Rooting for the underdog

I didn't pay much attention to Liz Cheney prior to the Trump impeachments and the current special committee on Jan. 6. I consider Wyoming as sort of a lost cause politically, with its frontier mentality and heavy embrace of every reactionary idea that can be drummed up.

Today she is hoping that she MIGHT squeak out a victory in her Republican primary election by luring Wyoming Democrats to switch parties, at least for the primary itself. At this point, that's her remote and only hope. I suppose she could contemplate running as an Independent in the midterm, if there is time for her to make the ballot, but the speculation from national "pundits," most of whom have no clue though lots of things to say, is that she will regroup and look at either running for president in 2024 or head up a private group devoted to keeping Trump from every winning an election again.

Her core conservative beliefs have not changed. I would almost certainly oppose nearly everything she would propose in legislation. But I was wondering whether, if I lived in Wyoming, I would bring myself to switch parties to support her continuing as a representative.

It's a tough call. She would certainly lead the fight against election lies if she returned to Washington, but she probably will do that anyway, win or lose.

That she loses is an easy prediction. There were 200,579 registered Republicans in Wyoming as of July 1 compared to 43,285 Democrats, for a split of about 71 percent to 15 percent. Unaffiliated (34,925), Libertarian and Constitution Party (3,418) voters together make up the remaining amount.

My roughest calculation shows that were EVERY Democrat to switch parties, PLUS adding the unaffiliated, etc., the R advantage would still be immense. See why I think of the state as a lost cause?

BTW, that total registered voter number of 282,207 is so miniscule that it would be a blip in many states or even cities. That fact that Wyoming retains two Senators and one Representative is an affront to logic and justice. It is good to be reminded that California's two senators represent over 38 million people, while Wyoming's represent just 548,000. 

Of course, a small population can change opinions with relatively few new people. In some wacky fantasy, imagine 250,000 Democrats moving to Wyoming. In a country this big, that's not an impossible number to imagine. But what would they do once they got there? Other than elect Democrats, I mean? 

It's not fun to cast your vote for a candidate who loses, much less loses bad... like REALLY bad. There's a stubborn attitude necessary to continue to vote for a party or candidate who has no chance, and I'm not sure I have that level of fortitude.

I might have to hold my nose and switch parties were I a Wyoming resident, just to feel even a tiny bit relevant. 

But as a Dem from a neighboring state, I will cheer on Ms. Cheney and fervently hope that her opposition to our mob boss ex-president can help hold back his cult and himself. 

Live long enough and you will be surprised by all sorts of things. Imagining Liz Cheney as the key person protecting our democracy? That is still shocking.