Women - A Vanishing Breed Among Congressional Republicans

As the base of the Republican Party has become increasingly concentrated among aging whites, Christian extremists, white supremacists and vulture capitalists, something has happened to Republican women in Congress: they are vanishing.  At this time, it appears that only 13 women will be among the Republican caucus in 2019 - down by 10 from the present Congress.   To anyone sentient, the reason should be obvious: women do not like the GOP's racist, male privilege based  agenda and will vote against Republicans even when the Republican candidate is a woman.    Yet the GOP seems shocked and ponders how to regain support from women.  Jettisoning much of the current GOP platform would be an obvious choice if one is in touch with objective reality, but don't hold your breath waiting for reality to set in.  A piece in the Washington Post looks at the phenomenon.  Here are highlights:

About a half dozen House Republican women gathered this week for a somber, post-election dinner.

Exchanging thoughts about the brutal results for GOP candidates, they realized something depressing, according to one attendee. That small dinner group represented about half the total number of Republican women who would serve in the House next year.

Just 13 GOP women have won election so far to serve in the next Congress, down from 23 this year. With a half dozen races yet to be resolved, the House GOP — the minority party next year — is all but certain to have the lowest number of women in its ranks since 1994.

That drop-off came amid a national political climate that saw female voters sharply break from Republicans. Women favored Democrats over Republicans for Congress, 59 percent to 40 percent, according to exit polls.

It has set off a debate within the Republican Party about how to address this crisis, both in terms of appealing to female voters and recruiting and retaining women in Congress.
“I think the Republicans have to get off of defense on this issue,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said Friday in an interview.

Cheney was the uncontested winner this week in the race for House Republican conference chairwoman, which puts her in charge of the party’s communications and messaging strategy. She will become the party’s highest-profile woman in Congress, trying to rebuild and rebrand its battered image.

But she does not see any need for course corrections on policies relating to women, arguing that Democrats create silos for female issues that treat women in a condescending way. . . . She said that issues like security and a strong economy cut across gender lines and that if Republicans made that argument better and had more women making the pitch, they would win more support. “We need more women running for office, no doubt,” Cheney said.  Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) could not agree more. . . . . . “Take a look around,” she told the GOP lawmakers. “This is not reflective of the American public.”

Stefanik said she then asked Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the minority leader candidates, what their plans were to recruit and elect more women.  “I was struck that I really didn’t get an answer,” she recalled in an interview Friday.

Just one new Republican woman, so far, will be sworn in for her first term in January.  Yet when Cheney and Stefanik look across the aisle next year, they will see a record number of female Democrats, at least 89.

Trump won two years ago despite more than a dozen women accusing him of improper conduct or sexual assault, charges he denies. After his win, the Democratic Party and liberal activists focused early on recruiting and advancing female candidates. The reaction to the #MeToo movement further encouraged Democratic women, culminating in the clash over sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh and the GOP’s treatment of his accusers.

Kavanaugh denied the allegations. Trump mocked one of his accusers, .  . . Stefanik took a more nuanced view, believing that the terrible standing with women was pretty well baked before last month’s confirmation vote.  “We were having problems with women voters before that,” she said.

Cheney sees her main focus as sharpening the party’s message. She intends to do a lot more than just stand behind McCarthy, the incoming minority leader, to provide a better visual backdrop.

She wants to go after Democrats for supporting a “socialist economic policy” like single-payer insurance and how such a national health program would limit women’s medical choices. “That would be a disaster,” she said.

I'm sorry, but Cheney - a child of privilege who has ridden her parents' fame to success - is clueless on the issue of heath care access.  The more I see and with a background of doing legal work for  hospital system, single payer insurance is the only way all citizens will have equal access to adequate healthcare. 

The Cheneys' Call for Permanent War

Evil incarnate

In my book few politicians are more despicable than the megalomaniac Dick Cheney who seemingly wants America to be engaged in a permanent war - apparently so that Cheney can make vasts amounts of money through his holdings in Halliburton.  Yes, the same Halliburton that made out like a bandit on the disastrous Iraq War.  A war that Dick Cheney - and his douche bag daughter - thinks the USA needs to restart.  Why the mainstream media gives these foul individuals a platform defies belief. The man needs to be treated as an outcast.  The Daily Beast looks at this nasty and despicable duo and the venom they are spewing.  Here are excerpts:

Today comes the announcement that the ex-insurgent Senate candidate—you know, the one who thought her sister shouldn’t be allowed to get married—and her dad have founded a new nonprofit, the Alliance for a Strong America, “because we know that America’s security depends upon reversing President Obama’s policies.”

This organization is necessary, we’re told by Liz and father Dick in their eye-popping Wall Street Journal op-ed, because Barack Obama has “diminished and weakened” America. The top threat we need to wake up to? Al Qaeda—in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Syria. And, of course, the killing of four Americans almost three years ago in Benghazi, about which the president has “repeatedly misled us.”

Discredited voices get just as much love from the First Amendment as creditable ones, so the Cheneys can say whatever they want. But it’s worth stopping to reflect on the audacity it takes someone who left office with an approval rating below 20 percent to interject himself so aggressively into public discourse—on policies whose public support is almost as low.

If all this sounds familiar to you, you are right—and you also pay far too much attention to the employment needs of ex-Bush administration officials. Seems like just yesterday—2009, in fact—that Liz Cheney, along with Bill Kristol and Debra Burlingame (whose brother died on 9/11), founded Keep America Safe, which aimed to “make the case for an unapologetic approach to fighting terrorism around the world, for victory in the wars this country fights, for democracy and human rights, and for a strong American military that is needed in the dangerous world in which we live.”

It may say everything we need to know about Keep America Safe’s success rate that I hadn’t realized until this morning that it was defunct.

Cheney and Chimperator Bush sent thousands of young Americans to needless deaths.  In addition, they caused the deaths of thousands and thousands of Iraqi civilians, authorized torture and violations of the Geneva Conventions  and bankrupted America in the process. Dick Cheney needs to be put on trial for war crimes and if convicted,might merit a death sentence.  Frankly, I can't think of anything that would make senior America political figures to shape up more than seeing someone like Cheney executed for war crimes.

Liz Cheney Quits Wyoming Senate Race

Perhaps realizing that she was going to go down in a humiliating defeat, Liz Chaney - who I consider to be one nasty bitch - has abruptly pulled out of the Wyoming GOP senatorial primary race.  Chaney, who seems to be the female version of her evil father, cited undefined family health issues as a motivation.  Time will tell if this is truly the case or whether she finally figured out that she was viewed as a carpetbagger and was not wanted by Wyoming Republicans.  Here are excerpts from a New York Times story:

Liz Cheney announced early Monday morning that she is withdrawing from the Wyoming Republican Senate primary, bringing an abrupt end to her unsteady challenge to the incumbent, Michael B. Enzi.

“Serious health issues have recently arisen in our family, and under the circumstances, I have decided to discontinue my campaign,” Ms. Cheney said in a statement. “My children and their futures were the motivation for our campaign and their health and well-being will always be my overriding priority.”

Since Ms. Cheney, 47, the former vice president’s elder daughter, declared her candidacy in July against Mr. Enzi — a well-liked, three-term Senate veteran —she not only never found traction but also wound up causing deep rifts among longtime friends and even within her own family. 

Her task was always going to be difficult. Unlike some of the other sitting Republican senators who have been challenged in primaries in recent years, Mr. Enzi has a solidly conservative voting record and did not present the sort of vulnerabilities Ms. Cheney could exploit. But Ms. Cheney never was able to focus much on her opponent, spending much of her five-month candidacy fending off distractions to her campaign. 

Having relocated from suburban Washington to the Jackson Hole area in 2012, she faced relentless questions about her residency and why she would move to the state her father once represented in Congress and almost immediately begin running for office against an incumbent. Longtime friends of the Cheney family in Wyoming, including former Senator Alan K. Simpson, fretted publicly about such a divisive primary. His open expressions of concern prompted a private rebuke from Liz Cheney’s mother, Lynne, who told him to “shut up,” according to Mr. Simpson. 

The perception of Liz Cheney as a carpetbagger was compounded when it was revealed this summer in the Wyoming news media that she had sought a fishing license — a rite of passage in the state — by claiming on her application to be a 10-year resident.

Further, in an interview with The New York Times, Mary Cheney revealed that she had not spoken to her sister in months and that they would not be spending the holidays together. That prompted Dick and Lynne Cheney to issue a statement, which seemed to take Liz’s side in the dispute, affirming that their elder daughter was in fact opposed to same-sex marriage. 

Liz Cheney, thanks to some help from her father, had raised $1 million for her campaign in the first months of her candidacy, allowing her to air a pair of introductory television ads that emphasized her family’s deep roots in Wyoming. A “super PAC” supporting Ms. Cheney was also set up and began to raise money. 

Ms. Cheney’s sudden withdrawal, first reported Sunday by CNN, was indeed dramatic — as much of the short-lived campaign had been. But not for reasons she or her parents would have liked. A campaign meant to carry on the Cheney banner of pugnacious conservatism, especially on national security, offered a vivid reminder about the limitations of transferring political power. 

Good riddance and, if the country is lucky, she will fade into the political wilderness.

Dick, Lynne and Liz Cheney Throw Daughter/Sister Under the Bus on Gay Marriage

There are few people that I deem more foul than Dick Cheney who, in my opinion ought to be on trial for war crimes and facing the ultimate punishment.  The man has about as much empathy for the humanity of others as the Nazi death camp guards.  The man is vile and truly deserves to be compared to Darth Vader.  But the "foul stench" to quote Princess Leia also of Star Wars fame extends beyond Dick Cheney to his equally toxic wife Lynne and daughter Lynne who  have shown themselves only too happy to throw daughter/sister Mary Cheney under the bus  on the issue of gay marriage in the insane quest to see Liz Cheney elected to the U. S. Senate.  The Hill looks at the civil war of sorts that has developed within the Cheney family.  Here are excerpts:

As his two daughters publicly feud over gay marriage, former Vice President Cheney is stepping in to defend daughter Liz Cheney (R), who is running for the Senate in Wyoming.

Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, released a statement saying Liz has always opposed gay marriage and defending her treatment of her sister, who is openly gay.

"This is an issue we have dealt with privately for many years, and we are pained to see it become public," the older Cheneys say in a statement.

"Since it has, one thing should be clear. Liz has always believed in the traditional definition of marriage. She has also always treated her sister and her sister's family with love and respect, exactly as she should have done. Compassion is called for, even when there is disagreement about such a fundamental matter and Liz's many kindnesses shouldn't be used to distort her position."

Dick Cheney supports gay marriage. 

Liz Cheney, who is running against Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), has been put in a tough spot on the issue. A socially conservative group has been airing ads accusing her of supporting gay marriage. She's insisted she's always opposed it. After she asserted that again on Sunday, both Mary Cheney and her wife took to Facebook to rip her for the stance.

"Liz — this isn't just an issue on which we disagree — you're just wrong — and on the wrong side of history," Mary Cheney wrote in the public note to her sister.

Adding to the fun, Mary Cheney's wife, Heather has not been one to hold her tongue.  Queerty has a sampling of Heather's response:

Apparently, this was too much for Mary and Heather, who took to Facebook to call Liz a hypocrite.
 
“Liz — this isn’t just an issue on which we disagree you’re just wrong — and on the wrong side of history,” Mary wrote, taking exception to Liz’s portrayal of their opposition as just a policy matter.

Heather was a lot less restrained in her Facebook post. ”Liz has been a guest in our home, has spent time and shared holidays with our children, and when Mary and I got married in 2012 — she didn’t hesitate to tell us how happy she was for us,” Poe wrote. “To have her now say she doesn’t support our right to marry is offensive to say the least.”

Heather also didn’t stop from hitting Liz on a campaign weakness: that she’s a carpetbagger in Wyoming. “I can’t help but wonder how Liz would feel if as she moved from state to state, she discovered that her family was protected in one but not the other.”

And just to rub it in, Heather added, “Yes, Liz, in fifteen states and the District of Columbia you are my sister-in-law.”

The postings made public a long simmering family battle over marriage equality that mirrors the one within the Republican party. Mary and Liz stopped talking last August after Liz came out against marriage equality.

Ever the politician, Liz tried to paper over the problem in a statement.  “I love my sister and her family and have always tried to be compassionate towards them. I believe that is the Christian way to behave.” Of course, the “Christian” is code that plays well with the right-wing base Liz is trying to attract.

Mary is having none of it. In an interview with The New York Times, she made it clear that this was a battle not just between two sisters but for the soul of the GOP.

“What amazes me is that she says she’s running to be a new generation of leader,” Mary said. “I’m not sure how sticking to the positions of the last 20 or 30 years is the best way to do that.”

The ultimate irony is that the Cheney family is ripping itself apart when Liz Cheney's opponent is 52% ahead of her in the polls:

Liz Cheney’s support has faded in Wyoming since the summer, according to internal polling conducted for a super PAC that’s been running ads against her and shared exclusively with POLITICO.

Sen. Mike Enzi (R) has expanded his lead over the former vice president’s daughter by 12 points among likely primary voters since August. The three-term incumbent was up 52 points, 69 percent to 17 percent, in a survey conducted by Bob Wickers of The Wickers Group at the end of October.

Read the rest of the article for the rest of the Cheney family batshitery.

Liz "Mini Me" Cheney Announces Senate to Challenge GOP Incumbent

In my view, perhaps one of the foulest figures in more recent U.S. Political history - it's a toss up with Richard Nixon - is Dick Cheney, a/k/a Emperor Palpatine Cheney on this blog.  Cheney almost single handedly led the cretin like George W. Bush around by the nose and precipitated the disasters in Afghanistan and Iraq which resulted in thousands of American deaths and billions of squandered American taxpayer dollars.  Now, Emperor Palpatines's daughter - who is the antithesis to Princess Leah - has announced that she will run for the U. S. Senate seat for Wyoming in the 2014 election.  Never mind that she has never actually lived in Wyoming until recently.  Thankfully, Wyoming Republicans are not amused and the official party apparatus is likely to oppose Ms. Cheney.  An intra-party bloodbath would obviously be delicious to watch.  Here are highlights from Politico:

Liz Cheney announced Tuesday that she will challenge Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi in a Republican primary next year.  The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney made the announcement in a six-minute YouTube video. Most of her announcement was an attack on President Barack Obama, with only a veiled swipe at the incumbent.

Enzi, 69, announced Tuesday that he will run for a fourth term. He said at the Capitol that Cheney did not give him a heads up and defiantly insisted that her move will not dissuade him.

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Jerry Moran, a senator from Kansas, announced that the official party body will back Enzi.

Cheney, 46, worked in the State Department and the Agency for International Development during the George W. Bush administration. But she moved her family to Jackson Hole last year and has traveled aggressively around the state laying the foundation for what everyone assumed would be a political bid.

Wyoming’s other senator, Sen. John Barrasso, quickly endorsed Enzi.  “Mike Enzi is a friend, a mentor and a tremendous US Senator for Wyoming,” Barrasso said. “I support his reelection.”

Another Republican with extensive ties to the fundraising world predicted that Cheney would collect strong support from national security conservatives, including the influential world of pro-Israel donors.

[A] prominent Liz Cheney candidacy in 2014 may come as an unwelcome development for some national Republicans who are seeking to rebrand the GOP after a disappointing 2014 cycle.

The Cheney name is not exactly a beloved calling card in national politics. The family has deep history in Wyoming and Dick Cheney is the state’s most important politician in modern times; nationally, the former vice president is one of the least popular national figures in recent memory.

And the Cheneys are inextricably linked to a brand of interventionist foreign policy thinking that has plummeted in public popularity.

The Enzi-Cheney race may create a variety of unconventional fault lines on the right. In a race between Enzi, a conservative incumbent who also supported an Internet sales tax, and Cheney, an ultra-hawkish candidate from the D.C. area, there’s not necessarily an obvious choice for anti-establishment activists.