Politics, Luck and Timing

 A couple of weeks ago when Liz Cheney dropped out of the Wyoming Senate race, there was a sigh of relief from a number of people around the state. I was one of them, but not for the obvious reasons you may think. 

I have to admit I’m not much of a political animal, and I never have been. I support the good conservative candidates, but I’m not too vocal about it. I suppose that is wrong, but that’s just the way it is. One political sign on my yard is enough. I was most likely one of the few that really didn’t want to face the next months just listening to political ads until next August or November. In my mind, nothing gets older than trying to watch the evening news or another program and getting continuous political ads all the time. I’ve always thought that our political campaigns should be shorter periods of time, especially for the presidential race. 

To be truthful, I like Senator Enzi. I think he has done a good job and deserves to stay in the Senate representing Wyoming, especially if the Republicans get control of the Senate, which hopefully is possible. 

And to be truthful, if Senator Enzi wasn’t running, Liz Cheney would maybe have made a good Wyoming Senator. We really didn’t get to see her that much to make a decision. She certainly had the experience on how Washington, D.C. works, and in the hour or so she visited the Roundup office, you could see she was the “real deal.” 

I always thought in politics, you had to have some luck, and your timing has to be right. Luck and timing didn’t favor Liz. I had heard all the garbage on why she shouldn’t run as did everyone else, and I didn’t pay much attention to it. As I told her, if you are qualified to run for the office of your choice, this is America and that is your privilege. If someone disagrees with you, they can do so by supporting their candidate and in the voting booth. I have a lot of respect for most of those running for office, especially the top state and national offices. 

At some point, I hope to see Liz Cheney back as a candidate. She certainly wasn’t afraid to take on the odds. This just wasn’t her time. 

If the Republicans do gain control of the Senate, and it is a possibility, Mike Enzi will have a lot of clout. No more than 10 Republicans will have more seniority than Senator Enzi, and that will mean committee chairman roles and that seniority will go up if long-time Republican Senators are beaten out by new Republicans. 

As David Hawkings wrote in his Roll Call blog, “In short, his low-profile but high-impact style of conservatism looks to be an essential piece of the Senate Republican strategic game plan for the rest of the decade, especially whenever his side is looking to strike a deal with the Democrats on domestic policy.” 

Senator Enzi knows when to draw the line in the sand and when you have to deal, we wish him and Diana good luck and good health. We need them.