Sometimes all experience does is build power
I never contended that Dick Cheney was a government experience lightweight. He's got incredible experience in governement. Believe me, my disgust in Dick Cheney is with what he's done with that experience. He's used it to build personal wealth and power at the expense of a lot of people. The credibility he's built up with me is that if he says something in a speech now, my immediate take is to pull apart what he said and find out how it personally benefits him or his business contacts.
As I've stated before in other threads, I generally vote to limit experience and power. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Start fresh as often as you can. Just possibly you may pull in some politicians that have an ounce of respect and ethics left.