Vice President Cheney Praises Alaska Gov. Palin

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Making his first statement on the presidential race since the party conventions, Vice President Dick Cheney said on Monday Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would make an "effective" vice president.

"Everybody brings a different set of experiences to the office and also a different kind of understanding with whoever the president is," Cheney told reporters in Rome, according to the Wall Street Journal. "There's no reason why Sarah Palin can't be a successful vice president in a McCain administration."

The Vice President began a four-nation tour of Europe last Tuesday that included stops in Georgia and Italy, where he gave a speech before the Ambrosetti Conference and will meet with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi before he flies back to Washington on Tuesday.

Calling Palin's convention speech "superb," Cheney said the first-term governor's term "won't look exactly" like vice presidential terms in the two Bush administrations but will be "unique to this president and this time that they're in office."

Cheney's address on the opening day of the GOP convention last week in Minnesota was canceled after Hurricane Gustav forced Republicans to focus on relief efforts. He met with President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Azerbaijan before flying to Tbilisi to hold talks with President Mikheil Saakashvili.

While in Azerbaijan, Cheney called on European allies to work to "ensure the free flow of resources" in the region, a clear reference to the major oil pipeline that passes through Azerbaijan and that is not controlled by Russia. The EU is also pushing for a Nabucco pipeline to reduce the region's dependence on Russian oil.

The Vice President's trip to Georgia makes him the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the former Soviet republic since the conflict with Moscow erupted last month.