GIVE NO
GROUND
Cheney’s remarks on gay marriage were even more jarring.
Though not technically inconsistent with her 2009 assertion
that “freedom means freedom
for everybody and this is an issue that states have to decide for
themselves,” the new emphasis
on her personal opposition added
a dollop of family betrayal to the
HUFFINGTON
01.19.14
mind, is not something that
merits self-examination. Rather,
it’s a weapon, fit only for one
thing: counter assault. Cheney’s
campaign-trail mishaps were
not just the accidents of a firsttimer. They were the inevitable
byproduct of her basic approach
to political combat.
Within hours of Cheney’s an-
Cheney’s campaign was marked by a Palinesque
series of news stories involving ham-handed
politics and small-time personal dramas.
too-abrupt reinvention. Cheney’s
parents, who support gay marriage, rallied around her when
the spat went public: Give no
ground, as always.
One evening last fall, Cheney
told me an anecdote about Tom
Lantos, a liberal House Democrat: “He said to me, sitting in
his office, he said, ‘Don’t ever
forget: The dogs bark and the
caravan moves on,’” Cheney said.
“It’s like, you know, they’re going to yell and scream at you,
but it’s partly tactical on their
part.” And there’s the essence
of Cheneyism. Criticism, in her
nouncement, there were signals that her submission to the
Wyoming Way — pay your dues,
respect your elders — had begun to pay off. Simpson, who
remains a powerful icon in
the Cowboy State, was full of
beneficence,telling me Cheney
was basically part of his family
and that she had a very bright
political future in the state. But
she will have to do something
that hasn’t come naturally
to her: wait a few years.
Jon Ward is a senior political reporter
at The Huffington Post.
This article was produced as part of a partnership with The New Republic, where it also appears.