Liz Cheney, the ousted congresswoman from Wyoming who cosplays as a Republican, has landed exactly where you’d expect: smack dab in the middle of the leftist utopia of higher education. Cheney will be joining the University of Virginia as a professor at its Center for Politics, which is run by the formerly venerable Larry Sabato. Sabato was positively giddy in making the announcement:
“With democracy under fire in this country and elsewhere around the world, Liz Cheney serves as a model of political courage and leadership. Liz will send a compelling message to students about integrity. She’s a true profile in courage, and she was willing to pay the price for her principles — and democracy itself.”
“Political courage” and “Liz Cheney” do not belong in the same sentence, as any sober observer of politics understands; Larry Sabato, sadly, no longer falls into that category. Liz rode her father’s coattails all the way to the House of Representatives, where she decided her birthright as Republican royalty entitled her to vindictively go after Donald Trump. Trump, after all, wasn’t her family’s archaic idea of what makes a good Republican; they actually think they get to decide that, never mind the fact that Trump connected with voters in a way that the Cheney family never could.
Let’s face it, Liz Cheney is the ultimate nepo baby. She traded in on her father’s name to gain entry into the political elite; then, when she failed to distinguish herself in Congress, capitalized on the events of January 6th in a desperate attempt to remain relevant. Her attempt to divide her party was merely an ego-boosting exercise designed to showcase her political ambitions. Being warmly embraced by the likes of Adam Kinzinger and The Lincoln Project, however, is hardly the resume booster desired by serious people. Luckily, the good citizens of Wyoming saw through her schtick and sent her packing in last year’s primary.
That leads us back to Virginia, where she is quite obviously looking to consolidate power for her future political forays. And it all starts with her new gig at UVA:
“I am delighted to be joining the UVA Center for Politics as a Professor of Practice. Preserving our constitutional republic is the most important work of our time, and our nation’s young people will play a crucial role in this effort. I look forward to working with students and colleagues at the Center to advance the important work they and others at the University of Virginia are doing to improve the health of democracy here and around the world. There are many threats facing our system of government and I hope my work with the Center for Politics and the broader community at the University of Virginia will contribute to finding lasting solutions that not only preserve but strengthen our democracy.”
For its part, UVA is patting itself on the back for offering its students “an incredible opportunity to learn from Liz Cheney, who has fiercely defended democracy as part of a distinguished career.” Any enemy of Donald Trump is a friend of American higher education, and Cheney certainly fills that bill.
Her move away from Wyoming to Virginia makes sense since she is a long-time resident of the northern Virginia area and only spent time in Wyoming because that’s where she could get elected (again, off her father’s name and standing there). Virginia is her true home and almost certainly where she will build her power base and make her next political move. She has hinted at a run for president; she has just enough ego to think she can pull that off. She won’t pull it off, even though leftists will open their wallets for her in the misguided belief they’ll be confounding Republicans by doing so. She will, however, have the campaign apparatus necessary to run for Senate once Tim Kaine and/or Mark Warner finally move on; failing that, her enmity toward Trump could well see her replace “Jihad” Gerry Connolly or Don Beyer in the House. A run for governor in 2025 isn’t out of the question.
Despite the Republican clean sweep of governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general in 2021, Democrats still have a stranglehold on the population centers of northern Virginia and Richmond; these are Hillary and Biden voters and may just see Liz Cheney as the new Hillary. She might well be just that.
