No Cheney required

We already have a U.S. senator - one who has spent his life in Wyoming, one who took on the unenviable job of leading Gillette through the boom in the '70s and '80s, one who served for years in the Wyoming House and Senate before he ran for the U.S. Senate, one who could be in line for chairmanship of the Senate Finance Committee, and most importantly, one who says he wants to run again.

By contrast, Cheney grew up in McLean, Va., and just last year bought a home in the Jackson area. She had a career with the State Department and now is an ongoing Fox News commentator. While she obviously had ties to Wyoming through her parents, Lynne and former Vice President Dick Cheney, it isn't as though she has spent her life worrying about the affect of governmental actions on little ole you and me in Wyoming.

But according to a New York Times report, she has told Sen. Mike Enzi that she's considering running. Tellingly, she did not ask him if he was.

The story detailed how both Liz Cheney and Dick Cheney have been increasingly visible in Wyoming recently - and how Liz Cheney's interest in running is stirring up the Republican Party in Wyoming. Few are angry with the performance of Enzi, but they also don't want to provoke Dick Cheney.

Great. Win-at-all-costs Cheney - who even alienated the president he was serving under - is ready to create a civil war in Wyoming.

As former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, a Republican, told the New York Times, a Cheney vs. Enzi campaign would bring about "the destruction of the Republican Party of Wyoming. ... It's a disaster - a divisive, ugly situation - and all it does is open the door for the Democrats for 20 years."

If the national Republican Party learned anything from the last presidential election, it isn't apparent these days. It needs to retain the Senate seats it has while trying to unseat Democrats in the next election, yet it continues to alienate moderates, women and minorities - all of whom it needs to try to attract if it has any hopes of recapturing the presidency, or the Senate.

Causing a huge political fight over a "safe" Republican seat is foolhardy, especially given Enzi's seniority and his ability to affect real change in Washington.

If Enzi were performing poorly, a contest would be justified. But he's not. He consistently works for the betterment and protection of Wyoming. He just does it quietly, which in political circles is increasingly viewed as a negative. It is a telling point in our country's political conversation when hard work and courtesy are viewed as detriments.

Given Liz Cheney's limited time in Wyoming, the "carpetbagger" label is unavoidable, especially with Enzi's long political history here. If she wants to make a run for the U.S. Senate, she should make it from a state where she has truly lived and worked.