Lynne Cheney
happy about daughter's pregnancy

Vice President Dick Cheney's wife, Lynne, is dismissing the fuss over her gay daughter's pregnancy, which has rankled conservative groups. ''Well, I think that it's just very lucky for me that I enjoy being a grandmother and I get to do it for the sixth time,'' Mrs. Cheney said. Their daughter, Mary, and Heather Poe, her partner of 15 years, are expecting a baby in late spring. ''Dick and I both are very much looking forward to this new baby,'' Mrs. Cheney said in an interview to be aired on Fox News Sunday. She said her daughter will be a ''great mom.'' Mrs. Cheney also said she thinks it's odd that her husband's former chief of staff is the only person being tried in the CIA leak case. ''It seems bizarre to me,'' Mrs. Cheney said. I. Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby is accused of lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters regarding former ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife, the outed CIA operative Valerie Plame. Plame and Wilson have sued Libby and other Bush administration officials, accusing them of plotting to leak Plame's identity as retribution for Wilson's criticism of prewar intelligence on Iraq. She said Libby's legal problems had not changed her or the vice president's admiration for him. ''The legal problems are there,'' she said. ''I don't want to comment on anything in specific because there is a trial coming up, but Scooter is a fine man, and we continue to support him and his wonderful family. He has a terrific wife, two great kids.'' Asked about the Democratic takeover of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, Mrs. Cheney said scandals cost the GOP many votes. ''I think Iraq was part of it, but I also think that you had some extraordinary ethical failures,'' she said. ''They were bipartisan, but I do think the Republicans paid a great price for that.'' She noted the cases of former Republican congressman Mark Foley, who resigned over sexually explicit messages sent to male pages, and Randy Cunningham, who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from defense contractors. ''I think those exacted a terrible price,'' she said. (AP)