Liz Cheney’s Non-Concession Speech

The power of the cause they fought for is proclaimed by some. Ted Kennedy said that this campaign came to an end a few hours ago. The work continues, the cause continues, the hope continues, and the dream continues.

A few are funny. Dick Tuck claimed that the people had spoken when he lost a state Senate race in 1966. The congressman borrowed the line in 1976.

Some people grudgingly acknowledge the loss. "So let's be clear, this is not a speech of concession because concession means to acknowledge an action is correct or proper." I can't concede that as a woman of conscience and faith.

When Nixon lost a 1962 governor's race, he told the press corps "you won't have Nixon kicking around anymore."

Rarely do we see a speech like the one Cheney delivered tonight. Since polls show her losing badly, she had plenty of time to make her speech. She promised a "road map" to her future plans to deny Donald Trump a return to the White House.

The only parallel concession speech that comes to mind is when Sen. Joe Lieberman lost the 2006 Democratic primary to Ned Lamont who rallied liberals against him for voting for the Iraq War.

In this campaign, we just finished the first half and the Lamont team is in front, according to Lieberman. Team Connecticut is going to come back in the second half to win. He said: "Tomorrow we launch a new campaign to unite the people of Connecticut so we can go forward together to solve our most serious problems together."

The pitch was pitched well. Lieberman defeated Lamont by a 10 point margin. He was endorsing John McCain at the time.

Cheney is after more than keeping her seat. The goal of Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski is to appeal to the center of the political spectrum. Cheney made her intentions clear when the national political apparatus was focused on the Wyoming primary.

The hills of Jackson were chosen as the location for the January 6 hearings because of the help of news producer James Godson.

I won this primary two years ago with 73 percent of the votes. I would have done the same thing again. There was a clear path to follow. She said that she would not follow Donald Trumps lies about the election.

She went to the page.

She said that the primary election was over and that the real work would begin.

She said that the fight against the lies about the 2020 elections is the root of that work. She pointed out to the Republican candidates for governor, secretary of state and other offices that they baselessly argue that the election was stolen. She called out Trump for spreading lies that are likely to cause violence and for revealing the names of the FBI agents who searched his office. Donald Trump will be in charge of violence if it happens. She repeated what will be seen as a clear indication of future political engagement: "I will do whatever it takes." After a lengthy turn into Civil War history, she repeated what will be seen as a clear indication of future political engagement: "I will do whatever it takes."

There will be a lot of speculation about what that means. It seems like a futile gesture to run against Trump in the primary. There is an independent run. She noted that Lincoln was defeated in elections for the Senate and House before he won the most important election of all time.

Everyone knows that anyone who labels this all acession speech has a hearing problem.