[guest post by Dana]

Despite condemnation and judgment for sitting on the Jan. 6 Committee, Rep. Liz Cheney has demonstrated her unwavering support of the Constitution and rule of law as she faces an almost certain loss in today’s Wyoming primary election. That steadfast commitment speaks volumes about her character, especially given that the Republican Party has chosen to line up behind a corrupt leader who, to this day, continues to lie about the 2020 election. Instead of having shunned Trump and holding his feet to the fire for his election lies which helped spark the Jan. 6 insurrection, the party chose to shun Cheney for her efforts to hold him accountable. By doing so, the GOP solidified its ties to the former president. The Republican Party’s message couldn’t be any clearer: Embrace the corrupt former president and show him the loyalty he demands, reject the congress member who has refused to show him loyalty and has wanted nothing to do with being in his good graces.

For some time now, I’ve been told that this MAGA version of the GOP is what Republicans want and to get on board or get left behind. It took me a long time to accept that this is true because I couldn’t believe, and still cannot believe that a once grand party could fall for someone like Trump. But here we are (and have been for quite some time): the Republican Party over there, and me over here.

The polls look bad for Cheney in the state where Trump won 70% of the vote:

In the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, Cheney had a 60% favorability rating with Democrats.

But among Republicans, her favorability sank to just 13%.

…A Quinnipiac poll, for example, showed her approval with Republicans at 17%.

In Wyoming, a survey found Cheney’s disapproval in Wyoming at 72%.

Moreover:

[I]f every Democrat, every member of the Constitution Party, libertarian and every other otherwise unaffiliated registered voter in the state broke for Cheney, she’d still be more than 200,000 votes short in a state of just under 300,000 registered voters.

To put an even finer point on it, if Cheney wins every Wyoming voter who is not a Republican, she’d still lose by almost 50 points (73%-27%) if she won no Republican votes.

Clearly, she faces an extremely difficult, if not impossible, climb to victory. And while the solid conservative Cheney will likely lose the Wyoming primary because she dared to vote to impeach a Republican president and then sit on a congressional committee charged with investigating the events leading up to Jan. 6 and Trump’s part in it, she’ll still have a different kind of win under her belt. It’s not as sexy as an election victory, nor does it have the flash of having the titular head of the Republican Party beckon you to his glam pad in Florida to kiss the ring, but at the end of the day, while Trump may be victorious in taking out the last of his impeachers, Cheney will still be able to look in the mirror and know that her principles remain intact. And to this former Republican, that’s a real victory. The best kind there is.

Cheney to reporters today: Not the end of the fight but the beginning of a battle:

EXCLUSIVE: Moments after casting her vote in Jackson, Wyoming, Rep. Liz Cheney tells CBS News’ @costareports that today is “the beginning of a battle."

"We’re facing a moment where our democracy really is under attack and under threat." pic.twitter.com/Z37hFATJkQ

— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 16, 2022

She’s not done. Nowhere near being done. Not by a long shot.

UPDATE: As expected, Liz Cheney has lost the GOP primary to Trump-backed Harriet Hageman. In her concession speech, Cheney pointed out the truth of the matter:

“Two years ago, I won this primary with 73% of the vote. I could easily have done the same again.

The path was clear. But it would have required that I go along with President Trump’s lie about the 2020 election. It would have required that I enable his ongoing efforts to unravel our democratic system and attack the foundations of our republic,” she said. “That is a path I could not and would not take.”

“Tonight, Harriet Hageman received the most votes in this primary. She won. I called her to concede the race. This primary election is over. But now, the real work begins,” Cheney said.

More:

“No house seat, no office in this land is more important than the principles that we are all sworn to protect,” she said. “And I well understood the potential political consequences of abiding by my view, our republic relies upon the goodwill of all candidates for office to accept honorably the outcome of elections.”

A few more snippets:

.@Liz_Cheney: “I love what our party has stood for, but I love my country more.” pic.twitter.com/JJScFGFz5R

— The Republican Accountability Project (@AccountableGOP) August 17, 2022

.@Liz_Cheney: “No American should support election deniers for any position of genuine responsibility, where their refusal to follow the rule of law will corrupt our future.” pic.twitter.com/6e6iaw5YPt

— The Republican Accountability Project (@AccountableGOP) August 17, 2022

And that is what a patriot looks like.

(Apologies for snippets. but I have yet to find the full text or video of jer concession speech.)

–Dana