House Republicans May Have Ousted Liz Cheney But They Have Made Her Stronger

This morning House Republicans ousted Liz Cheney from her leadership post as Chair of the House Republican Conference unable to tolerate her persistent and, more importantly, truthful criticisms of former President Trump's role in last January's attempted Capitol Hill insurrection. 

Cheney's criticisms were amid Trump's persistent false claims that he won an election that he lost by 8 million votes. Last night, during a speech on the House floor, Cheney said she would not ignore the lie or embolden the liar. Because Liz Cheney will not tell a lie nor bend her knee to the man who told it, House Republicans have declared her persona non grata.

Cheney might be relegated to being a Republican backbencher with New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik likely to succeed her. But since Republicans haven't actually killed her they have actually made her stronger. 

Obviously she had name recognition by virtue of being the former Vice-President's eldest daughter. But now Cheney has made her own name and has done so in defiance of Donald Trump - a man most Republican officials despise but fear to criticize because of his bluster and that of his supporters. 

That Cheney voted with Trump 93% of the time was of no matter. She would not worship at his altar much less indulge his fantasies and fevered conspiracy theories that he was still President of the United States and for this she was punished with the loss of her job. But from where I sit Cheney looks at this development not as punishment but as a badge of honor she will wear happily even if at the risk of ending her political career.

Cheney is almost certain to face a primary challenger as the sole member from Wyoming in the House of Representatives. If such a challenge were successful she could opt to run as an independent and might just have the Capitol to pull it off. Should this be successful then Cheney will surely launch a bid for the White House in 2024. She could do it as a Republican although the GOP nomination is Trump's for the asking. The mere willingness to stand on a debate stage with Trump and stand up both to his bullying and for constitutional conservative principles might be sufficient to end his White House ambitions in failure. Cheney could also run as a third party conservative candidate in an effort to siphon votes from Trump although she would be seen in some circles as enabling Biden a second term but those circles already irrationally despise her. 

Whatever Liz Cheney chooses to do going forward the one choice she isn't going to make is to go away much less go away gently. Whatever one thinks of her ideology, her continued participation in the civic arena might mean the difference between preserving democracy or embracing authoritarianism.