Cheney: Palin no lock in '12

WASHINGTON Cheney said the Alaska governor who was John McCain's running mate this year is no lock to be the Republican nominee for president in 2012. Cheney says Palin will have to "earn it," just like anybody else would.

Besides capturing the White House, Democrats widened their majorities in the House and Senate in this year's elections.

Cheney likens the current political cycle to the 1970s, when Republicans lost the White House following the Watergate scandal.

Republican Ronald Reagan won the presidency in 1980, after just a single term for Democrat Jimmy Carter.

Cheney spoke on "Fox News Sunday."