Liz Cheney's Election Campaign Shows Exactly What's Wrong With American Politics

Neopotism is alive and well in the United States, as is evident by Liz Cheney's Congressional House race.

Buoyed by cash and endorsements from the Republican Party's elite, Cheney will almost certainly lockup the Republican nomination for the open House seat in Wyoming. Cheney has racked up more than a million dollars in funds, and her war chest is greater than the combined funds of her 7 Republican primary challengers and 2 democrats.

Huge Amount of Resources For Small Race

Much of this money is coming from out-of-state. Wealthy Republicans around the country have been opening up their checkbooks for Ms. Cheney. Among the contributors are both of the former Bush presidents, former Secretary of State James Baker, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz.

Cheney, for her part, has promised to be a strong Conservative voice for an in Wyoming. She currently leads the polls with 21% of the vote, which is double what her closest competitor has so far mustered.

Given the far right lean in Wyoming, that means she'll also almost certainly win the House Seat. Problem is, she'll be winning office not because of her own merits, but instead because her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, is shifting huge amounts of resources and using an immense amount of influence to ensure her victory.

Cheney's meteoric rise in Wyoming politics illustrates one of the gravest threats to American democracy. Far too often, politicians are being elected to office not because they are the most qualified candidates, but instead because they have the right name and the right connections.

As a result, our political apparatus is becoming increasingly incompetent, divisive, and unwilling to bend to the will of the people. This is a perversion of democracy, and a threat to the United States and every other democracy that suffers undue influence.

Mind you, the problem isn't that Liz Cheney is running for office. Individually, she might indeed by the best candidate for the House seat, and yet she's not going to prove it through her own merits. Instead, she'll use the huge cash advantage afforded by her father's connections and status to gain immense and unfair advantages over her opponents.

Daddy Has Already Been Looking Out For Daughter

Back in 2002 Liz Cheney was appointed as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Having held several years of experience in international law as a private lawyer, and also several years of experience at U.S. Aid and in the State Department, this appointed shouldn't raise too many eyebrows.

That is, until you realize that the position was (allegedly) created just for her. At the time, the State Department and Vice President Dick Cheney were at relative odds over foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East. Creating a high-level State Department job for the Vice President's daughter was a quick and easy way to extend an olive branch.

Money In Politics Destroys Meritocracy

In an ideal world, elections would be based on merit. The most qualified and dedicated candidates would win office. From time to time, exceptionally qualified and dedicated candidates do indeed secure elections, but far too often, victory is determined by cold, hard cash and personal connections, rather than actually worthiness.

Liz Cheney has had a relatively distinguished career, and while her father has almost certainly helped her with the right connections along the way, it's not likely that she would have received multiple posts and general favorable praise for her performance. In other words, she might actually deserve to win the House seat this fall.

Problem is, we'll never know. So far, Cheney can simply rely on the generous cash donations, topping one million, an extraordinary amount for a House Seat in Wyoming. Her endorsements, meanwhile, also seem to be stemming from her father's influence. Former presidents and cabinet members aren't going to weigh in on house elections in Wyoming unless they have very personal reasons for doing so.

For Cheney, the flow of cash and widespread support is good news. For the average citizen, it's just another piece of proof that when it comes to politics it's truly about “who you know” and not about “what you know”.