In the End, Republicans May Save Us from Donald Trump

You must admit, this is a campaign unlike any we’ve seen before. The incumbent Democratic president suddenly drops out and endorses his vice president. The Republican candidate survives two assassination attempts. Two back-to-back hurricanes wipe the presidential race off the front pages.

But history will show that one of the most crucial moments of the campaign is one that received little media attention. It happened on Oct. 3, when former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, once the third-highest ranking Republican in the House, walked out on stage in Ripon, Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party – and endorsed Kamala Harris for president.

Cheney made it clear. She wasn’t suddenly becoming a Democrat. She was endorsing Harris as a conservative Republican, confirming to the crowd in Ripon what she’d first told an audience at Duke University: “As a conservative, and someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”

Liz Cheney’s not alone. She joins former Rep. Adam Kinzinger and former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, both of whom endorsed Harris at the Democratic National Convention. Most importantly, she joins her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who announced he was voting for Harris because “in our nation’s 248 year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.” Yes, Virginia, in this campaign, Bernie Sanders and Dick Cheney are on the same side.

Cheney also joins 100 ex-Republican members of Congress, as well as officials of the Reagan, Bush and Trump administrations who signed a joint letter endorsing Harris and claiming Trump has “contempt for the norms of decent, ethical, and lawful behavior.” And leading Republicans like former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Mitt Romney and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan who, while not endorsing Harris, have said they will not vote for Trump.

For Kamala Harris, this is huge. First, because it’s such a rare (for these days) display of political courage. Nothing triggers more verbal brickbats than criticizing a member of your own party. Second, because it’s a powerful demonstration of patriotism. In essence, these Republicans are saying: “I’m an American first, a Republican second. Donald Trump’s a threat to this country, so I’m putting country over party.” USA! USA!

Most importantly, Dick and Liz Cheney’s endorsement of Harris serves as a “permission slip” for other Republicans to do the same thing. That’s the message of a powerful ad aimed at Republican voters released this week by the Lincoln Project: George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney and Larry Hogan aren’t voting for Donald Trump. Why should you?

In 2024, votes of disaffected Republicans may, in fact, prove to be Donald Trump’s Achilles' heel, and Harris’ magic wand. Back in April 2020, shortly after a group of former Republican campaign strategists launched the Lincoln Project, Steve Bannon, Trump’s former aide, now in prison, warned that if they could convince only 3% to 5% of Republicans not to vote for Trump, Trump would be in trouble. They did, and he lost.

Today, they’re still at it, except more so. In an interview, former top Republican campaign strategist and senior adviser to the Lincoln Project Stuart Stevens told me they’ve now expanded their goal to persuade 7% to 15% of Republicans not to vote for Trump, strategically targeting 900,000 Republican voters in Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

This year, Stevens noted, there are three additional factors in their favor: suburban Republican women, unhappy with the Dobbs decision and the man responsible; hard-core Republican opponents of the old Soviet Union, unhappy with Trump’s support for Vladimir Putin over Ukraine; and faith-based Republicans who believe character counts, unhappy with a serial adulterer paying hush money to a porn star. Stevens calls Cheney’s endorsement an “accelerant” for a growing trend among Republican voters.

And that Republican outreach seems to be working. The latest New York Times/Siena College poll, released this week, found that 9% of self-described Republicans plan to vote for Kamala Harris in November – up from just 5% one month earlier.

Imagine. The woman who dared take on the king and lost her seat in Congress because of it may prove to be the key in blocking the king from returning to the throne. Shakespeare never wrote a better comedy.

========

(Bill Press is host of The BillPressPod, and author of 10 books, including: “From the Left: My Life in the Crossfire.” His email address is: bill@billpress.com. Readers may also follow him on Twitter @billpresspod.)