Vice President Cheney will speak at the Republican National Convention next month in St. Paul on the same night as President Bush, according to representaives for the vice president and John McCain's campaign.



"The vice president looks forward to participating in the Republican National Convention and continuing to work for the election of Sen. McCain and other Republican candidates in the coming months," Cheney spokeswoman Megan Mitchell said in a statement.



McCain communications director Jill Hazelbaker told Politico that Cheney would speak on Monday, Sept. 1, the first day of the GOP convention, prior to the president's remarks.



The decision to extend an invitation to Cheney comes days after reports that the deeply unpopular vice president would not appear at the convention.



McCain and Cheney have clashed in recent years, particularly over the treatment of terrorist detainees, and the GOP nominee has repeatedly sought to tie Barack Obama to the energy bill fathered by the vice president.



The two veteran politicians, colleagues in the House of Representatives decades ago, have not appeared together a single time during the campaign. Asked earlier this year what role Cheney would play in McCain's campaign, Hazelbaker only said: “John McCain will always treat the vice president with respect.”















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