Cheney in Kansas to campaign for Ryun

Cheney was scheduled to have photos taken with campaign contributors

? Vice President Dick Cheney today was on the campaign trail to raise funds for U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun, a Lawrence Republican, facing a re-election rematch against Democrat Nancy Boyda.

Cheney was scheduled to have photos taken with campaign contributors, give a noontime speech at the Capitol Plaza Hotel Manor Conference Center, and then fly out. His time in Topeka was expected to be about to 2 1/2 hours.

Ryun campaign manager Jeff Black said 275 people were attending the event, and that the campaign had raised $207,000. People paid $100 to attend the reception, and $1,000 to have a photograph taken with Cheney.

Ryun defeated Boyda, of Topeka, in 2004 by a hefty 56 percent to 41 percent.

This election, however, Boyda maintains Ryun is in trouble and her internal polling shows the race a dead heat with about 17 percent undecided.

Ryun has said her polling is inaccurate, but hasn’t revealed what his own polls show.

He has launched ads attacking Boyda, saying she wants to “cut and run” in Iraq. Boyda has denied the accusation, saying she is hopeful that a new bipartisan panel, led by former Secretary of State James Baker, a Republican, can provide policy recommendations on the war.

Boyda has claimed Ryun, a five-term incumbent, has lost touch with the 2nd Congressional District, becoming a Washington insider, corrupted by partisan politics. Ryun said he represents the values of the district by wanting lower taxes and smaller government.

The district includes west Lawrence, Topeka, Manhattan and much of southeast Kansas.