I have been having the thought, frequently and steadily, that a Liz Cheney run for President might be the best pathway to holding on to our Republic and the freedoms that we have enjoyed for so long.

The odds of her being nominated seem long to me. However, if she threw her hat in the ring, I think we might want to help her. And by we, I mean centrist independents and moderate Democrats.

I say this knowing that she holds policy positions that are antithetical to a lot of what I believe in. My calculation is this. At present, the political landscape looks poor for Democrats in 2022 and in 2024. The Biden administration currently has a very low approval rating and conditions don’t look good for improvement in the next two and a half years. We may be looking at a scenario where, even setting aside the state level voting shenanigans, it is going to be difficult for Democrats to win the presidency again. Hopefully this will improve, but it’s prudent to think about the what ifs.

So far, the front runner for the Republican nomination is 45. It’s possible that the 1/6 committee is making a dent in his support, but it remains strong, grounded in willful ignorance as it is. The other alternatives, so far, are Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbot. I have no confidence that either of them would be the kind of reverent constitutionalist that Cheney is. We are talking about the survival of the republic here and Cheney is the only one I trust on the Republican side to insure that.

I am convinced that we cannot allow a MAGA Republican to win the presidency in 2024. I am pretty sure any such candidate will shred the constitution while in office. Certainly 45 would.

Add to this mix that 45 and his MAGA horde are gunning for a constitutional crisis should he (or DeSantis or Abbot) be nominated but loose.

Bottom line, a MAGA candidate either wins and then causes a constitutional crisis, or they loose and cause a constitutional crisis. Both scenarios are grim.

On the other hand, should Cheney find a way to capture the nomination, she can be counted on to uphold the constitution in victory or defeat. And, I would argue, if you really want to return the Republican party to an honorable and reasonable participant in our two party system, she needs to win. The non-MAGA Republicans will need that validation for her principled conservatism to be viable. She also needs time as leader of the party to clean out the worst of the MAGA rats.

If she were to be nominated, run and loose, we would avoid a constitutional crisis. However, a loss would allow the MAGA folk to continue to fester and the party could easily swing to the dark side again.

I have been conducting my own non-scientific survey of liberal friends and, interestingly, many of them are having the same thoughts I am. Recently I read an article in the New York Times about the major Democratic donors that are supporting Cheney in her fight to keep her house seat in 2022. We have all come to the same conclusion, Cheney is looking like a clear pathway out of the disaster we are heading for.

The question independents and liberals will need to ask themselves if she is the Republican nominee in 2024, who is best positioned to save the Republic? And if the answer is Liz Cheney, can we play the long game and overcome our aversion to her policies and vote for her? The choice to me is Cheney now and live to fight for a more liberal society another day. The alternative could seal off any possibility of the multicultural society we have been heading for, for a very long time.