Barrett Rainey's Second Thoughts

I’m not fan of Liz Cheney. Too close to the edge of the flat, far-right earth for me.

So saying, her fellow Republicans have screwed her over in steam-roller style. She’s right. They’re wrong. Very wrong.

The depth of willingness of millions of Americans to follow that horse’s patoot in Florida, astride his golden elephant, is both stunning and embarrassing. But, that’s what many Republican office holders – and the great “unwashed” – are apparently doing.

If you look at the short game, the Cheney episode is likely the first of many purges to come. Purity has always been the Achilles heel of the far right. That’s why there are so many spinoffs and splintering. Our political landscape is awash with little Republican factions because, sooner or later, someone in the group is deemed “unworthy” so he/she is exiled. And a new group is formed.

“King” Trump and current Royal Jester, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, have sent Cheney to GOP purgatory so they can install a willing replacement who buys into Trumps fantasy of his “shadow presidency.”

In the short game, it seems Trump and his deliberately ignorant followers are ahead.

But, I’d bet Liz has a small, experienced, whispering voice near her ear. And that “small voice” is non-other than her father – one of the most dangerous and domineering “voices” in American politics for the last 50 years. Ol’ Richard himself.

Which should shift our focus to the long game – a game the elder Cheney played for decades in Congress and in the back office of the White House.

Her op-ed in The Washington Post a few weeks back, was all but an official announcement of her future plans. It was full of highfalutin thoughts of a Republican Party being “true to its historic values and principles” – her desire for a “truly Conservative America” – “the rule of law” – and a Party “at a turning point in its history.” It would be easy for a political writer to make a realistic party platform of such words.

I think Liz has a staked out a path for herself. While Ol’ Dick is a trusted voice to many, she doesn’t need a lot of fatherly advice. She’s a good thinker who rapidly rose through the GOP ranks from a back bench to a front seat in quick order. Even with just few a years in office, she rose to leadership by proving her worth.

But – she and Daddy together, have thousands of contacts within the Party. They’ve got unlisted phone numbers, very private email lists. Both are on a first-name basis with national figures. And, they know the “back avenues” necessary to get things done in Washington.

I’d bet Ol’ Dick is trying to position his daughter as a stable, experienced, viable Republican leader who other “right-thinking” Republicans can rally around. There could be talk in the Cheney Wyoming compound of a second Republican Party – Republican “light” – an effort to build anew by attracting disappointed and wayward GOP’ers who ain’t Trumpers.

Liz Cheney is making news these days. Some even predict she’ll run for president in 2024. Very, very doubtful. But, while current news is mostly about Republican supporters of the Mar-a-Lago Moola getting rid of her, solid, right-thinking Republicans and a lot of Independents and Democrats know DJT and his faction of the GOP “done her wrong.” She’s receiving a lot of sympathy. And sympathy is often good currency in politics.

Short game – he wins. Long game – there’s a lot of “playing” to be done between now and 2024. The “game” ain’t over.

Buy a program. Get some popcorn. Take a seat and see how it goes.

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