Family Values

Mike Enzi is the senior senator from Wyoming, a conservative Republican from a red state. How conservative? Enzi supports privatizing Social Security and opposes Medicare expansion. He favors drilling almost everywhere and abhors alternative energy. He loves fossil fuels, which doesn’t hurt in a state that mines 40% of America’s coal and ranks second in overall energy production. Enzi opposes all abortions, supports a border fence, thinks Guantanamo is just fine, and rejects gay marriage. He has a 100% rating from the National Right to Life Committee and an A+ from the NRA. He is also, they say, a nice man for a senator and takes constituent services seriously. A perfect fit for Wyoming, right? Apparently not, says Liz Cheney, who insists Wyoming needs a real conservative in the Senate. So she is running against Enzi from the right! It’s not easy to find daylight to the right of Mike Enzi, but it gets really complicated when your sister is married to someone named Heather Poe. Naturally, the Enzi campaign attacked, with a super-PAC-funded ad campaign blasting Cheney as soft on gay marriage, and (surprise!) it worked. A recent poll has Cheney losing by 52 points. So she publicly disavowed her sister’s lifestyle this week, and there are rumors of huge money ready to come into Wyoming on her behalf. The only thing missing from this campaign are issues. But Cheney will let neither that nor her sister stand in the way of her ambition. Is this what our politics have come to?