Latest News Online

You don't get to choose your family. Still, family members might choose a destructive lifestyle that puts them at odds with loved ones. They make others uncomfortable, and hurt those who love them. These people are often thinking only of themselves, and they haven't considered the consequences of their behavior.

Liz Cheney is one of these people. And the destructive lifestyle she has chosen is that of a politician.

The Republican Senate candidate from Wyoming is running to the right of Republican incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi. And because that might not be so easy to do, whenever the challenger offers an opinion on a topic, it's difficult to know if she's speaking from the heart -- or pandering to the lowest common denominator.

An independent political group calling itself the American Principles Fund, which is defending Enzi, recently launched an ad attacking Cheney for opposing a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and supporting the decision of the State Department to give benefits to same-sex partners of employees.

Cheney sisters spar over same-sex marriage, parents weigh in

This week, while calling on Enzi to denounce the ad and labeling it "gutter politics," Cheney stood by those earlier positions. During an interview on "Fox News Sunday," she said:

"I don't believe we ought to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation. If people are in a same-sex relationship and they want their partner to be able to have health benefits or be designated as a beneficiary on their life insurance, there's no reason we shouldn't do that."

Nonetheless, that ad puts Cheney in a tight spot, and given that Wyoming is a very conservative state and given that she's trying to position herself on the far right of the spectrum, she can't be seen as soft on same-sex marriage.