Vice President Kamala Harris and former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney returned to Wisconsin Monday night, making an overt appeal to Republicans and undecided voters in the heart of the suburbs.
The event was part of a series of “moderated panels” between the two over the course of one day in three swing states, with stops earlier in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
The Wisconsin event was in Brookfield, a Republican-leaning city in Waukesha County, the largest of the so-called WOW counties in southeast Wisconsin that have historically been critical to GOP success in the state, and where Democrats have made inroads.
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The moderator was none other than Charlie Sykes, the former conservative talk show host and Republican kingmaker turned “Never Trump” commentator, who introduced Harris as “the next president of the United States.”
Cheney, a Republican who is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, lost her GOP primary two years ago after criticizing former President Donald Trump and his influence on the GOP. This year, she has endorsed Harris as a “reasonable” candidate that non-Democrats should support.
She was welcomed with a standing ovation, and denounced how Trump responded to the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“What undergirds everything that we are as a nation is the rule of law,” Cheney said before a crowd of a few hundred at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts in Brookfield, about a dozen miles west of Milwaukee.
“When you look at what Donald Trump did after the last election, when you look at the cruelty that’s involved in someone who watches the attack on the Capitol … that’s depravity,” she said.
It was the second time Cheney and Harris had campaigned together in Wisconsin in just the past month. They first appeared together in Ripon, using the birthplace of the Republican Party to frame Trump’s candidacy as a threat to democracy that transcends party.
They repeated that message Monday, on a stage flanked by signs reading “Country Over Party.”
“I start from the belief, based on lived experience, that the vast majority of us have more in common,” said Harris.
Harris argued that Trump poses a danger to American security interests, pointing to a letter signed by about 700 national security leaders, including many Republicans, that described this election as “a choice between serious leadership and vengeful impulsiveness.”
“These are the people who know him best, people who worked with him,” Harris said. “Donald Trump is an unserious man, but the consequences of him ever being president of the United States again are brutally serious.”
During a question-and-answer session, Dan Voboril, a teacher from Waukesha who described himself as a lifelong Republican, told Harris and Cheney that politics feels toxic, and asked how that could change.
Cheney said that voters should strive to be worthy of the sacrifice that military members have made, and to support candidates who take seriously the role of commander in chief.
“The decision to give somebody the power of the presidency means that you’re handing someone the most awesome and significant power of any office anywhere in the world,” she said. “You have to choose people who have character … and Donald Trump has proven he’s not one of those people by his actions.”
In the audience, Kit Behling said she is a “huge, huge admirer of Liz Cheney.”
“I would differ from her when it comes to policy, but I really, really admire … her principles,” she said. “I admire all she’s given up in order to take a principled stand.”
Behling and her partner volunteer with Braver Angels, an organization that aims to decrease partisanship and increase civil conversations. The couple, formerly of Shorewood, spent the last several years living in an RV and traveling the U.S.
“That reignited my love for the country and appreciation for its incredible diversity of people and topography,” she said. “I was also just horrified at the extent of our divide, our divisions, of our politics.”
Mary Miske and Pamela Taylor drove up from the northern suburbs of Chicago for what they described as a chance to see Harris in an intimate venue.
“I’m sick of the bickering. I’m sick of the lack of respect. I really appreciate her positive and bipartisan approach,” said Miske.
Taylor said she was excited to see a candidate from her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha — part of the “Divine Nine” historically Black fraternal organizations — at the top of the ticket.
“There’s nothing that I would not do to help ensure the fact that she becomes our 47th president,” Taylor said.
“For Liz Cheney to come across the aisle and to offer her hand and to help guide the way forward is really the opportunity for all of us to follow the same precepts,” she said.
Earlier in the day, the pair appeared in Chester County, Penn., in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and Oakland County, Mich., the suburbs of Detroit.
In a written statement, the Republican Party of Wisconsin said that Cheney’s support for Harris amounted to a flip-flop.
“Four years ago, Liz Cheney warned voters of Kamala Harris’ extreme agenda,” said Wisconsin GOP chairman Brian Schimming. “Liz Cheney may have changed. But the facts about Kamala Harris remain the same: she is too extreme for Wisconsin.”
On Sunday, Trump’s running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, also visited Waukesha County. Former President Barack Obama will be in Madison Tuesday, campaigning for Harris alongside her vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
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