Top GOP operatives and former Reagan and Bush officials were invited to a friendly, off-the-record dinner with the former vice president recently at the Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington that several attendees said was billed as a “fence-mending’’ affair. The guest list included Republicans who backed incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi against Liz Cheney last year. The former vice president warmly greeted guests and talked about his latest political activities but steered clear of last year’s acrimonious primary, several people said.
Earlier this spring, Cheney and his wife, Lynne, attended conservative writer George Will’s annual spring baseball soiree at his home in Chevy Chase, Md., to fete the Washington Nationals’ opening game. One attendee said it was the first time in years that the former vice president and his wife had gone to the exclusive party. As Cheney worked the room, another person there said, he recalled throwing out the first pitch for the Nationals in 2006, joking that the ball bounced to home plate.
Dick and Liz Cheney have also reached out to some of Enzi’s key supporters, though not the senator himself. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, vice chairman of the party’s Senate campaign arm, said he’s spoken to Liz Cheney a “number” of times since she abandoned her bid in January, and told her she has “a lot to offer the party.” And Dick Cheney has “offered to be helpful” in Senate races that could tip the majority this fall, the senator said.
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