In surprise speech, Cheney says Obama will last one term

President Barack Obama will be a one-term president, former Vice President Dick Cheney confidently predicted Thursday.

During a surprise appearance at the end of his daughter Liz's speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, the former vice president said Republicans would have a "phenomenal year" with the midterm elections, and said Obama would be defeated in 2012.

"I think 2010 is going to be a phenomenal year for the conservative cause," Cheney said to raucous applause from the conservative audience. "And I think that Barack Obama is a one-term president."

Cheney had been a featured speaker at the conference during his time in office, and has since cast himself as a top Republican critic of the administration succeeding his.

The former VP did much to bolster his daughter's own profile, too, referring to Liz Cheney, who has emerged as a conservative pundit over the past few years, as part of a "younger generation" within the conservative movement.

"I'll do everything I can, but I most especially want to encourage the younger generation," Cheney said of his actions in the future.

For their part, Democrats seemed content to tie Republicans to Cheney, who has been an outspoken and sometimes controversial critic of the administration. President George W. Bush, under whom Cheney served for eight years, has been more muted by contrast.

Democratic National Committee (DNC) communications director Brad Woodhouse quickly responded to the Cheney appearance:

Dick Cheney getting sustained standing O at C-PAC — guess we know who the real leader of the GOP is

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