Can We Get That In Writing, Liz?

Republicans, conservatives, and Trump supporters everywhere breathed a sigh of relief recently when Liz Cheney, soon-to-be ex-Congresswoman Cheney, declared that, if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024, she “won’t be a Republican”. Whether she is a Republican now is highly doubtful, but the prospect that the party could be definitively and permanently cleansed of her baleful influence is, well, invigorating! It got me thinking that a Trump run in 2024 could bring major upsides for the conservative movement, whether or not he was victorious over his Democratic opponent.First, we must admit that a Trump candidacy in 2023–24 carries with it major risks. Trump almost certainly will be dogged by lawsuits and criminal charges. He may spend much of his time in kangaroo courts. He may even be behind bars. That’s an unconventional launching pad for a presidential run.Trump is also widely disliked. One can argue that he won in 2016, and won/almost won in 2020, despite his high negatives, but it’s hard to imagine Trump getting more than the 46–47% of the vote that he’s previously received. Ergo …