Cheney set to raise cash for RNC chair hopeful

Dick Cheney is getting involved in the campaign to replace embattled Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.

The former vice president will co-chair a fundraiser Tuesday for Maria Cino, a former Bush operative who is exploring a run for RNC chair. According to CNN's Peter Hamby, the fundraiser is set to be held at the home of GOP strategist and former Cheney adviser Mary Matalin and will be hosted by several veterans of the Bush-Cheney orbit, including former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie.

Cino, a longtime GOP fundraiser who worked for the Republican National Committee on and off during the Bush years, has yet to say whether she's officially in the race to replace Steele. But she formed a 527 political committee last month to fund a campaign, in the event that she decides to jump into the race. Cheney's daughter Mary is listed as one of the committee's organizers.

Cino is expected to participate Thursday in a closed-door RNC meeting between prominent conservative members and leader candidates.

(Photo of Cheney: Tom Pennington/Getty Images)