Newsweek pored over the cross-tabs of the new NYTimes/Siena poll (which has kinda become "the" poll the rest of the news media is using as this cycle's pace-setter) and they found this strategy-affirming data-point:
[N]ine percent of likely voters who describe themselves as Republican plan to back the Democratic candidate in November, up from five percent in the last New York Times/Siena College poll a month earlier.
Given that we are looking at razor-thin margins in key suburban counties in a handful of swing states, that 4% jump could be a difference maker in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona (not to mention Michigan or North Carolina). If so, it will vindicate the Harris campaign's strategy of targeting Nikki Haley's voters and it will vindicate Liz Cheney's decision to back Harris.
Cheney, in turn, may be rewarded for her efforts.
At least, that's the signal Harris sent when asked about a potential landing spot for Cheney in her administration. Howard Stern posed the Cheney question after Harris indicated she'd be adding a Republican to her cabinet. Her classic non-response response sure sounded like she's more than considering it.
Frankly, I am surprised because I expected Cheney and other pro-Harris Republicans to focus on retaking the party should Trump lose yet again. Based on Harris's glowing response to Stern, I inferred that the topic may have even come up already ... privately, of course. I also inferred from Harris’s enthusiasm that Cheney was open to the idea.
Perhaps it reflects the reality that Trump may lose, but he and his sycophants aren't going anywhere … particularly with an opportunistic organism like JD Vance now tightly attached to the MAGA shark like an insatiable lamprey.
So, why not burnish your resume with cabinet spot?
It promises to be far more rewarding than trying to deprogram millions of faithful voters. Even less appealing is the political war of attrition that will have to be waged against the Freedom Caucus in the off-year primaries. That, in turn, will be a proxy war not just with Trump, but also with millions of true believers he can summon to the pavilion on an ad hoc basis. His constituency is his constituency, not the GOP’s. So, while Trump may lose this year, he’s likely to be the GOP’s kingmaker for years to come. And that means old school Republicans like Liz Cheney may have to wait to pry their party from Trump's cold, dead hands. By then, the Neocons might be fully absorbed into the Democratic Party, much like our ancestors absorbed the now-extinct Neanderthals.
Or maybe it’s the other way around?