Is there room in the Democratic Party for Liz Cheney?

[kentuck]

Or is "conservatism" completely alien to the Democratic Party philosophy?

There used to be quite a few "conservatives" in the Democratic Party. I recall folks like Sam Nunn of Georgia. There are probably more now than would care to admit?

If the Republican Party is throwing her out of their Organization, should she be invited to join the Democratic Party?

How big is the tent in the Democratic Party?

Not that big?

[Frasier Balzov]

1. Her greatest contribution would be to help reclaim the GOP.

She could never do that from within the opposition party. Only from the wilderness where she currently finds herself.

[Baitball Blogger]

40. +1

[gulliver]

55. +1

[Laffy Kat]

2. Not in my mind. nt

[NoRethugFriends]

3. Her politics...

... are completely antithetical to everything the Democratic Party stands for.
It's a silly idea.

[The Roux Comes First]

6. I'm Inclined to Agree That She Is Too Far Out There

We already struggle with fruitcakes dressing up as democrats, like, say, Manchin and the Tx anti-abortion loser.

[RaDaR63]

4. Just look at how Manchin and Sinema

are treated here. Cheney is to the right of them by quite a bit.

No, not that big.

[elleng]

7. Manchin and Sinema play games;

Cheney doesn't.

[Irish_Dem]

44. Agreed. Liz Cheney has comported herself with integrity and character.

The same certainly cannot be said for the two you mention.

[LakeArenal]

52. You don't know if Cheney plays games.

She’s a one issue person to me.

[RaDaR63]

61. Agree

Never-Trump Republicans just get undeserved love from Democrats.

[LakeArenal]

62. Yes. I am not one of those.

[Captain Zero]

5. In Wyoming, yes, why not?

we could run her if she loses the gop primary.
She could run as an Independent and we could not field a candidate, throw an endorsement to her.

[enid602]

8. Dick

Only if she brings her Dad with her.

[brush]

9. No. She has courage and is an old-school republican from back in the day...

but she's still a republican. The only thing we Dems have in common with her is her disdain for trump and the J6 traitors.

[crickets]

49. This. nt

[Hotler]

65. I agree. nt

[TreasonousBastard]

10. Whywould she want to?

[LeftInTX]

11. I'm sure her seat is safe GOP

She probably would not want to run as a Democrat

[thomski64]

19. ..if she is primaried out..

..let her run as an independent..

[usonian]

12. When we get the 60 or more senators, They'll come running like ants to a picnic.

Let's get there first, and build a permanent majority, so the loose ends won't spoil things.

Like they do now.

[orleans]

13. no nt

[Mopar151]

14. She could do an Angus King! Ought to, anyway.... nt

[No Vested Interest]

17. Agree. She could declare herself an Independent, even after winning

re-election as a Republican.
Such a decision would have to be her own personal choice, of course.

[JI7]

15. I don't understand this type of thinking . People CAN support people on certain things without them

having to be part of the party .

Why does everything have to be black and white.

She is a Conservative Republican on issues. She has no interest in joining the democratic party .

Support her on the things she does right . It doesn't have to be anymore than that .

[Kaleva]

22. +1

[betsuni]

28. [phone]

[Sunsky]

31. Exactly

Cheney does not subscribe to Democratic principles, she is a conservative plain and simple.

[SoCalDavidS]

16. A Democrat Would Be D.O.A. In Wyoming

She has no more chance of winning her District as a Democrat as it appears she's going to have as a repub.

And she would NEVER change parties. She's like Michael Steele, she may not be a Trumper, but she's far from a Liberal.

[Cheezoholic]

18. Fuck no!

Fuck no period! Kill the infection together then its back on.

[pecosbob]

20. From my perspective the tent can feel pretty cramped sometimes, but not in the way that you mean

IMO the Center is pretty strong around these parts...it even has it's own fire brigade. Many here at DU would eject the Squad from the Party tomorrow if they could. Cheney likely would get along famously with some here at DU.

[jcgoldie]

21. What in the hell does Liz Cheney have in common with Democrats?

Other than hating Trump?

[DFW]

23. That is a door on which she will never knock, so it's not worth contemplating

If the DNC offered her $1 billion in campaign funds, she STILL wouldn't campaign as a Democrat. She would probably STILL lose in Wyoming if she did.

Best case scenario is that if she loses the primary, she runs as an independent, we run no candidate, and she wins as an independent who will caucus with the House Republicans anyway. She has almost nothing in common with us except being not completely off her rocker. That alone probably qualifies her as a raging leftist to Wyoming Republicans, but it's still a pretty low bar, and not enough for her to want to join us, or for us to want her to ask.

[Noahv]

24. She would help better as an independent

subtracting votes from Republicans.

[Skittles]

25. NO

even "old school" conservatives fucking SUCKED

[Celerity]

26. Fuck no. A million times fuck no.

If the Democratic Party starts to embrace and have more and more pols who espouse her super RW ideology elected into our caucus, the US is even more FUCKED than it is now.

[Emile]

27. Three words, oh hell no!

We don't need anymore Manchin's.

[betsuni]

29. Don't understand this post.

What are you saying? Both sides. "Too big of a tent"?

[samplegirl]

30. No

If she is the alternative look out!

[Novara]

32. ABSOLUTELY NOT

FUCK NO!

Look, one republican standing up for what's right is still a republican. Do you even KNOW any of her political positions? She is a RABID republican. She believes in everything Democrats oppose.

Jeebus. We really have fallen THIS far? One republican doing the right thing regarding an insurrection - stop and really think about the insanity that only one or two are doing the right thing - does not make a Democrat!

[kentuck]

35. Is she worse than Joe Manchin?

Could she persuade all the other Democrats to vote like she does?

Where is the danger? Why so fearful of one dissenting voice?

What could she do to hurt the Democratic Party?

What exactly would she threaten?

[Tom Rinaldo]

37. On policy, yes. Manchin has a much better overall voting record than Cheney n/t

[kentuck]

38. Not that I think she would ever want to join the Democratic Party...

...but I fail to see where her vote, inside the Party or out, would threaten the Democratic Party at large?

Where is the threat? It would not be like she was taking the seat of another Democrat and weakening the Party.

Some folks simply would not want her under the tent. Is that the bottom line?

[Tom Rinaldo]

39. Including someone like her would blur the "party brand" beyond recognition. That matters

It matters to me anyway, and I know that I am far from alone on this. What does it mean to be a Democrat, what does the Democratic Party stand for? What are the most fundamental beliefs of the Democratic Party? Yes we value honesty and personal integrity, as does Liz Cheney. Yes we value and uphold small d democracy, as does Liz Cheney. Basically that covers 99% of our common ground with her. A case can be made that the same was true with Barry Goldwater, or if not him than Bob Dole.

If Liz Cheney could be embraced by the Democratic Party as one of its own then so could any honest politician from 95% of the mainstream political spectrum. It would reduce the Democratic Party to simply being a coalition of those willing to work together to achieve political power, which is what too many Americans already believe that politics is about anyway, which feeds into disillusionment and apathy and political alienation.

[Novara]

42. OhHellYes she is worse than Manchin

Jeebus, just because she does ONE THING RIGHT doesn't make her a Democrat. Do you even know what she stands for? She is against abortion, she is for cutting taxes for the rich and all the bullshit trickle-down garbage that's been proven NOT to work to help anyone but the rich, she is against regulations that help people and the planet, she is for mining and oil exploration that will kill the planet, she believes in American exceptionalism (which is bullshit), and she literally stands for everything Democrats stand against.

Just because a republican does one thing right does not make them NOT an odious republican who stands for everything the Democrats stand against.

Go do some research, I beg of you. The ONLY thing with which she agrees with Democrats is insurrection is a crime. ALL elected officials should believe this because it IS a crime. The story should be not that she stands with the Dems on this one issue but that all other republicans DON'T.

[Iggo]

51. Yes.

[Liberal In Texas]

33. No. In this case the enemy of my enemy isn't my friend.

She might have more integrity than the averaged magat, but she's still a repub that opposes everything progressive.

[demmiblue]

34. Ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous. WTF level ridiculous.

[Tom Rinaldo]

36. Absolutely No. She can achieve the status of honorable opposition at most

Tactically I can conceive of local Democrats not putting up a candidate against her to help her win as an independent running against a MAGA Republican in some race where Democrats had no chance to win anyway. Liz Cheney is way to the right of what used to be called conservative Democrats unless you count the Dixiecrat days. The Democratic Party has to stand for something larger than just "integrity", as important as that may be as evidenced by Cheney's courageous stand for democracy.

[Autumn]

41. No. There is barley enough room for progressives. Fuck Cheney, she and Dick helped make her

party what it is today.

[Zambero]

43. No, and furthermore

Getting to the bottom of the January 6th insurrection is not a partisan issue. Conservative politics notwithstanding, Liz Cheney recognizes this. The vast majority of her GOP colleagues are intimidated by TFG and put their political survival ahead of saving our democracy. Cheney exemplifies a brand if politician once referred to as "institutionalist". I do not align myself with her political philopsophy, but I respect her decision to put the country first, above any consideration of political survival.

[Demsrule86]

45. We need a big tent. Democrats have never won influential majorities without one.

[Mr. Ected]

46. If we're really down to Democrats on one side and Fascists on the other

And a handful of Republicans attempting to reclaim their party from the Russians and oligarchs around the world, then we don't really have 2 parties anymore. It's Democrats and Democrats alone versus the last surviving members of an antiquated tribe.

We can align with these Republicans for the express purpose of driving out the fascists. Policy-wise, we have nothing in common except for the preservation of our democracy.

So the answer to your question is, yes, but provisionally, and to a very limited yet important extent.

[kentuck]

47. Isn't that where we are at?

I get the feeling that some would not align with "these" Republicans even if it meant their own survival?

Party above all.

[Tom Rinaldo]

54. Yes. But it calls for a tactical alliance, not a literal merger. n/t

[kentuck]

58. What type of tactical alliance do you imagine?

That is possible?

[Tom Rinaldo]

63. It is happening right now in Utah where Democrats are not running a candidate for Senator

There is a tactical alliance on the House January 6th committee where they seem to be working on a consensus basis across party lines, attempting to achieve a unified position rather than rely on a partisan majority to move forward. From the other end, I think the Lincoln Project is an expression of a tactical alliance, where they go so far as to call for Democrats to be elected without their core leadership (in most cases) joining the Democratic Party.

[stonecutter357]

48. lol NO !

[Wounded Bear]

50. Do we really need another Conservadem?

I mean, it's up to her, but she is hardly a progressive, no matter how she stands up against her repub cohorts on certain issues.

[jalan48]

53. Fuck no. She could however, start by telling everyone why she has decided to vote a

straight Democratic Party ticket when November rolls around.

[we can do it]

56. No. She's been right on one thing and one thing only.

[gulliver]

57. Whoever supports the vast majority of our platform can be a Dem

I don't think Liz Cheney would qualify.

However, I do think Dems should claim both traditional conservatism and traditional liberalism as their territory. There is a strong majority of non-zealots with common sense who the Dems could pick up from the independents and moderate Republicans. We just need to quiet down and bench some of our side's well-intentioned, self-elected foolish voices and get our wise people more exclusively on the mic. Republicans aren't in a position to do that. Their fools run their show. (Ours are far fewer, but the media hands them the mic when they haven't earned the right to speak for anyone.)

[kentuck]

59. So long as the Party represents the majority?

And not just special interests?

After all, Elizabeth Warren was once a Republican. She is now one of our most liberal Democrats.

[gulliver]

60. Yes

I think there's a strong majority to be had that would support the Dem platform priorities. We just need to make sure those priorities (based on democratic principles and the best interest for the most) are front and center.

[JHB]

64. Let's hear her loudly support Democrats and chide those who paint us as monsters, first.

The only thing she's broken from the party line on is J6. For everything else she's in lockstep with the rest of them.

Why does anyone even come up with suggestions like this? Is there anyone who isn't a whining, ass-covering "real" conservative who thinks the actual problem is that Democrats just aren't nice enough to "real conservatives", despite their decades of open and loudly-proclaimed contempt for us?

[iemanja]

66. What makes you think she has any interest in joining?

She's ideologically conservative and shares no priorities with Democrats. Just because she dislikes Trump doesn't make her akin to a Democrat.

[Voltaire2]

67. One of the only good outcomes from The Crisis

is that the Democratic Party is, however slowly, reclaiming its center left labor roots as polarization destroys the center and the Reagan era Democrats who occupied it and effectively blocked or minimized all efforts at moving our social programs forward.

All of which might be irrelevant, of course, if Coup2.0 is successful.