Obama continues to invoke 'cousin' Dick Cheney

by John McCormick

ANKENY, Iowa – Sen. Barack Obama continues to use one of his distant relatives as a punchline on the presidential campaign trail.

Talking about the nation's addiction to oil, the Illinois Democrat told several hundred gathered at a community college this morning that part of the blame falls on Vice President Dick Cheney.

"It doesn't help when you put my cousin, Dick Cheney, in charge of energy policy," Obama said. "We've been trying to hide this for a long time, by the way. Everybody's got a black sheep in the family."

Earlier this month, Lynne Cheney, the vice president's wife, made news when she talked about the relationship with Obama, who is an eighth or ninth cousin of Cheney's.

And in an interview with CNBC this week, Cheney called the senator "Cousin Barack.''

Obama first discussed the distant relationship at length during an appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.