Make no mistake, the purge of Liz Cheney from the Republican party is an ongoing and pernicious thing. If it would succeed, God help us, the message it would carry is a brutal one. That message is that Donald Trump is the undisputed ruler of the GOP. Not the frontrunner, the ruler. There is a massive difference. If Trump manages to oust Cheney, in deep red Wyoming, which he and his lap dog Kevin McCarthy are making every effort to do, that will signify the end of the old Republican party as we knew it, and the solidification of the new MAGA Nation party of Donald Trump and the crazies. It is as simple and as black and white as that.
The purge of Cheney effort got a big boost from Kevin McCarthy Thursday when he endorsed Cheney’s primary opponent, Harriet Hageman. Then it was revealed that Donald Trump is in the mix. Trump has made phone calls to Wyoming Governor Mark Gordan asking him to endorse a proposed state law which would change existing law, which states that a person may change their party registration on voting day and become cross-over voters. This is Liz Cheney’s escape hatch. The Democrats and Independents in Wyoming could change their party affiliation for purposes of voting in the Republican primary. This is the escape Hatch Trump seeks to seal. Politico:
The bill, introduced by Republican state Sen. Bo Biteman, is part of a push by some Republicans in the state to oust Cheney by blocking Democrats from switching parties to support her in her upcoming election against Trump-endorsed congressional candidate, Harriet Hageman.
Behind the scenes, Trump and Club for Growth’s David McIntosh have both personally called Wyoming’s Republican governor, Mark Gordon, to encourage him to back the bill, according to two people familiar with the calls.
“The Governor has had many conversations about this issue, including with President Trump and David McIntosh, however characterizing that as ‘pressure’ would be incorrect. Governor Gordon is going to do what’s best for Wyoming and he respects the legislative process,” said Michael Perlman, the communications director for Gordon.
The intensity of the push for the legislation peaked earlier this week, when Republicans began speculating that Gordon could announce his support for it in his State of the State address. But he did not. And as the week has gone on, Trump’s private lobbying became public.
“This critically important bill ensures that the voters in each party will separately choose their nominees for the General Election, which is how it should be!” Trump said in a statement. “It makes total sense that only Democrats vote in the Democrat primary and only Republicans vote in the Republican primary.”
The former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., also called on Wyoming to “pay attention” to the bill and American Conservative Union president Matt Schlapp — a close Trump ally — tweeted on Thursday that his group might score the legislation as it considered its support of GOP lawmakers.
“There was a big push this morning to get all of our MAGA influencers to push it and make a big deal out of it,” said one Republican operative involved in the race.
This particular voting law has been controversial for some time. There are those who say Gordon is only in office because Democrats switched parties in order to get him on the ballot.
But beyond that is the larger issue that Dick Cheney used to be a local god in Wyoming, Halliburton and all. If Liz Cheney is repudiated at the polls, it will likewise be a repudiation of Dick Cheney as well. Maybe that can happen. I can tell you first hand because I grew up in Colorado and knew many people in Wyoming that twenty years ago this would not have been possible, or even ten, but the age of Trump has wrought many horrors, and this could be just one more of them.
Wyoming has joined Georgia as the laser focus of the 2022 election, starting with this GOP primary, which is going to make a very large statement about the general state of affairs within the Republican party, far beyond this one congressional seat under dispute. That one seat is the least of it. The fate of the Republican party lies in the balance. Either Liz Cheney will endure, and become the face of the new GOP, or Donald Trump will triumph with MAGA Nation. Again, it is as simple and as black and white as that. May sanity prevail in Wyoming.
I checked and Wyoming does have a sore loser law, so if Cheney loses the primary she’s out. I’m still betting on Liz. Just because the MAGAts are the loudest, doesn’t mean they are the majority of the party in Wyoming. According to Ballotpedia, there are a total of six candidates running in the rethug primary which doesn’t happen until August. Lots of time for shenanigans. By TFG being so blatant, he may inadvertently help Cheney. ETTD (Everything Trump Touches Dies).
To say nothing of a recent track record of cooperation among GQP primary rivals. Could see a mini-repeat of the 2016 Republican presidential primaries: everybody else shorts themselves out in the winner’s favor.
To paraphrase Garth Ennis, if these people think Trump’s payback is bad, they haven’t met Liz Cheney’s. She’s taking the names of everybody who is currently screwing her over here. When–not if–she becomes their actual leader, she’ll institute the Republican Cheney Saw Massacre.
Liz has shown a dedication to truth in spite of all the horrors of Trump, McConnell, a poisonous yes-team working for Trump …
The GOP has shown a withering spine from the, “Good-ole-days”, back when there were actually voices heard on both sides … The Trump final page is close at hand, the horrors do continue … The abundance of evidence against Trump and family, being stacked up in the state and city court system will reduce the T’s to blithering idiots …