The race between Harriet Hageman, a native of Wyoming and an attorney, and Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, was a decisive one. Hageman garnered 113,025 votes (66.3 percent) while Cheney earned 49,316 (28.9 percent) of Wyoming citizens’ votes. Cheney’s loss doesn’t come as a surprise; Hageman has lead the polls by double digits over Cheney for several months.
Cheney called to concede the election to Hageman within an hour of the election polls closing. She spoke to a small group of supporters in Jackson, Wyoming. In her speech, she made references to Abraham Lincoln, and Cheney hinted that she intends to “(launch) a new organization with the primary goal of keeping former President Trump” from running for the nation’s highest office ever again.
Cheney made mention of Abraham Lincoln in her concession speech; some political pundits say she is comparing herself to a hero of the Republican Party. Cheney remarked:
“The great and original champion of our party, Abraham Lincoln, was defeated in elections for the Senate and the House before he won the most important election of all. Lincoln ultimately prevailed, he saved our union, and he defined our obligation as Americans for all of history.“
Cheney then shared a quote from Lincoln’s Gettysburg speech, and she added: “As we meet here tonight, (keeping the nation together) remains our greatest and most important task.”
Individuals believe this is a hint that Cheney intends to seek the presidency in 2024.
Cheney’s speech alludes that she has no plans to leave politics, whether she seeks the presidency or not. Cheney said that she could won Tuesday’s re-election – if only she had “(gone) along with President Trump’s lie about the 2020 election.” Cheney added that Trump put in “ongoing effort” to “unravel a democratic system” and “attack the Foundations of our Republic.”
Cheney went on to say that no Congressional seat was important enough for her to “go along” with President Trump. She added, “now the real work begins.”
Cheney appeared on the Today show on Wednesday morning, and there she added more details to the “work” she mentioned on Tuesday night.
Cheney shared, “We’ve got to get this party back to the principles and values on which it was founded.” Part of that goal involves a group called The Great Task, a group that chose its name based on parts of the Gettysburg Address.
Cheney told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, “I will do whatever it takes to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office.”
Cheney also told Guthrie that while she hasn’t completely decided whether or not she will run for president in 2024, Cheney will decide “in the coming months.”
Cheney may have already begun work on her “great task.”
Business Insider is reporting that Cheney filed paperwork revealing that she is converting her House political campaign finance committee to a PAC (political action committee) entitled The Great Task.
The paperwork was filed the the Federal Election Commission at just after 2:00 AM Wednesday, just a few hours after the primary defeat. A spokesperson for Cheney told Politico that Cheney intended to “(launch) an organization to educate the American people about the ongoing threat to our Republic, and to mobilize a unified effort to oppose any Donald Trump campaign for president.”
Cheney’s actions are not uncommon; leadership PACs are often used to promote a particular political agenda and “fund expenses that are ineligible to be paid by campaign committees or congressional offices.”
Cheney has been an outspoken critic, not only of Trump, but of other Republicans who called for states to decertify the election results of the 2020 presidential election or have otherwise “cast doubt on (the validity of) future votes.”
Whether individual Americans like Trump or not, he continues to have a significant influence. He has a 92 percent “success rating” in the endorsements of primary candidates. Surprisingly, the raid on his home in Florida appears to have made him even more popular.
Cheney may have thrown down the gauntlet in her concession speech and later in her Today show appearance. However, Trump will never back down should he decide to run for president again.
