Liz Cheney's Senate ambition causes grief for Wyoming GOP

CBS News ^ | 7/7/13 | Jake Miller

[BillyBoy]

>> "The Freedom Index: A Congressional Scorecard Based on the U.S. Constitution rates congressmen based on their adherence to constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, national sovereignty, and a traditional foreign policy of avoiding foreign entanglements. The percentages below are cumulative scores are based on key votes from 1999 through 2013."
Name: Michael Enzi
Senate: Wyoming, Republican
Cumulative Freedom Index Score: 70%

Considering Enzi's fiscal score from other organizations is very, very good, I'm guessing his cumulative score on the "Freedom Index" is lower because they rate politicians for "avoiding foreign entanglements", and Enzi was a pretty strong hawk when it came to Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting the Patriot Act, "enhanced interrogation techniques", Gitmo, etc., so certainly the Paulbot wing of the GOP would object to many of his foriegn policy votes. As for his other votes on "limited government, fiscal responsibility", etc., they speak for themselves:

AFL-CIO: 10%
National Education Association: F
AFSCME: 0%
BIPAC: 92%
Chamber of Commerce: 75%
Club for Growth: 99%
National Federation of Independent Business: 85%
Americans for Tax Reform: 100%
Citizens Against Government Waste: 77%
National Taxpayers Union: 92%
(Source: http://thehill.com/resources/lawmaker-ratings/76133-sen-mike-enzi-r-wyo )

Now, given that Liz Cheney is Dick's daughter and was a very staunch supporter of the Bush doctrine and Bush administration's interventionist foreign policy, I seriously doubt she is going to be able to bash Enzi for his "neo-con" tendencies and pick up the Paulbot vote. They pretty much despise all that stuff that her daddy implemented and she defended tooth and nail.

If some conservatives want to buy into this fantasy that Liz Cheney is the "true conservative" in the race, bring it on. As others have repeatedly noted on this thread, she's pretty much DOA in the primary once she she gets corned about her family's support for gay "marriage" and has to articulate her own position. It would wise for her to avoid picking a fight with another conservative.

[Chickensoup]

They still have to run a campaign. Liz isn’t claiming inheritance of any political office. Maybe the spoiled children of carpenters and grocery store owners shouldn’t go into the family business either?

__________________________

There is a big difference between a carpenter or a store owner and politician. The carpenters and store owners ACTUALLY OWN the businesses they pass on to their children.

A political office is not inherited at this time in the US. The Dukedoms and Earldoms of the old countries have not for the most part affected the US, but it is trending this way.

If you want royalty and cannot see the difference between honest ownership and Royal birthright entitlement you live in the wrong country and are dangerous to this country’s future.

[ken5050]

Enzi sponsored the internet sales tax legislation.

[BillyBoy]

If Liz Cheney fans want to claim an internet sales tax is worse than her family's support for destroying the institution of marriage, bring it on.

[gogeo]

First, I don't consider CBS a reliable source for anything conservative.

I've seen Liz in action and she is her mother's daughter.

I don't know how she will address gay marriage, but face it, folks...that ship has sailed.

She's an articulate conservative, she has no fear...and we need leaders.

[BillyBoy]

>> face it, folks...that ship has sailed. She's an articulate conservative, she has no fear...and we need leaders. <<

And idiocy like this shows why liberals continue to control the Senate every election cycle. In addition to the numerous marxist Dems we need to focus on defeating in 2014, there are easily half a dozen RINOs we could purge, all but one of which (Susan Collins of ME) is from a heavily GOP state. Saxby Chambliss, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Lamar Alexander, John Cornyn, and Thad Cochran are all to the left of Enzi and up in 2014.

But is anyone talking about recruiting high profile challengers to THEM? Nope. Liz Cheney and her fans on the internet think we should waste lots of time and money to purge an incumbent Senator from Wyoming who does what we want 95% of the time. Because a pampered politician's kid from a pro-gay marriage family is somehow "more conservative" than the guy who has already PROVEN to be a reliable vote on almost anything.

The libs on DailyKos LOVE this, seeing stupid conservatives eat their own and get distracted trying to "take out" Mike Enzi while numerous socialists in the Senate get a free pass.

You can support Cheney's kid if you want. I'm supporting Enzi if he runs for re-election and I hope she wises up in the future and uses her time to attack socialists from now on. Game on.

[rabidralph]

Then don’t vote/campaign for her. No one should be denied a chance to run for office if there are no legal constraints against them doing so. And I’m happy to be dangerous in your tiny mind.

[gogeo]

Sorry, I’m not following you. Any enthusiasm we show for Liz comes at the expense of would-be challengers to the red-state RINOs?

Maybe you can explain the math there. I want the best we can have for a given office.

Can we do better than Graham? Sure. Can we do better than Enzo? No doubt.

[gogeo]

Enzo, Enzi, etc...

[BillyBoy]

>> Sorry, I’m not following you. Any enthusiasm we show for Liz comes at the expense of would-be challengers to the red-state RINOs? Maybe you can explain the math there. <<

You might look back at the 2006 election, where a bunch of foolish conservatives focused all their time and efforts on re-electing Al Gore's buddy Joe LIEberman (because the war on terror was "the most important issue"), and didn't bother helping actual conservatives in hotly contested Senate races, such as George Allen (R-VA), Conrad Burns (R-MT), and Jim Talent (R-MO). All three lost their re-election bids by less than half a percentage point, and as a result, the RATs won the Senate by a razor-thin margin of 1 seat (and they continue to control the senate today).

There's an excellent case to be made that they would have won and Harry Reid wouldn't be running the Senate if numerous conservatives had taken their lips off Joe Lieberman's rear long enough to help DEFEAT socialists, instead of wasting time in Conn. Oh well, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

The focus should be on DEFEATING socialists, NOT on defeating solid conservatives or HELPING socialists win re-election. So who's going to run against real RINOs like Lamar Alexander? Right now we have nobody, and conservatives are focused on eating their own in Wyoming instead.

>> Sure. Can we do better than Enzo? No doubt. <<

Enzi has a 92% conservative record. If you want perfection, try recruiting Jesus for a Senate race because he's the only person I know who is 100% perfect. Enzi's not perfect but sure as hell is much more conservative than the vast majority of people in the Senate right now.

>> I want the best we can have for a given office. <<

So how is a pampered politician's kid who doesn't even live in Wyoming "the best we can have" for that seat? I KNOW Enzi is rock solid on opposing gay "rights" and illegal aliens. Liz Cheney is "not proven" at best, and certainly her family and the Bush adminstration is pretty damn lousy in those areas, wouldn't you agree? Are Liz Cheney fans really going to delude themselves into thinking we're better off if we fire Enzi and replace him with someone who will invite her sister's lesbian "wife" to her swearing in? How does that advance conservatism? Liberals will just have more ammo to gloat about gay marriage is "inevitable" if the Cheney family is parading it around Washington. It seems to me that Dick Cheney fans just want to hear the words "Senator Cheney" and are blind to the reality that you'd be moving that Senate seat to the LEFT by putting his daughter in.

[Impy]

I have to pessimistically agree with Gogeo that the ship has likely sailed on queer marriage and it’s a matter time before half the country has it.

All the more reason to NOT reward traitors like the Cheney’s who helped the ship out of port.

And aside from that issue the Cheney name is political poison in 49 states, we don’t need or want one as a “leader”.

If Enzi is so bad (still not convinced) how’s about someone who’s actually better, not the daughter of the GOP establishment. Sounds like a lateral move at best.

[gogeo]

You might look back at the 2006 election, where a bunch of foolish conservatives focused all their time and efforts on re-electing Al Gore's buddy Joe LIEberman...

I know of no one who did that. How many candidates did the Tea Party help in 2010?

The focus should be on DEFEATING socialists, NOT on defeating solid conservatives or HELPING socialists win re-election. So who's going to run against real RINOs like Lamar Alexander? Right now we have nobody, and conservatives are focused on eating their own in Wyoming instead...

Well, no. We do not have the luxury of focusing on one part of the electoral map. You haven't explained why that is the case.

Enzi has a 92% conservative record. If you want perfection, try recruiting Jesus...

I have no problem with Enzi's voting record. Being a good soldier is not enough, we need leaders...those willing to stand on their hind feet and effectively advocate for conservative principles. In that sense, she's like Sarah Palin...and she's been fighting the fights. We need more from Wyoming.

So how is a pampered politician's kid who doesn't even live in Wyoming "the best we can have" for that seat?

Class envy is not attractive. She has stellar parents who have fought our battles for years. She's highly educated and experienced.

Your criticisms reflect more poorly on you than her. Surely your thought process is not so shallow...?

I will support Liz if she decides to run. If you don't, that's fine...I won't spend a lot of time worrying or criticizing. You see, spending an unreasonable amount of time worrying about what others think doesn't make one a conservative...that's a progressive trait.

[gogeo]

the ship has likely sailed on queer marriage and it’s a matter time before half the country has it...

I wish I were as optimistic as that.

I believe Kennedy left the door open to force gay marriage upon all the states as an equal protection issue. I think it will happen in the next five years.

Of course, it won't be forcing gay marriage, per se...just that states cannot discriminate based upon "gender."

[Impy]

Possible.

And if a conservative (or moderate) Justice should be replaced by a liberal that becomes virtually certain.

[highball]

she has every right to do so..she moved her family to Wyoming last year...look..if Hillary can parachute into NY to run for Senate.

Yeah, and I remember skewering Hillary pretty thoroughly for her naked, crass ambition, her sense of entitlement as though she was "owed" the Senate seat based on her last name.

Liz doesn't get a pass for the exact same thing just because she's a Republican.