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Al Brown's avatar

The people who still like Dick Cheney don't remember him for the things that you do; people who find him "particularly politically toxic" are never going to vote for Trump anyway, so they aren't in the target audience. Still, Liz would be a much better spokesperson.

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Peter's avatar

Firstly, Trump specifically ran against тАЬBush-ismтАЭ during тАШ15/тАШ16 when he tied Jeb, Clinton, and the тАЬestablishmentтАЭ to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and promised to end the тАЬforever warsтАЭ started under the Bush-Cheney administration. During the primary debates he literally called the war a тАЬbig, fat, mistake,тАЭ said it was started on a lie, and that George W. Bush maybe shouldтАЩve been impeached over it. If you look at Liz CheneyтАЩs тАШ22 primary last year that she lost by almost 30 points, almost as many of TrumpтАЩs attacks on her were linking her to her father and W. Bush as were criticizing her тАЬdisloyaltyтАЭ to him. тАЬDick CheneyтАЭ was literally used as an epithet during the GOP debate last week. So I would say not only do a lot of people repelled by Cheney vote for Trump/ MAGA, but that itтАЩs also been pretty apparent since тАШ15 that if you like Bush/ Cheney policies, Trump is not really for you. Even though Bush and Cheney havenтАЩt made it explicit theyтАЩre anti-Trump, MAGA has made it clear itтАЩs anti-them.

Secondly, obviously The Bulwark crowd likes Cheney for his general conservatism, etc., but Cheney and W. Bush are mostly remembered for the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and their fallouts. Very few people hear тАЬGeorge BushтАЭ or тАЬDick CheneyтАЭ and immediately think of тАЬNo Child Left BehindтАЭ or тАЬAIDs relief in Africa;тАЭ almost everyone thinks of the wars, which lasted for decades, defined American foreign policy for almost the whole first quarter of the 21st century, and are now largely regarded as failures. So tying Dick Cheney to Biden, in the context of him trying to navigate wars in Europe and the Middle East, while already having low approval ratings with young progressives and facing at least 3-5 anti-war opponents in тАШ24, would probably drive away more voters than you could possibly gain. Besides, itтАЩs not just Trump and Biden in тАШ24, thereтАЩs also at least Cornell West, RFK Jr., Jill Stein, and the libertarian. A vote for any one of them will mostly help Trump (like in тАШ15).

While foreign policy is a salient issue I just donтАЩt think it makes sense to draw the comparison between Biden and the initiators of the Iraq War, especially since all of his political opponents are already trying to paint him as too involved internationally. Joe Biden is already the internationalist candidate, you donтАЩt need to tie him to one of the most unpopular hawks to make that point. If there were to be a conservative endorsement of Biden, it would probably be more helpful coming from someone who doesnтАЩt have that particular baggage.

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Dave Yell's avatar

Lizz Chenney and Addam Kinzinger. JVL once fantasized about those two coming on stage at the Democratic convention for that message.Lizz Chenney has stated that she will do anything to keep Trump from the Whitehouse.I don't think that is so far fetched.

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