IMMEDIATE RELEASE 15 July 2022WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUNDToday’s Events in Historical PerspectiveAmerica’s Longest-Running Column Founded 1932Cheney and the right side of historyBy Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift WASHINGTON — The best and the worst of today’s Republican Party were on display in Tuesday’s 1/6 Committee hearing as Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., laid out the case for Donald Trump’s culpability, and Rudy Giuliani in taped testimony said White House lawyers weren’t tough enough when fighting to change the outcome of the 2020 election. Cheney is putting her career and her life on the line in our poisonous political climate. She wants the truth to be told about the events that led up to the savage attack on the U.S. Capitol. A true patriot, she is on the right side of history. On the other side is the man we used to know as America’s Mayor. Think how far Giuliani has fallen and become the epitome of how far the GOP has fallen. A former Justice Department prosecutor and New York City’s mayor when the 9/11 attacks occurred, he is on the wrong side of history, disbarred in the city he led and hanging around with fringe figures trying to help Trump’s thoroughly discredited Big Lie about the 2020 Election. Those on the wrong side of history always lose in the end. Although it is not always immediately apparent in the polls because people keep their opinions to themselves, but the string of anti-majoritarian decisions from the Supreme Court and the anti-small “d” democratic rants of Trump, Giuliani, and company invite a response from the grassroots, and specifically from suburban men and women. Suburbanites abandoned the GOP in 2020 because they didn’t like Trump. Attacking democracy, overturning Roe, and expanding gun rights are not esoteric issues affecting somebody else. This is personal, and suburban men and women are going to speak with their votes in the November midterms. They are a crucial voting bloc, and they see the Trump-dominated Republican Party and Supreme Court, as central to their vote. Will concern about these issues be enough to overcome competing fears about inflation and the economy? We have already forecast a dramatic decline in inflation when supply chain problems are alleviated. Republicans are going into the midterm elections with analysts mistakenly predicting a good year for the GOP, that recapturing control of the House is a sure thing, and the Senate a possible thing. Here’s where history comes in. Nobody thought Pres. Harry Truman would win in 1948, but the voters remembered what Republicans had given: the Great Depression and an America First isolationism that almost fatally delayed America’s entrance into World War II. Truman ran aggressively against a Republican Congress that was clearly on the wrong side of history and trying to turn the clock back. “Give ‘em Hell Harry” surprised everybody by winning an election everybody thought he would lose. The front page of the Chicago Tribune prematurely blared, “Dewey Defeats Truman,” a mistake of epic proportion when the results rolled in and handed an upset victory to Truman over New York Republican Governor Thomas E. Dewey. Today, Democrats are fighting an uphill battle to keep the House because gerrymandered districts give Republicans an advantage that is difficult to close at the ballot box. Out of 435 seats, only 45 at most are competitive. And Democrats have such a slim margin that a loss of just five seats would cost them the majority. What could change those odds? A midterm turnout that matches 2018, which was a good year for Democrats midway through Trump’s term. Meanwhile, Democrats currently look to pick up two Senate seats. And responsible and patriotic Republicans like Liz Cheney may yet prevail in their districts. Adults on the right side of history will once again be in charge. See Eleanor Clift’s latest book Selecting a President, and Douglas Cohn’s latest books The President’s First Year: The Only School for Presidents Is the Presidency and World War 4: Nine Scenarios (endorsed by seven flag officers). Twitter: @douglas_cohn © 2022 U.S. News Syndicate, Inc. Distributed by U.S. News Syndicate, Inc. END WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND
CandC-July-15-Cheney-and-the-right-side-of-history.docx