In a Losing Battle Between Pleasing Both Constituents and Family: Who Will Liz Deceive this Time?

Examples of Mayhew's theory of re-election-attempts by members of Congress is relatively easy to spot in Congresswoman Liz Cheney. There are three main ways in which a member tries to grab the attention of voters: 

Advertising: 
Liz Cheney's first TV ad is all about convincing voters that she is one of them, a Wyomingite. When Cheney was running against former incumbent Mike Enzi in 2016, she had a commercial made in which her three daughters were shown. The commercial did not show any political aspects or standpoints, rather, it was mainly a way to show viewers that her daughters support her and she is a "family person". Commercials and messages that are relatable to viewers are important to a campaign because it makes people feel more connected to the candidate, and therefor are more willing to vote them into office.
In the photo at the beginning of this blog, Liz is shown reading with a little boy. This is another blatant example of advertising. No politics are involved whatsoever, but her face is associated with a feel-good picture. Her latest posts on Facebook revolve around much of Wyoming's interests, such as rodeos and Cowboys Against Cancer,  as well personal messages from herself and her family.

Credit Claiming:
Cheney serves on the Natural Resources Committee, Armed Services Committee, and the Committee on Rules. On the Natural Resources Committee, issues brought forth have a lot to do with energy and mining, which is big in Wyoming. She can report back to her state that she is passing bills which benefit national parks as well as the farming and mining industries. In her February Newsletter on her official website, she stated "In the House Committee on Natural Resources, I questioned witnesses about the Democrats’ Green New Deal and their plan to outlaw all air travel, along with all fossil fuels. I have also been working to defend our Wyoming families from Democrats’ plans to infringe on our Second Amendment rights and our freedom of speech." This makes it seem like if she was not in office, families in Wyoming would not be protected and the Second Amendment would collapse. Her use of the Word "I" tells her constituents that she herself is the reason that things are getting done efficiently in Washington. D.C. 

Position Taking:
Cheney has been known to pass and support bills only to please her constituents. Some of these bills are overall beneficial to the state, such as the State Mineral Revenue Protection Act of 2019, Protecting American Communities from Wildfire Act, and Restoring Local Input and Access to Public Lands Act of 2018. By supporting these types of bills, she is taking a position in which her constituents would most likely be pleased with. 
One of her most controversial positions is that on gay marriage. Her own sister, Mary Cheney, identifies as lesbian. One would think that if your own family feels strongly about an issue, you would support them, but not in this case. Since Wyoming is such a Conservative Republican state, Liz's constituents are mainly anti-gay marriage, so she also took a stance and told the world that she did not support equal marriage laws for gay couples. Basically, Liz turned her back on her sister Mary only to take a position that would get her more votes. Liz tried to lessen the blow, referring to it as a simple disagreement, but Mary wasn’t letting things go that easily. No one is exactly sure how Liz actually feels about the issue, but it seems to many people that it was all just a move to get into office. 

 

There is reportedly still bad blood between Liz (left) and Mary (right). 

The two have never made up after the issue regarding gay marriage.