I never thought I would write a diary about the 2014 Wyoming U.S. Senate Race. And why would I? It's solid red and Democrats don't have a shot there. But this story has gotten some attention and I'm interested to see where it goes. In case you haven't heard, Dick Cheney's daughter, Liz Cheney, might be challenging Senator Mike Enzi (R. WY):
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Ms. Cheney, 46, is showing up everywhere in the state, from chicken dinners to cattle growers’ meetings, sometimes with her parents in tow. She has made it clear that she wants to run for the Senate seat now held by Michael B. Enzi, a soft-spoken Republican and onetime fly-fishing partner of her father.
But Ms. Cheney’s move threatens to start a civil war within the state’s Republican establishment, despite the reverence many hold for her family.
Mr. Enzi, 69, says he is not ready to retire, and many Republicans say he has done nothing to deserve being turned out.
It would bring about “the destruction of the Republican Party of Wyoming if she decides to run and he runs, too,” Alan K. Simpson, a former Republican senator from the state, said in an interview last week. “It’s a disaster — a divisive, ugly situation — and all it does is open the door for the Democrats for 20 years.” - New York Times, 7/7/13
Gotta love seeing Alan Simpson in panic mode. But why is Mike Enzi all of a sudden a potential target of a Republican civil war? Well this might be it:
Mr. Enzi is known as a studious, low-key legislator who worked well with Senator Edward M. Kennedy. He avoids political talk shows because, he says, their goal is to get guests to “beat up on their colleagues.”
The only reason Mr. Enzi would “be in any difficulty is if there’s a weird group of Republicans who think compromise is akin to communism,” said Mr. Simpson, who called Mr. Enzi and Ms. Cheney “both wonderful people” and, like many here, does not want to have to choose. - New York Times, 7/7/13
With the Republican Party the way it is now, that reason isn't that far fetched. Just ask Dick Lugar and Bob Bennett. And it seems like there's some serious movement for a potential Cheney Senate campaign already taking place:
http://trib.com/...
A California-based political action committee has mounted a national petition drive to draft Liz Cheney to run for the U.S. Senate in 2014.
The One Nation political action committee’s original goal was to collect 50,000 signatures by June 21, but the deadline has since been extended. The signatures are intended “to present to Liz to show her broad support among conservatives,” the petition on the One Nation website reads.
“Liz is contemplating throwing her hat into the Wyoming Senate race in 2014, and the only thing stopping her is grassroots support. That’s where we come in — we’ll build an army to elect Liz. But first we need to demonstrate this to her,” the petition reads.
“Liz doesn’t know the group and did not sanction the petition,” Cheney spokeswoman Kara Ahern wrote in an email to the Star-Tribune. - Casper Star-Tribune, 6/28/13
unlike Simpson, it seems like not all conservatives are fretting the idea of Cheney challenging Enzi:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Would a Cheney candidacy, or a divided and battered Wyoming GOP, offer Democrats an opportunity? The American Conservative's Daniel Larison does some real-keeping: "Democrats haven’t won a Senate race in Wyoming in over 50 years, and Enzi won reelection by 50 points in 2008. Even if a primary fight left Enzi bruised, there is no real danger that he would lose to Cheney, and even less of a chance that a Democrat would defeat him in the general election."
And Larison, by the way, is not one of those conservative bloggers who is bullish on a Cheney run: "Indeed, if it weren’t for her father and her name, no one would be taking the slightest interest in this story."
At any rate, the guy who seems particularly interested in the story of how Mike Enzi is being challenged by Liz Cheney is Mike Enzi. - Huffington Post, 7/8/13
It's always entertaining to watch Republicans tear each other a part but this race is just a big mystery. Plus as terrible as Enzi is, wouldn't it be worst to have Dick Cheney's daughter in the Senate? Having one Cheney as Vice President was bad enough but a Cheney in the Senate? Kind of sends a chill down your back. Now having Cheney as a serious opponent might be a pain in the ass for Enzi but Cheney is a bigger headache for Karl Rove:
http://mediamatters.org/...
A run by Cheney -- who is merely the latest in a long line of Fox News figures to use a job at the network to help position for a possible run for office -- could also set up an interesting fight within Fox itself, pitting the contributor and her allies against former Bush administration colleague Karl Rove.
Rove is helping lead the Conservative Victory Project, which the Times reported in February will seek to "recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts." That definition appears to fit Enzi, an incumbent that, per the The National Journal, "has been a reliable stalwart for the political right--his lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union through 2010 was above 93%, one of the highest among senators." In a December 2010 appearance on The O'Reilly Factor, Rove praised Enzi as "a very sensible Republican" and highlighted his past efforts to reach across the aisle.
Any move by Rove's group to oppose Cheney's run is likely to lead to withering criticism from their Fox colleagues. Fox contributors Katie Pavlich, Jebediah Bila, and Richard Grenell have all voiced their support for a Cheney run, with Grenell asking, "where do I send my Liz Cheney for Senate Check?"
Other Fox figures heavily criticized the Rove group when news of its existence first surfaced. Fox host Mike Huckabee accused Rove's "absolutely repulsive" group of engaging in "fratricide"; frequent Fox guest and popular radio host Mark Levin labeled Rove a "propagandist"; Fox contributor Erick Erickson suggested that any candidate supported by Rove's group "should be targeted for destruction." - Media Matters, 7/9/13
But hey, seeing Rove made a fool out of Cheney's daughter just might be worth it. Now I've heard some people here mention former two term Governor Dave Freudenthal (D. WY) as the Democrats best shot if the Cheney/Enzi battle were to get nasty and divisive. I'm open to the idea of Freudenthal running for the U.S. Senate. Republicans can keep the South and some of the rural mid west but I am all in favor of seeing Democrats completely take over the North East and the West. However, Freudenthal may have been a popular Democratic governor in a red state but he did endorse Obama over Hillary in the 2008 primary so keep that in mind. Plus it all depends if Freudenthal even wants the job. He has been keeping himself in the limelight:
http://dailyranger.com/...
Crippling restrictions on Wyoming's mineral and agricultural commodities industries are a certainty within two years if western industry and government leaders do not become more actively involved in sage grouse endangered species controversy.
That was the message delivered to two Wyoming Mining Association audiences by former Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal and Northwest Mining Association Executive Director Laura Skaer. WMA held its annual convention in Sheridan.
Some environmentalists have pushed for years to have the sage grouse listed as an endangered species. The Bureau of Land Management is under a court mandate to decide no later than Sept. 30, 2015, whether listing is necessary.
Endangered species designation would severely curtail or eliminate industrial and agricultural uses on huge swaths of both public and private land in Wyoming and across the West.
Freudenthal, Skaer and other speakers agreed that Wyoming itself is not the problem. Under Freudenthal's administration, Wyoming developed a Core Areas strategy that protects sage grouse and their habitat. Freudenthal's call for greater involvement by industry and current political leaders appeared to mirror that proactive stance. - The Ranger, 7/7/13
We'll just have to wait and see how this all plays out.