“I would vote for Cheney and every other Republican who voted to impeach or convict Trump following the insurrection in hopes that their victories would embolden others in the party to resist his power grabs in a second term. And I would vote against Trump and all of his co-conspirators for the opposite reason, in hopes that their defeats would convince others that civic crime, like trying to overturn an election on false pretenses, doesn’t pay.”

“At the two extremes of the spectrum, policy doesn’t matter to me. Policy debates are things you get to have when everyone agrees on the rules of the game. Rewarding those who defended democratic norms and punishing those who undermined them is more important.”

“Since January 6, the threshold question I ask when considering whether to vote for a Republican is how that candidate responded to Trump’s coup attempt.”

“The reason Donald Trump is in a position in 2024 to threaten his political enemies with mass arrest isn’t because of right-wing populists, of whom there aren’t enough to make a majority. It’s the partisan conservatives who know better—who could have followed Cheney but stuck with Trump—who have made this nightmare viable.”