Last week, at an event hosted by Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, former Congresswoman and leading House Republican Liz Cheney endorsed a Kamala Harris presidency. “As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this,” Cheney said. “And because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.” A few days later, her father, Dick Cheney, followed suit.
Liz Cheney has been a vocal critic of former President Trump, so this endorsement comes as no surprise. Regardless, I find it startling and telling that the Cheneys, a deeply conservative political family, would break with their party and openly endorse a Democratic presidential candidate. In doing so, they join a growing list of vocal anti-Trump Republicans.
Many believe Cheney’s political future died in January 2021, when she voted to impeach President Trump after his role in inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. House Republicans responded by ousting Cheney from her post as Chair of the House Republican Conference — the third-highest position in House GOP leadership. An emphatic defeat in the 2022 Wyoming primaries, to a Trump-endorsed candidate, marked the end of her time in Congress.
To me, her tale serves testament to Trump’s consumption of the Republican party. In today’s GOP, allegiance to the Constitution and one’s constituents means a bitter political end. The party platform today boils down to the whims and fancies of one man. Even out of office, he determines the legislation that passes and the candidacies that succeed. The Republicans that fall in line are rewarded and the dissenters are thoroughly punished. I call it bootlicking, but perhaps it’s the power of democracy. Voters are the enforcers of Trump’s word, after all. Regardless, it is disturbing that the heart of a political party has become a person — not ideas or policies.
Although I disagree with Cheney on many fronts, I respect the courage it takes to put the republic above a lifetime of allegiance to a political party — to relinquish power for the good of your nation.
This week, Nikki Haley defended her own endorsement of former President Trump by saying: “We can either vote based on style or we can vote on substance. I'm voting based on substance.” Putting aside the fact that I suspect her endorsement is motivated largely by fear of political obsolescence, I empathize with Haley’s policy concerns. In truth, I share some of them. Putting them aside to stop a man lacking in constitutional and moral scruples is an act of patriotism. Kamala Harris isn’t my personality pick. Truthfully, she’s not even my policy pick. She’s simply the only candidate that I believe is fit for the job.
Cheney’s words are especially fitting in North Carolina. “If you are going to find yourself voting in a swing state, you’ve got to take the extra step,” Cheney said. “If you really do recognize the threat that Donald Trump poses, then it’s not enough to simply say I’m not going to vote for him.” North Carolina, as a battleground state chock-full of political diversity, will play a critical role in the coming election — Governor Cooper asserted on Sunday that if Kamala Harris wins N.C., she “is the next president of the United States.”
My call to Republicans, moderates and those torn before this election is as follows: take a page out of Cheney’s book. To entrust such a candidate with this nation again is an unthinkable precedent to set. If you’re a true conservative, you haven’t enjoyed watching the integrity of your party die a slow death. If you’re a true conservative, you’ll put our republic above your politics this November.
