Liz Cheney and the GOP's Inability to Let Go of Trump

I have never liked former Vice President Dick Cheney who at times I viewed as a real life Emperor Palpatine and who seemed responsible for some of the biggest errors of George W's tenure at the White House.  Of course, that was before the rise of Donald Trump who turned out to be the true real life equivalent of Palpatine with a desire to end American democracy.  Thus, it was with some measure of surprise to see Cheney's equally ambitious daughter, Liz Cheney vote to impeach Trump and hold him responsible for inciting insurrection and apparently put the view of history of her ahead of self-prostitution and self-debasement to Trump and his hideous base of support.   Now, the members of the Trumpist, anti-democracy crowd in the Republican Party are coming for Cheney and suggesting that the GOP may indeed be incapable of self-reform.   A piece in Politico looks at the infighting within the GOP:

 Liz Cheney was once considered the future of the GOP. Now she’s fighting to keep her political career alive.

After voting to impeach Donald Trump last week, the highest-ranking woman in the House GOP finds herself at risk of losing her leadership post; staring down a pro-Trump primary challenge; and censured by some of her own party back home in Wyoming.

The most immediate threat to Cheney — a push by Trump loyalists to oust her as conference chair — has gained momentum inside the House GOP, although the process is complicated and could still sputter out. But at least 107 Republicans, or just over a majority, have communicated to the leaders of that effort that they would support removing Cheney from leadership on a secret ballot, according to multiple GOP sources involved in the effort. Others are threatening to boycott future conference meetings if she remains in power.

And at least two members have privately signaled interest in replacing Cheney as the No. 3 Republican, sources say: Reps. Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin, two New Yorkers who both sprang to popularity in the party after fiercely defending Trump during his first impeachment.

If Cheney does lose her post, it will be the latest sign that the Trumpification of the Republican Party isn't stopping anytime soon, even after [Trump] the ex-president flew off to Mar-a-Lago with a disgraced legacy in Washington. Some say the Cheney fight has already become a proxy battle for the heart and soul of the splintered GOP.

“She has proven that she is out of step with the vast majority of our conference and the Republicans across the nation,” said freshman Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), who is spearheading the resolution calling on Cheney to step down. “A lot of people within our conference have a problem with it.”

Long-simmering frustrations with Cheney — once a fast-rising star in the GOP — have spiked inside the GOP, especially among its right flank, according to interviews with over a dozen lawmakers and aides. Members are not only angry with her impeachment vote, but also furious that Cheney announced her position a day ahead — giving Democrats ample time to use her statement in all of their talking points, while also providing cover to the nine other Republicans who backed impeachment.

But several other senior Republicans think Cheney ultimately hangs on to her post, arguing most Republicans will have little appetite for creating more chaos in the conference at a time when the party is desperate to unite.

And behind the scenes, Cheney has been doing a bit of damage control: she has been making calls to all corners of the conference to hear lawmakers out and ensure the party is unified going forward, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

“Removing Liz as the Conference Chair when she did exactly what the Leader told all of us to do – vote her conscience – sends a bad message,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement. “And I’ve spoken with many members of our Conference who have expressed their support for Liz and her leadership. I have confidence she will remain in her position and she has my support.”

Cheney’s allies argue that removing her from leadership — and thereby aligning the party even more closely with Trump — could backfire ahead of 2022. It could also help Cheney carve out a unique lane if she chooses to launch a White House bid in 2024, they say.

“I think it'd be a disaster,” Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) said of Cheney’s potential ouster. “We need to keep our eye on the ball. We have a very great chance of taking the majority.”

“And if we continue to give the American people a vision of Republican internal fratricide,” he added, “that doesn't do us any favors in convincing them that we're better apt to lead the House of Representatives, come midterm Presidency of Joe Biden.”

Even if Cheney does manage to cling on to her leadership perch, she’s still facing serious questions about her long-term future in the House GOP, which is still overwhelmingly pro-Trump. Some lawmakers think she’ll never be able to run for leadership again.

Meanwhile, her political problems back home have started to pile up: state Sen. Anthony Bouchard has already announced a primary challenge, though it could be tough to knock out someone with a national profile as large Cheney's. A local county Republican Party in Wyoming unanimously agreed to censure Cheney last weekend over her impeachment vote.

Yet Cheney — who has clashed with colleagues before — has so far rebuffed calls to step aside. She also was unapologetic about her impeachment stance, framing it as a vote of conscience and privately telling colleagues she wanted to be on the right side of history, political consequences be damned.

Many of the same Republicans who backed [Trump's] the president’s baseless election fraud allegations, such as Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), are now leading the charge against Cheney.

[M]ajor corporations have frozen donations to lawmakers who challenged the election results — which includes Zeldin and Stefanik — giving a Cheney an edge there.

In a sign of how intense the issue has become, offices that are choosing to stand behind Cheney are receiving hundreds, if not thousands, of anti-Cheney spam emails, according to lawmakers/aides.

Yet that hasn’t stopped some members from voicing their support for Cheney.