Here’s the problem: by leaning into the Liz Cheney factor, and prominently citing Dick Cheney’s endorsement (plus Taylor Swift!) as Walz did in the debate, the Harris-Walz effort is falling into the trap of starting the final month of their campaign appealing to voters they already have. There isn’t a single undecided voter out there who Liz Cheney’s presence on the trail will convince to be newly opposed to Trump. The MSNBC fans are already well-versed in all of this stuff, and the January 6 cudgel — used to very limited degrees of success in 2022 — is duller than Andy Dufresne’s rock hammer. 

Think about it this way: The voters are consistently telling you they care deeply about a handful of issues — the economy, immigration, crime and security around the world — and you’re closing out your campaign linking arms with Liz Cheney, a once and current swamp creature whose most prominent factors are her association with global warmongering, government crackdowns on speech and an obsession with relitigating January 6?

If you want to win Wisconsin, you don’t go there with an appeal doubling down on the voters you already have, touting a has-been ex-Republican with all the baggage that helps the Trump-Vance campaign depict you as someone tied to elite out-of-touch insiders, who cares more about satisfying Rachel Maddow than the needs of working families today. But that’s what Kamala Harris is doing.