In what could pass for a remarkable and historic interview during his last 10 days as likely the most powerful vice president in national history, conservative Republican Dick Cheney says he sees the inauguration of liberal Democrat Barack Obama as positive and remarkable and historic.

Even exciting.

No, really.

The conservative Cheney, much villified on the left as an effective partisan and hawk, and called the worst or most dangerous vice president in American history something like that by the next vice president in American history, Joe Biden, was interviewed on tape Friday by CNN's Wolfie.

Portions of the taped interview were obtained from CNN. In the session set for broadcast on Sunday morning's "Late Edition," Cheney was asked his thoughts as he looks at the impending inauguration of Obama on Jan. 20.

Cheney first states the obvious: As a Republican, he voted for John McCain. But then the conservative Wyoming resident and longtime Washington denizen says:

"I have the same feeling that I think many Americans have, that it's really remarkable that -- what we're going to do here in a few days is swear in the first African American president of the United States. When I came to town in 1968, we'd had the Martin Luther King assassination, Bobby Kennedy assassination, riots in the cities, major, major disturbances, a lot of it racially motivated around the country.

"And in fact, things have changed so dramatically that we're now about to swear in Barack Obama as president of the United States. That's really a remarkable story and I think a record of tremendous success and progress for the United States."

Apparently, momentarily taken aback by the vice president's positive tone on his party losing the White House, Blitzer mumbles, "Pretty historic. Pretty exciting."

And Cheney agrees! "It is," he says.

--Andrew Malcolm

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Photo credit: Eric Draper / The White House