Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday he’s watching the current political spectacle “with great interest.” And he seems especially interested in the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Senator Barack Obama’s former preacher.

Though the controversy about the reverend and some of his perceived anti-American comments has been out of heavy news rotation lately, Mr. Cheney has not forgotten. He spoke about it in an interview on Sean Hannity’s radio show:

I thought the controversy over Reverend Wright was remarkable. I thought some of the things he said were absolutely appalling. And, you know, I haven’t gotten into the business of trying to judge how Senator Obama dealt with it, or didn’t deal with it, but I really — I think, like most Americans, I was stunned at what the Reverend was preaching in his church and then putting up on his website.

The vice president’s re-airing of the issue is another sign that the Reverend Wright will play a significant role in the Republican arguments against Mr. Obama if he is the Democratic nominee.