertainment to town.
More information is available at www.bpcbakbusconf.com.
"Dick Cheney was probably one of the most powerful and influential vice presidents in our nation's history," conference organizer George Martin said in a news release. "Our conference attendees will benefit from the wisdom of Cheney's experience as the leader of a modern political movement, a successful businessman and a leading expert on America's future role in a changing world."
He called Lynne Cheney "one of the most talented communicators in public life today" and highlighted her experience as co-host of CNN's "Crossfire," chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, author and scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
"Those conference attendees who are not familiar with Lynne Cheney will be surprised by the erudition and deep knowledge of history she brings to her understanding of what it has meant to participate in the great American experiment in the past and what it will mean to be an American in the future," Martin said.
