Liz Cheney's Big Play

It's rare when two candidates make a public announcement about their political plans on the same day, but that's exactly what happened on Tuesday in the Equality State of Wyoming. Shortly after three-term Sen. Mike Enzi (R) confirmed that he will run for re-election next year, Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice-President and ex-Wyoming Congressman Dick Cheney, released a video officially launching a primary campaign against the incumbent Senator. Immediately, the Republican establishment in Washington and the state began rallying around Enzi. His Senatorial colleague, John Barrasso immediately endorsed Enzi’s re-election. The state's lone U.S. House member, Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R), quickly followed suit by brandishing her own public support. National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) also went public with an Enzi endorsement and pledged to put the resources of his organization behind the Senator. Though the Cheney family's roots are deep in Wyoming, Liz Cheney's are not. Up until last year, she and her immediate family lived in the northern Virginia suburbs. She was born in Wisconsin, attended high school in Virginia, graduated college in Colorado, received her law degree from the University of Chicago, and spent her professional career in Washington, D.C. The home grown contrast with the former shoe business owner from Gillette, who was raised in Thermopolis and Sheridan and served in the state House and Senate beginning with his election in 1986 before winning his U.S. Senate seat in 1996, will be stark. It will be the candidate’s message that wins or loses this race. Based upon Cheney's announcement video, shot in a Wyoming pasture, she will attempt to nationalize the race, making a vote for her symbolize deep opposition to the Obama Administration.  She will attempt to stir the electorate into a conservative fever pitch against Washington, with her own candidacy as the remedy. Sen. Enzi, on the other hand, will also illuminate what is wrong with the administration, but diffusing the campaign with his calming, down home approach, and relying upon his deep roots within the constituency to show that there is little in the way of issue difference between Ms. Cheney and him. Despite Cheney’s ability to command campaign resources from conservative sources across the country, this will be a tough race for her. She has only one victory scenario, making the electorate so concerned and upset about their federal government that they will helplessly view her as their only cause of action. All other scenarios favor Enzi. The Wyoming primary is scheduled for Aug. 19, 2014. The winner of this election will claim the seat in November. For more information, please contact David Ashinoff at (202) 547-5013 or ashinoffd@agc.org.