She’s really running for president, guys
by digby
This piece at the Prospect about Liz Cheney and a battle within the GOP on foreign policy is very interesting. But I’m not sure I agree entirely with its conclusion:
While Cheney represents an increasingly unpopular vision of foreign policy, it’s unlikely that the Syrian civil war and the Iranian nuclear program will register much in Wyoming’s election. “Conservative voters have shifted on foreign policy, but the GOP foreign policy establishment hasn’t budged an inch,” Logan says. “They’re pawing the ground for war with Syria and Iran. Given that elections—in particular, the Wyoming GOP Senate primary—aren’t decided on foreign policy grounds, Cheney’s could win the seat in spite of, rather than because of her foreign policy views.”
Yes, I think she could win in spite of her foreign policy views. But have conservative voters shifted on foreign policy? I don’t see any evidence for that claim. Yes, Rand Paul has some followers and foreign policy has receded as the top concern for everyone over the past few years. But that doesn’t mean conservatives aren’t as “America, Fuck Yeah!” as they’ve ever been. The idea that the GOP base is becoming isolationist just doesn’t match the facts or the history of these folks. The only reason they are less bloodthirsty right now is because the Democratic president they hate is doing everything they want a president to do. This means they cannot cheer it, even though they would like to.
Yes, Obama is again talking about Gitmo and he doesn’t support torture. He is certainly less of an imperialist warmonger than Dick Cheney, but that’s not saying much. The truth here is that both parties are imperialist to some degree with a few weak naysayers on the fringes of their coalitions, traditional peaceniks on the left and Rand Paul libertarians on the right.
And while it’s true that Cheney’s foreign policy vision may not be particularly important in a Wyoming race, it’s extremely important to her as a presidential (probably anti-Hillary) candidate. (Or perhaps a Vice-presidential candidate — Daddy’s proven that it can be the most powerful office in the land.) The point is that she’s not running for the Senate, not really. This is her first step in running for national office. And when that happens I predict her foreign policy views, not Rand Paul’s, will be a selling point among the Republicans. The Democratic Party will try valiantly to party like it’s 2006 and pretend that she’s beyond the pale but they will be hit in the face with kill lists, drone strikes and NSA surveillance, which the Dem standard bearer will undoubtedly be defending as a sign that he or she is as hardcore as any Republican. Should be a lot of fun.
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