Dem
48
Ties
1
GOP
51
Before the Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris announced that a very high profile Republican would be speaking there. Many people were expecting it to be Liz Cheney. But it was former representative Adam Kinzinger. Cheney didn't go to the convention.
But that may have been a tactical move rather than a strategic one. She is just as determined to defeat Donald Trump now as she was when she was a member of the Jan. 6 Committee. Sources close to her are saying that her absence at the DNC was because she thinks she could have a bigger impact later on. It's true that with dozens of speakers at the DNC, she would be just one of dozens of people on stage and might not get much notice. But if she gives a full-throated endorsement of Harris in September, that will be front-page news all over the country and dominate the news cycle for a day or two.
So far, Cheney has been completely silent on the Harris campaign, except to say that Joe Biden showed courage in dropping out. In the past, Cheney called Trump "depraved" and "unstable." Her silence may change soon, although Cheney is playing her cards close to her vest at the moment. People who know her say she is not going to sit this one out, but she hasn't decided exactly what to do yet, or when.
If Cheney, a life-long Republican and daughter of Republican vice president Dick Cheney were to come out and fully endorse Harris, that could have a bigger effect than any other endorsement this side of Taylor Swift. In particular, she could give the million Republicans in the swing states who voted for Nikki Haley "permission" to vote for a Democrat this one time since no one could possibly question her bona fides as a deeply conservative Republican. During her three terms in the House, Cheney opposed abortion, same-sex marriage, and Russia. She supported the military, Israel's plans to annex the West Bank, and waterboarding suspected terrorists. She also has five children, making it hard for Sen. J.D. ("mothers should get extra votes") Vance (R-OH) to dismiss her as a childless cat lady with no skin in the game. In addition, she has been married for 30 years to Philip Perry, who was a high-ranking lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. (V)