Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney is one of two Republican members of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Jan. 6 House select committee charade.
Unlike the other RINO on that august body, Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Cheney didn’t even have the good sense to quit; Kinzinger, reading the pollsters’ tea leaves, has opted not to run again.
However, Cheney is in deep trouble. A July survey found her trailing her Republican primary challenger, attorney Harriet Hageman, by a whopping 22 points, according to the Casper Star-Tribune.
So, Cheney brought in the big guns to endorse her campaign. Well, actually, a big gun, singular: Kevin Costner.
Because when I think of the Mountain West, I think of Costner. Why, just look at the Westerns he’s starred in! “Dances With Wolves”! “Wyatt Earp”! “The Postman”! (Actually, try not to think too hard about “The Postman”; critically and commercially, that movie was basically a bomb on par with Cheney’s 2022 re-election campaign thus far.)
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Granted, Costner has seen a bit of a career resurgence after picking up a starring role in “Yellowstone,” a Montana-set Western on the Paramount Network that deals with land conflicts among ranchers. It has more conservative fans than the average liberal-driven entertainment product, which might have given the Cheney campaign an idea.
Earlier this week, Cheney’s people apparently hastily printed up a T-shirt that said “I’m for Liz Cheney,” got Costner to wear it, then told him to stand still long enough to take a picture on what appears to be the “Yellowstone” set.
Cheney’s blue-checked account then tweeted the photo — along with the words, “Real men put country over party.”
Real men put country over party. pic.twitter.com/7FaJpahtll
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) August 1, 2022
The insinuation is that Republicans should back Cheney because, unlike Hageman — who is supported by former President Donald Trump — she has been bravely waving the bloody shirt of Jan. 6, 2021 since, oh, Jan. 7, 2021.
She’s been busy in Washington on the House committee investigating what she calls the “most serious misconduct” by any U.S. president in history.
(She should perhaps talk to her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who once worked in Richard Nixon’s administration and might be able to put things in perspective. I assume he has a longer memory and more hands-on experience with this than she does.)
Cheney claims she’s protecting us from what she told CBS News was an “extremely broad” and “extremely well-organized” conspiracy. And now, Republicans who are fed up with her anti-Trump drum-banging are trying to put party over country.
But not this mid-level, middle-aged Hollywood star. Cheney wants voters to listen to Kevin Costner — or at least look at a picture of him wearing the most indifferently designed campaign tee ever.
Never mind that, as you might suspect, Costner doesn’t have to choose between country or party. In 2019, CNN reported, Costner endorsed Pete Buttigieg for president.
Then, when Mayor Pete didn’t win the nomination, he endorsed Joe Biden, according to Variety.
Instead, listen to Cheney’s opponent and her mic drop response when asked about Costner’s endorsement:
Will Liz Cheney lose the Republican primary?
“‘Yellowstone’ is a good show, but Kevin Costner is a pretend rancher in a Hollywood production shot mostly in Montana, not Wyoming,” Hageman told the U.K. Daily Mail.
“And I’d bet that if he had to work a real ranch for a day, he’d call his agent to get him out of there,” she added.
“I’ll take the support of the people of Wyoming any day of the week over a liberal actor who voted for Joe Biden.”
And Hageman is hardly alone in her contempt for Big Hollywood getting involved in Wyoming’s electoral affairs:
The multimillionaire Hollywood endorsement plays well in Wyoming.
— Matthew Kolken (@mkolken) August 2, 2022
Liz couldn’t find a Wyoming voter that supports her,
so — naturally — she had to settle for an actor that lives in Colorado.
Sounds about right.
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) August 2, 2022
But he’s not a real man, he’s just playing one on television. Just like you’re not a real Republican
— The Win Doctor (@Windoctorx) August 1, 2022
Also: Thanks to whoever made zero effort churning out this plain white T-shirt, which made it profoundly easy to Photoshop.
— General The Great MAGA King⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️??? (@TheGeneral_0) August 2, 2022
— ULTRA MAGA (@PhilmoreRobert) August 1, 2022
This is better. https://t.co/CUlCYMcxfA pic.twitter.com/5CHxue0gG7
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) August 2, 2022
That last one, by the by, is from Hageman’s political adviser, and former Trump communications director, Tim Murtaugh. Better, indeed.
And that’s probably what will end up happening to Cheney. A 22-point gap with less than two weeks until the primary isn’t a good look — particularly when only 11 percent of respondents in the poll were undecided.)
“The big story is Liz Cheney is going to get beat,” said Brad Coker, managing director of the firm that conducted the poll. “That’s a foregone conclusion.”
Her only hope is that people listen to the pretend rancher and his corny T-shirt. I wouldn’t bet on it, though.
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