In 2018, House Democrats rode suburban disgust with Donald Trump to historic wins to retake control of the lower chamber. Now, facing very different odds in next year’s midterms, they think House Republicans are handing them a lifeline with the ouster of Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming from her leadership post for refusing to peddle Trump’s 2020 election lies.

In Democrats’ view, it’s a fresh opportunity to make Trump a central feature in yet another crucial midterm cycle, according to Politico. In fact, if Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York takes over as the House GOP’s No. 3, the entire Republican leadership team will be lockstep in propagating Trump’s Big Lie, each of them having voted against certification of the 2020 election following the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.

“Liz Cheney is being attacked for being a woman of integrity and telling the truth,” Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan told Politico in an interview. “What the Republican leadership is doing is destabilizing people’s trust in government.”

Republicans’ big bet is that demonstrating their 100% subservience and fealty to Trump will help energize his deep well of loyalists and get them to the polls. To do that, House Republicans are clearly hoping to turn 2022 into a referendum on 2020, ginning up turnout by giving Trump voters who baselessly think the election was “stolen” an opportunity to register their disgust at the polls. It’s a risky bet. Trump voters in Georgia, despite being convinced the November election was fraudulent, didn’t turn out in January in numbers great enough to deliver victories for the state’s two Republican senators.

On the other side of the aisle, Democrats are hoping Republicans’ jump off the deep end into Trump’s pool of wackadoodle conspiracy inspires anti-Trump voters to get to the polls in order to save democracy … again. Of course, Democrats will also be running on the policy they are pushing through in concert with the White House, which has the benefit of being very popular with the electorate.

While no one can predict 2022 turnout or the effect of the GOP’s voter suppression efforts, Trump’s polarizing effect on the electorate remains quite stable. According Civiqs tracking of Trump’s favorable rating, he’s at 42% favorable, 55% unfavorable—with 96% of Democrats viewing him unfavorably and 87% of Republicans viewing him favorably (a slight slip from 90% on Election Day). With independents, Trump is 9 points underwater—43% favorable, 52% unfavorable—a slight improvement from where he was in late March (41% unfav./54% fav.). Perhaps a little less exposure is improving Trump’s image, but who the heck knows?

What Democrats do know is that Trump absolutely grates on the nerves of their base voters, and his historic unpopularity certainly supercharged their electoral fortunes in 2018. So if this is the path Republicans have chosen, so be it. 

“I think it’s a real weakness in the Republican Party that they have jettisoned their principles, jettisoned adherence to the truth and simply pandered to one individual — Donald Trump,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Wednesday during a Washington Post event.

New York Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, who’s leading House Democrats’ 2022 campaign strategy, also lamented Cheney’s ouster. “It seems like the only way to get ahead over there is to be a dangerous liar, accused sexual predator, or perpetrator of white supremacist ideology,” Maloney said, referencing scandals that have recently enveloped several GOP members.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the opportunity to paint Cheney as a patriot, full well knowing that Republicans are about to rip her to shreds. 

“I do commend Liz Cheney for her courage, for her patriotism, and I wish her well. Perhaps this challenge will make her stronger. I don’t know, that’s up to their caucus,” she said. Pelosi had poked fun at Republicans earlier in the week for turning on Cheney for telling the truth. “Help Wanted — Non-Threatening Female,” read a mock press release posted to the Speaker’s website. The post noted and linked to several reasons GOP congressman had recently given for Cheney’s fateful turn: “she won’t lie, she isn’t humble enough, she’s like a girlfriend rooting for the wrong team, and more.”

President Joe Biden wielded the knife in his own understated way on Wednesday, noting that we “badly need” a Republican Party for the sake of our two-party system. Biden then marveled at just how far off the rails Republicans had gone. 

“I’ve been a Democrat for a long time. We’ve gone through periods where we’ve had internal fights and disagreements. I don’t ever remember any like this,” he told reporters at the White House. “I think the Republicans are further away from trying to figure out who they are and what they stand for than I thought they would be at this point.”

In other words, we need a two-party system, but heaven help us if voters put the GOP, in its current form, back in control of the country.

Congresswoman Cheney herself said as much in a Washington Post op-ed. “The Republican Party is at a turning point, and Republicans must decide whether we are going to choose truth and fidelity to the Constitution,” she wrote. Identifying herself as a conservative Republican with “reverence” for the rule of law, she added, “The electoral college has spoken. More than 60 state and federal courts, including multiple Trump-appointed judges, have rejected the former president’s arguments, and refused to overturn election results. That is the rule of law; that is our constitutional system for resolving claims of election fraud.”

As Cheney’s op-ed makes clear, you’re either with democracy or you’re against it. House Republicans have unequivocally cast their lot with being against it, and it’s anyone guess right now as to whether they will be able to ride the wave of fascism overrunning their party and caucus to retake control of the chamber next year.

On the one hand, the GOP infighting can’t be helping their chances. On the other, even if Democrats prevail, the country is still stuck with one diseased party in our two-party system. 

“Part of me is like, disarray in the Republican Conference is fine. That’s good for everybody. That’s good for Democrats,” Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts told Politico. “But watching this unfold, I can’t help but think this is bad for the country. And it’s bad for democracy… it’s bad for solving future problems in a bipartisan way.”