Well, the people of Wyoming have spoken, and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) will soon be former Rep. Liz Cheney. Her challenger, Harriet Hageman, gave Cheney a sound drubbing, defeating her by 35 points.

Cheney, who seemed to expect her defeat, gave a concession speech in which she compared herself to Abraham Lincoln and further demonstrated why she lost. Democrats and the rest of the anti-Trumpers had the predictable meltdown on social media and the airwaves, lamenting the fact that their favorite warrior had fallen.

But while it is tempting to focus only on the fact that Cheney will be heading for the hills, it is also important to understand the significance of what has been happening over the past two years. This particular primary season is a bellwether of the metamorphosis of the Republican Party and the conservative movement, which has been embroiled in a civil war of sorts for the past six years.

When former President Donald Trump was nominated in the 2016 presidential election, it sparked a bitter feud between the Republican establishment old guard and the new “America First” movement, which sought to reshape the party. It was at this point that people began to realize that the days of the Bush/Cheney/Romney era were numbered.

Now, we are seeing another significant step toward the culmination of this conflict, and all indications suggest that the new breed of conservatives is swiftly gaining prominence while the old guard is receding worse than former Vice President Dick Cheney’s hairline. The ouster of Liz Cheney is yet another repudiation of the neocon establishment. Indeed, those who opposed the America First agenda by voting to impeach Trump are reaping the consequences, as Republican activist Scott Presler so aptly pointed out:

So far, 8 of the Republicans — who voted to impeach President Trump — won’t be returning to Congress:

❌Tom Rice
❌Liz Cheney
❌John Katko
❌Fred Upton
❌Peter Meijer
❌Adam Kinzinger
❌Anthony Gonzalez
❌Jaime Herrera Beutler

— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) August 17, 2022

Indeed, according to the activist, the movement is already looking forward to purging even more members of the establishment in the future.

Since Jan. 2021, we’ve worked to defeat the House Republicans, who voted to impeach President Trump: 8/10.

The last 2 years showed us that we have the power & primaries are the blueprint for the future:

Cassidy, Murkowski, Romney, & Sasse, we’re coming for your seats.

— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) August 17, 2022

Despite the whining coming from the progressives chattering class, this transformation has been overdue for years. As I’m often fond of saying, the Republican Party needs an enema, and this is what we are seeing at the moment. The ineffectual, squishy, feckless GOP establishment has been in power for far too long and has little to show for it.

It is also worth warning that the conservative base must also be careful with who they vote for in federal, state, and local elections. While it is currently showing the establishment the door, it must also make sure they are replacing the old guard with people who will actually affect change. We must not fall for candidates who will merely be a more social media savvy version of those who have come before them.

The Democratic Party is rapidly shifting harder to the left – we cannot afford to have Republicans in office who are willing to give in to them. We need people who will work to enact conservative policy more than we need political theater. Otherwise, we will have a repeat of what happened when the GOP controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress just a few years ago.

Overall, this shift is a positive one so far. It looks like the right will have more people in office who are willing to fight for their constituents. We have people in the GOP who are not willing to put up with the hyperbolic and deceptive attacks coming from the Democrats and their comrades in the activist media. There are still many who need to be given the boot – but it appears we are off to a good start.