Behind the Ad: Liz Cheney still says she's from Wyoming

By Richard K. Barry

Who: The Liz Cheney Senate campaign

Where: Wyoming

What's going on: Liz Cheney, who is running against incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi for the GOP nomination in Wyoming, is still going on about being from Wyoming. As Steve Benen notes, "Cheney never lived in Wyoming as an adult before 2012, but she spent part of her childhood going to school in Casper." That's it. Just part of her childhood. 

I don't think anyone takes issue with the fact that the Cheney clan has a long and distinguished history in the state. The point appears to be that Ms. Cheney hasn't lived there very much.  One thing seems clear and that is that she thinks where she is from matters to the voters of Wyoming, which is why she is shouting so much about being from there.

The ugly word for what she is attempting is "carpetbagger," and the term has a long and nasty pedigree. It implies a kind of political opportunism more aligned with the interests of something other than the interests of the constituents. 

If I were from Wyoming, I wouldn't necessary reject a candidate because they haven't lived in the state for a long time, or never as an adult. I'd reject him or her if I thought they were only running in order to have the title "senator" attached to their name when they invariably go back to Washington to resume a role primarily as a hotshot conservative opinion maker. 

Liz Cheney seems to have lovely children, as seen in this ad. And, as I say, the family appears to go way back in the state. But is that the point?