My Choice For President: Liz Cheney

My Choice For President: Liz Cheney

By

Leonard Zwelling

Once again I am reminded of the four P’s of Washington, DC: Policy, Process, Politics and Personality in ascending order of importance.

Given that, I believe what is so lacking in our leadership is the fourth P—personality. And by that I mean ethics, vision, morals, good will, and character above all else.

I disagree with House Representative Cheney (R-WY) on almost every major social policy issue from abortion to guns, but what she has demonstrated for the whole world to see is character. She opposed Donald Trump’s attempt to hold on to power illegally and is now in the thick of revealing the depth of that malevolent plotting by the 45^th President in her role on the House January 6 Committee. At a time like ours today, we need a leader who minces no words about crimes committed by anyone and calls to account even those in her own party in positions of power like her fellow House members who adhere to the myth that Trump won.

She is being challenged in her party’s Wyoming primary on August 16 and could well lose, but that might give her all the preparatory time she needs to make a run for the Presidency. And if she does, she has many Democratic donors to her current campaign who have backed her. Why would traditional Democrats back such a hardline Republican? Because she has put her country in front of her own personal well-being and that is rare indeed. No other member of the Democratic or Republican leadership has done this except for her committee-mate Adam Kissinger (R-IL) who is retiring from Congress after his current term. Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Kevin McCarthy, and Mitch McConnell are so hopelessly locked into old ideas and older people, that they simply cannot represent America’s future. Cheney can.

Opposing Donald Trump in the Republican Party was and is a risky strategy, but some of the House GOP are willing to step up and try to cut the head off the snake. The next to do so will be Ron DeSantis in Florida who also has eyes on the White House and will have to challenge Trump to get there.

It is my guess, that a host of Republican candidates will be vying for the GOP Presidential nomination in 2024. The question is not that. It is whether or not they declare their candidacy while Trump still holds sway over so many GOP voters and fly in the face of the MAGA crowd to restore traditional Republican values.

I believe that given alternatives, many Republicans would desert Trump. If they look hard at Ms. Cheney’s record, they are likely to see policies and process and politics with which they can agree. They will also find a tough, determined fighter who believes in the law of the land and the Constitution and will not be cowed by the likes of Donald Trump. Remember who her father is. If nothing else, she is firm of mind and determined.

By all means, allow the GOP to debate the values of Trumpism—isolationist foreign policy, anti-immigration laws, and steep tax cuts for the rich. Let’s just have them do it without the corrupt Trump himself. Mr. Trump is a dangerous man—dangerous if he wins, more so if he loses. It’s time for us all to get over him. If the best the Democrats can do in 2024 is Biden again, let’s hope the GOP gives us Liz Cheney. If the GOP runs her against Biden, I’m with her.