Liz Cheney could not have picked
a better place to kick off a 2024 Presidential run than in a venue associated with a true Republican -- the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. What's that, you say -- she didn't actually
throw her hat in the ring? Well, maybe not, but listening to her speak to a roomful of real Republicans Wednesday made me think she may be the last best hope for the party.
And if not, maybe,
just maybe, she might be the first viable third-party candidate for President of the United States, since progressive civil rights (ie. anti-slavery) advocates formed the Republican Party in 1854 and
successfully elected the first true Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, in 1860.
The politics of the Republican Party may have shifted radically from its roots, for most of its 166 years --
growing progressively more conservative in terms of economics, civil liberties, and various other policies -- but at least it operated within the U.S. Constitutional framework (the two notable
exceptions being Nixon and the other guy).
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But the height of the party's power, influence and, arguably, media spin was the Reagan area, so Cheney delivering her fiery speech at the Reagan
library as the de facto kick-off for her 2024 run couldn't have been orchestrated better than if it had been scripted by Riney, Dusenberry or other members of the Tuesday Team.
Sure, as a
Wyoming-based colleague of mine opined this morning after Cheney's Republican party primary debate in that state last night, "Cheney's career is over in Wyoming. She will need to change parties to
survive in politics."
My thought about the first part of may colleague's statement was, "Good, that will give her more time to focus on her national campaign," because Wyomingites aren't going
to vote for her, anyway. At least not the ones currently calling themselves Republicans.
My next thought about the second part of my colleague's statement -- the part about Cheney needing to
change parties -- was, "Or maybe she'll change the Republican party."
On that note, I might suggest the following campaign slogan if she sticks with the party: "Make Republicans Great
Again."
Don't get me wrong -- I'm the last person to get hung up on party politics. After being a life-long Democrat, I lost my party affiliation due to a voter registrars clerical error when
I moved to my current town just as the 2016 election year was getting underway, and I haven't regretted it since.
I'm happy to be an "independent," because I don't think party politics serve
our country well anymore, especially when they can be weaponized to appeal to lowest biases of American voters as part of a campaign to divide us and make us weaker.
The reason I'm nominating
Cheney as a candidate for president in 2024 is because I think she has proven she is one of those rare politicians who actually stands above party politics -- stands up for the Constitution she swore
to protect -- and because I think she genuinely cares about our most fundamental American values: democracy, the rule of law, and that the government should serve the will of the people, not the few
who happen to be corrupt politicians or the people corrupting them.
As you might guess from my previous "life-long Democrat" reference, I do no agree on many of the policies Cheney would
influence, but I've lived with and even respected many Republican presidents before, including Reagan, because I believed they had the best intentions for the Constitution, the will of the people, and
the rule of law. Even if they were wrong about their policies.
I find it ironic how anti-Democratic Republicans seize on every opportunity to knock Joe Biden, including this week's attempt to
tie the migrant death tragedy in Texas to his immigration policies, when the reason they died trying to smuggle their way into the country was because of the policies Biden is trying to overcome. I
also find it ironic that it was Reagan, in fact, who championed more open borders and embraced immigrants as the new lifeblood of America. You know -- like very other immigrant population that has
settled here since America was formed as a nation.
Yep, the Grand Old Party certainly has changed a lot since its founding, as well as from its Reagan-era heights, sinking so low as to pledge
its allegiance to a shyster real-estate baron from New York City who probably was never actually a Republican at all, but has reshaped the party into the worst possible values just to stay in
power.
So I'm endorsing Liz Cheney for president, because I think she will make Republicans great again. And if not, I'd welcome her as a Democrat, an Independent or whatever party wants my
vote.