Cheney: Picking Palin Was A 'Mistake'

NPR | By Melisa Goh

Published July 29, 2012 at 1:31 PM EDT

"I like Gov. Palin," Cheney told ABC News in an excerpted interview on Sunday. But she wasn't ready to be vice president, he said.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is calling Sen. John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008 a "mistake."

In an excerpted interview with ABC News' This Week on Sunday, Cheney said it's important that Romney not repeat the fumble. The list of potential VP picks is a big one, he says, but there's a shorter list, too:

"'The test to get on that small list has to be, "Is this person capable of being president of the United States?"'

"Cheney believes Sarah Palin failed that test.

"'I like Governor Palin. I've met her. I know her. She – attractive candidate. But based on her background, she'd only been governor for, what, two years. I don't think she passed that test...of being ready to take over. And I think that was a mistake.'"

The former vice president has experience selecting running mates for presidential candidates. As USA Today notes, Cheney helped President Gerald Ford pick Bob Dole as his running mate in 1976. In 2000, Cheney was tasked with finding a running mate for George W. Bush. The name that topped that list, of course, was his own.