Despite record low approval numbers for the Bush administration, Vice President Dick Cheney was greeted as a rock star yesterday at a fundraiser for Sen. Jon Kyl.

The event drew 625 people to The Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa, who packed themselves into an outdoor tent, paying $500 per head to hear Cheney stump for Kyl.

The vice president intricately tied the administration’s positions on the war in Iraq, tax cuts, judicial activism and the economy to Kyl’s voting record.

“”In Washington we could use more men like Jon Kyl,”” said Cheney. “”His re-election is good for the country.””

Despite a recent Associated Press poll that put the Bush administration’s approval rating at 37 percent, Cheney touched on several hot-button issues in Washington during his 20-minute speech.

Days after the third anniversary of the Iraq war, Cheney outlined how terrorists have been attacking Americans since the 1983 bombing of the barracks in Lebanon, killing 241 American service members.

He said that although terrorists have been trying to influence American foreign policy for 20 years, the U.S. would not leave Iraq until its mission was completed. He warned against a premature pullout in the region, saying the Bush administration would not accept “”an artificial timeline posed by politicians in D.C.””

Cheney also briefly discussed domestic wiretaps, although he refused to use that term. He said the controversy was misunderstood, saying the program was only instituted as a precaution to protect Americans from future attacks.

He said calling the program “”domestic surveillance”” was wrong and inaccurate, saying the calls that are being monitored by the NSA have included an international caller and are related to al-Qaeda.

Cheney said Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold’s call to censure President Bush for the wiretapping program as “”an outrageous position.””

Cheney’s stop in Tucson was one of many stops and he has spent most of the week stumping for Republican candidates running in November. The vice president’s visit helped raise a half-million dollars yesterday for Kyl’s re-election campaign.

The high point of the night came from Tucson businessman Jim Click, who made a tongue-in-cheek joke by referring to his willingness to speak his mind.

He called the vice president “”the straightest shooter in Washington.””