I know what the numbers mean. I can read profit. By those simple, cold, tough measures, Liz Cheney was overwhelmingly defeated in the Republican primaries in the House of Representatives in Wyoming on Tuesday night, and her time in Congress is dwindling.
But I can’t say she lost.
She received a lot less votes than her opponent, an immoral shapeshifter unfit to polish her shoes, because she chose the world of hard truth over the underworld of Donald Trump’s lies. It was a moral victory.
She has been snubbed by conservatives in Wyoming because she has the vision to see what Trump is like and – unlike Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, whose titles include the word “leader.” – she won’t blindfold. That makes her a champion in the ways most people care about.
Come January, she will no longer be Representative Cheney as she represents steadfast principle in an age with its grave deficits. History will smile on her for that. It will remember people like McConnell and McCarthy for different, darker reasons. You tell me who is the winner in this crowd.
I don’t mean to idealize her too much – easy to do, given the cowardice of so many others in her group. She is not a role model for altruism, and some conservatives I respect rolled their eyes when she first separated herself from the House team to denounce Trump in the most sweeping terms possible. body. They sensed that she had inherited Dick Cheney’s arrogance. They suspect that her motives include greatness. They rightly reinforced that she would be more of a political celebrity in exile than she would be playing with, and they guessed that she was making that calculation.
But there can be no argument, at least not among honest and reasonable patriots, about the correctness of her stance towards Trump, about her party’s loyalty to him and about her party’s loyalty to him. about the danger he poses to the future of American democracy.
And there’s no question at this point in her honesty. You can’t bear and survive with as bad as her if you don’t believe in what you’re doing. You cannot radiate the calm and confidence she has as vice chair of the January 6 committee if you are not confident that you are on the side of the angels.
Other than that, she didn’t do what some other Neverminds did and basically turned into a Democrat, adjusting and changing positions held so she could still belong somewhere. She is simple and important create cause with Democrats, which don’t erase her past, is more authentic and is enough.
I was very sad and angry when she celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, because I think she’s wrong: An embryo takes precedence over a woman who doesn’t have to become a fugitive from her state to exercise control over her own body. But I grudgingly respect Cheney’s loyalty to her beliefs and willingness to distance herself from her newest fans.
She’s the tough type – like father, like daughter – and heroes are just as messy as the villains. But she’s a hero, because she models independence for a country where too many people fall into the ranks of the tribe.
She don’t leave. She made clear her determination to hold onto her megaphone and continue to fight Trump in her concession speech Tuesday night, which was less concessions than vows – and an extravagant oath there. It invited and brought her into the company of Abraham Lincoln, who, she noted, “was defeated in the Senate and House elections before he won the most important election.” She is wary of the past and probably inherited that from Lynne Cheney, who writes serious books about the country’s political history. Like Mother like daughter.
Is her Lincoln reference a sign that she will run for president in 2024? Political observers wondered. They are right. We will find out soon. But now we know much of this: The losers on Tuesday night are the Republican Party, which needs her more than she needs it, and the United States, which needs rescue from Trump’s cruel indulgence. Cheney made that case as forcefully as anyone, holding the greatest reward of all: her dignity.
