Why Harris is joining forces with the Never Trumpers

I hesitate to speak for other Never Trumpers, but we've gotten used to losing, haven't we? In three consecutive presidential elections, our brave band of dissidents have failed spectacularly in their attempts to shake Donald Trump's grip on the GOP. At this year's Republican National Convention – the great celebration of Trumpians – Never-Trump Republicanism was invisible for the second year in a row. Trump authors and pundits have never written frequently for national media (including here in). The Atlantic), but within the GOP itself the group was ridiculed and purged.

Now some Never Trumpers are finding a place elsewhere: Last night in Wisconsin, I was invited to moderate a discussion between Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her new ally Liz Cheney. The two had spent the day on a campaign tour through the so-called blue wall states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Seeing them together felt surreal: As I said at the event, Harris and Cheney are an odd couple — and their alliance is a sign that the election is anything but normal. It also marks a crucial shift in the focus of the democratic case. When Harris launched her campaign this summer, she leaned heavily on a message of joy and good vibes. Her running mate for vice president, Gov. Tim Walz, rose to prominence by calling the Trumpists “weird” rather than an existential threat, as Joe Biden had argued during his campaign. But then the polls tightened and Harris took Liz Cheney.

It is worth considering for a moment how unlikely this development is. Among many Democratic voters is the name Cheney is radioactive, dating back to her father's vice presidency years; Liz Cheney herself spent years as a fierce right-wing ideological campaigner and party loyalist, rising to the leadership ranks of the House Republican Party. Cheney was not a true Never Trumper. Unlike those of us who have publicly voiced our concerns since his fall on the golden escalator in 2015, Cheney said she voted for Trump twice and in Congress she supported his administration more than 90 percent of the time. Then came January 6th. Although her disillusionment with Trump had clearly been simmering for some time, the insurrection led to Cheney's loud denunciation. Her willingness to sacrifice her standing in the party and her seat in Congress made her a symbol of principled Republican resistance. Her role as vice chairwoman of the special committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol made her the most famous Never Trumper in the country.

And there she was Monday night with a Democrat she had once denounced as a dangerous radical. The usual constellations of right and left and Democrats and Republicans simply no longer apply, because Donald Trump poses a unique threat to the entire American order. “We have never faced a threat like this,” Cheney said, “and I think “It is so important that people realize that this republic only survives if we protect it, and that means putting aside partisan politics and standing up for what is right and for the love of our country.”

This is what Never Trumpers have been screaming into the GOP void for nine years. And in the final two weeks of the campaign, Harris and her team decided to make it their closing argument. Although Harris now frequently calls Trump “an untrustworthy man,” she also warns that the “consequences” of his return to power will be “brutally grave.” Raising that alarm also meant reaching out to the battered remnants of the Never Trump movement. (BulwarkNever Trump editor Sarah Longwell — a leading figure in the Never Trump movement — moderated the Harris-Cheney event in Pennsylvania.) Why the Never Trumpers? Because they have been arguing for years that voting against Trump is not a betrayal of party principles. They are particularly well positioned to argue that it is not necessary to adopt Democratic policies to vote for Harris because there is much more at stake than just party politics. And that's an argument Harris is now trying to make to sway voters. The question is: Will this argument actually persuade these voters the way Harris hopes?

The majority of Republican voters across the country will vote for Trump, and Cheney's involvement is unlikely to move many of them. Harris also faces the challenge of convincing conservative voters to ignore her past positions on issues such as transgender health care, the Green New Deal and immigration. Meanwhile, the largest known group of undecideds is unsure whether they should vote at all.

But this election could come down to a fraction of a percent, and the Harris campaign has decided to make a concerted effort to reach out to disaffected and disowned Republican voters in places like Waukesha County, where we met Monday night. In the Republican presidential primary in April, Nikki Haley won about 14 percent of the vote in Waukesha County. Some of those voters were in the audience Monday when Cheney made it clear to them that it was OK to vote for a Democrat because Trump should never be allowed into public office again. Perhaps her words will give some Republican voters the protection they need to make a decision that may feel like a betrayal but is, in reality, more than anything else, an act of loyalty to the country.

Related:

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Here are three new stories from The Atlantic:

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Latest news

1. The Israeli military said that one of its airstrikes in early October killed Hashem Safieddine, a senior Hezbollah leader who was a potential successor to the recently assassinated longtime Hezbollah leader. Hezbollah did not immediately respond to the claim.
2. A federal judge ordered Rudy Giuliani, a former Trump lawyer and former mayor of New York City, to turn over his New York apartment and valuable personal belongings to the two Georgia election workers he defamed.
3. A federal appeals court upheld the conviction of Couy Griffin, the leader of the Cowboys for Trump, who was found guilty of trespassing charges filed Jan. 6 against many other defendants.

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Evening reading

This influencer says you can't raise your children too gently

By Olga Khazan

The children held out quite well until shortly after gymnastics. At the end of a long day that included school, a chaotic playdate and a largely ignored lunch of sandwiches, parenting coach Chelsey Hauge-Zavaleta picked up her twins from the gym around 5:30 p.m. The two eight-year-olds joined their six-year-old sister in Chelsey's silver minivan.

Chelsey, an energetic 41-year-old, promotes gentle parenting, a philosophy that prioritizes a good relationship with your child over the child's obedience. I followed her family for a few days to see how her strategy – staying calm, naming emotions, not punishing children for their behavior – worked in practice.

Read the full article.

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Debate. Apparently, whole grain bread with seeds is considered a highly processed food, just like Twinkies, Coke, and sugary cereals, writes Nicholas Florko.

Play our daily crossword puzzle.

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Stephanie Bai contributed to this newsletter.

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