by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Wyoming is, by physical size, the ninth largest state in the Union, but with less that 600,000 people living within its borders, Wyoming is also the least populated of all fifty states. Because of its small number of residents, Wyoming only has one member of the US House of Representatives, and for the past six years that member of Congress has been Liz Cheney, a Republican. Ms. Cheney, an attorney, former Fox News personality, and married mother of five, is also the oldest child of former US Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, television journalist Lynne Cheney.
Rep. Cheney was promoted into a leadership position in her party almost as soon as she got to Congress, and it looked to many as though she might eventually become Speaker of the House. But Cheney, who arrived in Congress just a couple of weeks before Donald Trump was sworn in as President, was destined to take another path in the service of her country. Liz Cheney was one of ten Republican members of the House who voted to impeach Donald Trump over his encouragement of, and participation in, events leading up to the public uprising at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, and she later served as vice-chair of the congressional committee which is still investigating that treasonous insurrection.
Trump, well known for his vindictive nature, set about trying to destroy the careers of Republicans whom he deemed had been disloyal to him, and Cheney was at the top of his list. After pressure from Trump, the GOP removed her from her position as the Republican Conference Chair in Congress, and Trump publicly endorsed Harriet Hageman, Cheney's most prominent GOP opponent, in the August primary - an election which is being held today.
Liz Cheney has conducted a lackluster campaign in Wyoming, choosing to not even spend a large portion of her campaign war chest, and most polls show her losing to Hageman by twenty or more percentage points. The main political thrust has been to encourage Democrats and Independents to change their party registration to Republican for this election in order to vote for Cheney, and figures released today by the Wyoming Secretary of State's office indicate that as many as 4,000 (10 percent of registered Democrats) may have done that. Even so, that number appears to be far short of what Rep. Cheney would need in order to prevail over Hageman.
The political speculation seems to be that Liz Cheney has resigned herself to defeat in today's race, and that she will use her new found cross-party appeal to pivot into a different political trajectory. There is talk that after the January 6th hearings conclude, Cheney may choose to get into the 2024 presidential race with the specific aim of shooting down any Trump effort to regain the power of the presidency - sort of a Kamikaze Liz!
Donald Trump seems to be on the verge of ending Liz Cheney's career in Congress, and she is seems to be intent on returning the favor.
And somewhere someone is popping piles and piles of popcorn!
Bring it on!
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