As a liberal in good standing, I never imagined I’d find myself admiring the good sense of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney.
But here we are. In an election year full of surprises, the biggest one yet dropped Friday as former Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney said her father – a conservative icon – will be voting for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
The elder Cheney later confirmed that in a statement, writing: "As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris."
Liz Cheney had previously announced her support for Harris. But together, the Cheneys create a sturdy and substantial permission structure for other Republican voters to back Harris and, more important for them, rid their party of one Donald J. Trump.
Dick Cheney sees the future if Trump wins, and sides with Democrats
Make no mistake, the Cheneys have not swung to the left. They won’t be pushing for student loan debt relief or vacationing with Sen. Bernie Sanders.
They have simply made the accurate and patriotic calculation that Trump is unfit for office in all ways. They see he has turned their party into a cult of personality, an unserious governing body allergic to facts and lunging toward fascism.
If supporting Harris and the Democratic ticket is what it takes to keep Trump’s self-serving paws off America, the Cheneys and the growing number of Republicans who refuse to vote for the mess from Mar-a-Lago will do it.
They have seen the Republican Party of Ronald Reagan and the Bush family and Sen. John McCain – and, of course, Dick Cheney – overtaken by an assortment of narcissistic hucksters and anti-democratic loons. They want to take it back and relegate the Trumps and Ted Cruzes and Marjorie Taylor Greenes to the farthest reaches of the right-wing fringe, where they belong.
Cheney voting for Harris is politically staggering
“Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris,” Liz Cheney said Friday at an event in Austin.
It’s hard to capture what a remarkable, historic decision that is. Already, many of Trump’s former Cabinet members have said that they won’t vote for him. His own former vice president, Mike Pence, won’t endorse him.
And Liz Cheney, along with former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., have both endorsed Harris and made clear where they stand with regard to Trump.
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But Dick Cheney – who has long specialized in being disliked by Democrats – transports the idea of being a Republican and supporting Harris into another realm of palatability.
The Cheneys simply see Trump as wholly unfit for office. They're right.
Cheney’s daughter said: “If you think about the moment that we’re in, and you think about how serious this moment is, my dad believes – and he’s said publicly – there’s never been an individual in our country who is as grave a threat to our democracy as Donald Trump is, and that’s the moment that we’re facing.”
In his statement later on Friday, the former vice president reiterated that disdain for Trump: “He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again.”
And that’s the rub. Trump, aside from turning the GOP into his own machine for grifting and self-aggrandizement, has gone to great lengths to erode our democracy, casting incessant doubt on the integrity of our elections, denouncing NATO, giving comfort to the dictators of hostile nations.
If there’s a shared vision between Democrats and the Cheneys, it’s that this man must be stopped. And for thoughtful conservatives, stopping Trump is also the only way they can reclaim and restore their party.
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It’s an alliance of convenience, yes, but it’s also one grounded in decency and love of country. And I believe it’s the final shot traditional Republicans like the Cheneys have at ending the MAGA movement.
Trump can be left with zero political oxygen if the GOP is to be rebuilt
Trump has shown right-wing opportunists there’s money to be made and people to be had by embracing whatever his form of politics are. (There’s no clear definition of Trump’s ideology. He’s not conservative, he’s not liberal. He’s simply pro whatever helps Trump and whatever keeps his base angry.)
So if the thoughtful conservatives out there – and yes, I believe many still exist – don’t walk this path the Cheneys have opened up, if they don’t see that purging the political world of Trump means biting your lip and voting for a Democrat, they can fully kiss their party goodbye.
Should Trump win, or even lose by a small margin, the MAGA monster will have enough oxygen to keep going. And if that happens, the Cheneys will be forgotten, and the party that once stood for conservative principles will be lost and gone for good.
Dick Cheney can clearly see that fate on the horizon. And to his credit, he’s voting for a Democrat.
FollowUSA TODAY columnist Rex Huppkeon X, formerlyTwitter,@RexHuppkeand Facebookfacebook.com/RexIsAJerk
