That’s one harsh lesson Obama recently learned:

In an interview on MSNBC Tuesday afternoon, Mrs. Cheney said that in the course of researching her husband’s genealogy for her new book, “Blue Skies, No Fences,” she discovered that [Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama] share an ancestor eight generations ago.

. . .

Obama’s family ties to the Bush administration don’t stop with Cheney. According to an article in the Chicago Sun-Times last September, Obama is also an 11th cousin of the president himself. The two share a 17th century Massachusetts relative.

There goes Obama’s campaign. No matter how many generations separate he may be from Dick and Bush, there must be some green, reptilian blood still flowing through his veins.

[On a sidenote: It’s too bad we didn’t know Bush and Dick had a black man in their family in 2000 and 2004. Would’ve made for some great Republican-style hateful direct-mail pieces and phone-banking.]

Mrs. Cheney won’t be supporting Obama in his presidential run, though. So much for keeping it all in the family.

The Obama campaign had the best reaction:

Obama’s campaign spokesman Bill Burton told CNN’s Dana Bash with tongue in cheek, “Obviously, Dick Cheney is sort of the black sheep of the family.”

Get it? Black? Sheep?