Liz Cheney: A surprising Senate challenge
The daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney will mount a primary challenge to fellow Republican Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming.
Darth Vader has a daughter, and she’s running for the Senate, said Michelle Cottle in TheDailyBeast.com.Liz Cheney, the offspring of “bloodthirsty overlord” and former vice president Dick Cheney, announced last week that she will mount a primary challenge to fellow Republican Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming in next year’s primary. Enzi is one of the most conservative members of the Senate—anti-abortion, pro-gun, and anti–gay marriage. But that still puts him to the left of Liz, a “woman who remains 100 percent convinced that her dad was 100 percent right 100 percent of the time.” Invading Iraq? Great idea. Torture? A no-brainer. Is Obama a terrorist-appeasing wimp who’s betrayed his own country? Right-o. Liz’s attacks on Obama, and anyone who disagrees with her neocon views, have been so unhinged that many Republicans are expressing open horror that she’s running. “It’s a disaster,” said former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson.
Quite the opposite, said Jonathan S. Tobin in CommentaryMagazine.com. Enzi’s a tired member of the Republican Old Guard—“a lackluster 69-year-old who has been occupying the seat for three terms without exactly covering himself with glory.” If he disappeared from the Senate, no one would even notice. Cheney, meanwhile, “is widely acknowledged to be one of the party’s brightest stars.” Enzi’s big flaw is that he’s too chummy with Republican leaders like Sen. Mitch McConnell, said Erick Erickson in RedState.com.As a result, he supports the farm bill, the post office bailout, and other big-spending measures favored by the GOP establishment. We need more combative figures like Sen. Ted Cruz, who use their visibility to “put points on the board for conservatives.” Liz Cheney has the same kind of guts.
Wyoming Republicans don’t share that enthusiasm, said Peter Grier in CSMonitor.com. In the first poll of likely primary voters, Enzi walloped Cheney 55–21. She’s being seen for the carpetbagger she is: Though born in Wisconsin, Cheney has spent most of her adult life in Washington, D.C., and suburban Virginia, and only bought a house in touristy Jackson Hole last year. Democrats, however, are very supportive of Cheney’s decision to run, said Gail Collins in The New York Times. “Nothing makes the Democrats happier than seeing the opposition torn apart by a primary featuring scary, right-wing candidates.” It’s even better if the scary candidate’s name is Cheney, and her seething belligerence reminds “the nation of how we came to have a war in Iraq.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Biden is smart to keep the border-security pressure on'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Bird flu worries mount as virus found in milk, cows
Speed Read The FDA found traces of the virus in pasteurized grocery store milk
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Palazzo Durazzo Suites in Genoa: a palatial gem in northern Italy
The Week Recommends Live your Italian dream in this astonishing and recently restored palace in the heart of the city
By Nick Hendry Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published