Liz Cheney, Cowgirl

"O give me a home where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play . . . ."  If you're Liz Cheney you could rewrite the lyrics, maybe to go something like this:  Out where I have heard some discouraging words, but I'm gonna to run here anyway.

 

It's official.  Liz Cheney, firstborn daughter of former VP Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne, is running for the U.S. Senate.  She announced her bid for the seat occupied by three-term Wyoming senator, Mike Enzi, longtime friend of the Cheney family.  The word awkward doesn't begin to describe the sticky wicket where many Republicans and various donors—friends of both Enzi and the Cheney family—will find themselves as 2014 approaches. Apparently Liz Cheney told Senator Enzi she wouldn't run if he planned to seek another term; he is seeking a fourth term, and she was aware of that when she announced. 

 

She said in her announcement that she's "a mother and a patriot."  While the word patriot is a subjective term, we know for sure she's a mother.   When it comes to spewing toxic vitriol,  she's second only to Ann Coulter—and each of them can get really creative with "facts" when sticking it to President Obama or any Democrat.

 

When asked about his reaction to her announcement, Enzi said "I thought she was my friend."  Pundits are predicting Liz Cheney's career move will cause quite a fissure in the Republican Party.  There are so many fissures in it now, I don't know how they can find a place to stand, even if they decided to take one—what with their alienation of the soon-to-be majority of American voters.  

 

A number of elected officials have launched careers by moving to a new state—usually a place where they have some ties.  Cheney's family is a part of Wyoming's history; however,  Liz Cheney has lived her adult life in Virginia with her husband and five children.  (She did attend Colorado College where her senior thesis was "The Evolution of Presidential War Powers.") The carpetbagger thing probably won't get Enzi a Primary win; however, her schoolyard-bully attitude and her abrasive manner of speaking—chalk scraping the blackboard—probably will not play well with Wyoming voters.  Neither will Cheney's saying that Enzi is too willing to compromise with those on the other side of the aisle.   I'm betting that most down-to-earth Wyoming residents carry some common sense under those cowboy and cowgirl hats.  We all know that Congress has a pathetically low approval rating, based in large part on members' unwillingness to "reach across the aisle" and compromise.  Which Enzi is being accused by Cheney of doing "too much."  That alone could be reason enough to hold onto that seat.  If I were Enzi,  I'd consider making it the theme of my campaign.  No doubt she will be well-financed.

 

One more thing:  The Wyoming home Cheney bought last year is in Jackson Hole, a high-end  habitat described as "posh"and brimming over with those "elitists" Republicans accuse Democrats of being.  Standing under the Wyoming sky in her denim shirt won't fool anybody into believing she's an unpretentious, down-to-earth gal.  In fact,  I think she'd be wise to leave most of her belongings at the home in Virginia.