Liz Cheney has no realistic shot at the presidency, but she is clearly determined to take down Trump, to her infinite credit. Would her chances be better as a Republican or an independent?
As I suggested in a previous post, her role model as a Republican candidate would be Eugene McCarthy; if she could destroy Trump in a series of debates, she would encourage other, more electable candidates to jump into the race. The problem, however, is that Trump would probably refuse to debate her, and the GOP leadership would do everything possible to stack the deck against her. Her candidacy as a Republican would consequently accomplish very little in the general election. What about running as an independent?
She would be lucky to win 5 percent of the vote. All of it would come from Never Trumpers and anti-anti-Trumpers; given her hard right views, none of it would come from Democrats. Even 5 percent would be enough to make a significant impact on a race that is likely to be fairly close. This is consequently the best choice available to her.