In an endorsement eagerly anticipated by the 24 Hours/Jack Bauer fan club, Torturer-in-Chief Dick Cheney enthusiastically endorsed (cough, cough) the McCain/Palin ticket, thereby passing the thumb screws and waterboard manual to the man who was against torture before he voted to let the CIA do it in secret.

Is it just me, or does that sound like the Yahoo Palin supporters are more thrilled about this than McCain’s faithful? Digby has the answer.

Barack Obama, speaking in Pueblo, Colorado, today, had this response:

President Bush is sitting out the last few days before the election. But earlier today, Dick Cheney came out of his undisclosed location and hit the campaign trail. He said that he is, and I quote, "delighted to support John McCain."

I’d like to congratulate Senator McCain on this endorsement because he really earned it. That endorsement didn’t come easy. Senator McCain had to vote 90 percent of the time with George Bush and Dick Cheney to get it. He served as Washington’s biggest cheerleader for going to war in Iraq, and supports economic policies that are no different from the last eight years. So Senator McCain worked hard to get Dick Cheney’s support.

But here’s my question for you, Colorado: do you think Dick Cheney is delighted to support John McCain because he thinks John McCain’s going to bring change? Do you think John McCain and Dick Cheney have been talking about how to shake things up, and get rid of the lobbyists and the old boys club in Washington?

Colorado, we know better. After all, it was just a few days ago that Senator McCain said that he and President Bush share a "common philosophy." And we know that when it comes to foreign policy, John McCain and Dick Cheney share a common philosophy that thinks that empty bluster from Washington will fix all of our problems, and a war without end in Iraq is the way to defeat Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorists who are in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

So George Bush may be in an undisclosed location, but Dick Cheney’s out there on the campaign trail because he’d be delighted to pass the baton to John McCain. He knows that with John McCain you get a twofer: George Bush’s economic policy and Dick Cheney’s foreign policy – but that’s a risk we cannot afford to take.

Update: Statement by Joe Biden:

If you ever had any doubt that John McCain would continue George Bush’s policies — you can put those to rest. Just today, Vice President Cheney came out and endorsed John McCain. Do we need any more proof? I’m not surprised. Dick Cheney has been wrong on everything else the last eight years. He’s on a roll.