Lynne Cheney as Senator?

Posted by Guest Blogger at 4:46 AM on June 8, 2007.

This post, written by Ryan Powers, originally appeared on Think Progress

Lynne Cheney, the wife of Vice President Cheney, is "being floated in Senate GOP leadership circles as a possible replacement for the late Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY), who died Monday night."

Wyoming law ensures that the Thomas' "seat will remain in Republican control, and the balance of power in the Senate will remain unchanged." Should Cheney be nominated, however, her record indicates that Wyoming's Senate representation would shift to the far-right of the political spectrum:

- In December 2006, Cheney argued that putting Scooter Libby on trial "does not reflect well on our judicial system." [Link]

- In October 2006, Cheney called the media's portrayal of the NSA's domestic spying program a "terrible distortion of both the president and the vice president's position on many issues," in part because CNN used the phrase "domestic surveillance" to describe the so-called "Terrorist Surveillance Program." [Link]

- In October 2004, when Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) referred to Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary, as an "an example of a healthy gay person loved by her family." Cheney said of Kerry, "This is a bad man." [Link]

- In December 2005, Cheney falsely suggested that her husband Vice President Cheney had not attempted to link Saddam Hussein and 9/11. As ThinkProgress noted, her husband had done so on multiple occasions. [Link]

- Cheney criticized then-Senate candidate Jim Webb for including sexually explicit material in his novels, despite writing a novel that contains multiple scenes describing a lesbian love affair. [Link]

Cheney's role in the country's political discourse throughout the Bush presidency has been primarily that of an uncritical advocate of failed administration policy. Her nomination to the U.S. Senate would focus on her distracting, inaccurate rhetoric and do little to ensure the people of Wyoming were fairly represented.

Tagged as: cheney, wyoming, senate

Ryan Powers is an intern at the Center for American Progress. He is studying Government and History at William and Mary where he also serves as the Online Design Editor for the College’s online daily newspaper, the DoG Street Journal.