Liz Cheney and Democrats' big tent strategy: Why courting Republicans works for Kamala Harris
I once wrote that Liz Cheney was the most dangerous woman in America. I thought she could easily be the nominee in 2024 and believed that she'd be worse than her father because she was just as right-wing but had served during the chaotic Trump era. I cautioned that "Democrats should work very hard to keep the loyalty of women who have left the GOP in recent years. Cheney or (Nikki) Haley could potentially get them back if the Dems are perceived to have failed them."
I concluded that it was likely that the first woman president would have to be a Republican because I didn't think independent men (and maybe some Democrats, too) would vote for a Democratic woman, fearing that they just aren't "tough enough." Cheney was in the GOP leadership at the time and made it up the ladder faster than anyone I could remember. She came into the job with a stellar Republican pedigree as the daughter of Dick "Prince of Darkness" Cheney and backed Trump to the hilt. She was tough as nails and also seemed to be a pretty savvy politician. She worried me — a lot.
Cheney drew the line at Trump's attempt to overturn the election, his incitement of an insurrection and the Big Lie he perpetuates to this day.
Needless to say, I was wrong about everything.
Today Liz Cheney has been drummed out of the Republican Party and a Black and South Asian Woman from California, Kamala Harris, is running for president on the Democratic ticket. Cheney appeared in Wisconsin on Thursday and said "I tell you, I have never voted for a Democrat, but this year I am proudly casting my vote for VP Kamala Harris."
She added: "We are not going back!"
I will admit this is not entirely comfortable. I've seen so little true political courage from Republicans in the last couple of decades, and especially in the last eight years, that I reflexively mistrust it. I've been on........
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