You know, it’s not every day that a candidate for Congress from the least-populated state in America becomes an instant potential frontrunning candidate for the presidency of the United States.
I believe that is what is happening with Liz Cheney, the lame-duck Wyoming Republican congresswoman who on Tuesday got buried under a relative landslide.
Cheney lost the GOP primary to Harriet Hageman, whom Donald Trump had endorsed. Trump has a serious hate on for Cheney because Cheney had the temerity to cast a pro-impeachment vote against Trump after he incited the 1/6 insurrectionist mob on the Capitol Building.
Cheney now has become Public Enemy No. 1 in the world of Trump.
Now, what about Cheney?
She lost her bid for a fourth term in the U.S. House. She is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. She is as conservative as they come, yet she now is considered a Republican In Name Only because of her outrage at Trump’s incitement of the treasonous mob on 1/6.
Cheney did not congratulate Hageman while delivering her concession speech Tuesday evening. Instead, she said the “real work” is just beginning. Media observers picked up on what they believe is a thinly veiled declaration that she might run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024 … particularly if Trump decides to jump back into electoral politics.
In a normal political environment, Liz Cheney’s loss in a Wyoming Republican primary would disappear from the news cycle before dawn of the next day. This isn’t a normal environment, though.
Liz Cheney now becomes a potential national player. She vows to devote the rest of her time in Congress seeking to keep Trump from re-entering the Oval Office. I wish her well in that effort.
The political landscape has become so topsy-turvy simply because Liz Cheney lost a Republican Party primary in a state that formerly mattered to few Americans.
It damn sure matters now!