( CNN ) -- The U.S. Senate race in Wyoming has it all : A popular incumbent Republican facing a primary challenge , a GOP feud , a generational divide , and Dick Cheney , one of the most polarizing figures in politics . Liz Cheney met with reporters in Casper on Wednesday , one day after announcing her bid for the seat . It came on the same day that three-term Republican Sen. Mike Enzi said he would run for re-election . `` I 'm focused on earning every vote I can , the way it ought to be done in Wyoming , which is one person at a time , '' Cheney said . Enzi says Wyoming voters will stick with him . Cheney , a former State Department official and Fox News contributor , is the eldest daughter of the former vice president , who served for a decade as the congressman from Wyoming . Like her father , Cheney is a very vocal critic of President Barack Obama . `` President Obama has launched a war on our Second Amendment rights . He has launched a war on our religious freedom . He has used the IRS to launch a war on our freedom of speech . He has used the EPA to launch a war on Wyoming 's ranchers , farmers and energy industry , '' said Cheney in a statement announcing her bid . CNN Chief National Correspondent John King , who covered the Cheneys over the years , says Liz Cheney has been a very loyal aide to her father . Liz Cheney announces Senate run . `` Clearly she has his blessing or she would n't do it , '' King said . `` If her dad had turned to her and said 'Do n't do this , ' she would n't have done this . In her putting her neck out , in her offending Mike Enzi and everyone else in the Wyoming Republican party , so has her dad . '' Enzi is a proven conservative but has been willing to try to accomplish bipartisan solutions in the Senate . While not directly criticizing him in her announcement , Cheney said , `` I am running because I know as a mother and as a patriot , we can no longer afford simply to go along to get along . '' And the 46-year-old Cheney appears to be making Enzi 's age an issue , saying , `` I believe it is necessary for a new generation of leaders to step up to the plate . '' Enzi is 69 . One veteran analyst of Senate races is n't sure the age argument will be effective . `` She is running against an incumbent from her own party who has a solidly conservative voting record and is well-liked by voters . Her theme seems to be Enzi 's age , but I do n't know that it will play that well , '' said Jennifer Duffy , senior editor for the non-partisan Cook Political Report . But the primary will highlight the ongoing struggle for the future of the GOP . `` This race now will be the highest-profile test of what 's happening in the Republican Party , the struggle over whether you fight and compromise or do you fight and keep fighting . This race will capture huge national attention , '' King added . Enzi says he 's not surprised he 's being challenged . `` She 's been traveling around Wyoming for a long time , so I 'm not surprised . I 'm only surprised in that she said if I ran she would n't . She announced 30 minutes after I more specifically stated my intention , '' Enzi told CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash on Wednesday . And he pushed back on his age , telling Bash , `` I 'm absolutely not too old to be a senator . I 'm about the median age for this body . I 'm in really good health , I 'm on the committees that I want to be on . I have seniority . '' And Enzi does n't think his ability to work with Democrats is a liability , saying `` I 've developed trust on both sides of the aisle , people trust me that what I say I 'm going to do , I do . '' On Tuesday Enzi told reporters that he would n't change his plans to run for a fourth term , but admitted to reporters that fundraising has `` always been a problem for me . '' But he told Bash that people in Wyoming `` complain about long campaigns . It does n't take them long to make up their mind . And it does n't cost a lot of money to have them make up their mind . '' Enzi appears to have the backing of the two other members of Wyoming 's congressional delegation . `` I think that Mike has done an excellent job representing the people of Wyoming and I 'm going to continue to work to support Mike Enzi , Sen. John Barrasso told CNN on Wednesday . `` I have a great deal of respect for the entire Cheney family , for the vice president , for Liz and for Lynn , but I think it 's the wrong race at the wrong time , '' he said . Republican Rep. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming ripped Cheney 's decision as `` bad form '' and predicted she would lose in the GOP primary next year . `` I do n't know that anybody can out-conservative Mike Enzi , '' Lummis told CNN Senior Congressional Producer Deirdre Walsh and other reporters outside the House chamber on Tuesday . The congresswoman , Wyoming 's at-large representative , admitted Cheney had the upper hand in raising money , but said that would n't matter . `` She will outraise him by factors of 10 or more , and he will still win because Wyoming is grassroots , retail campaigning , '' she said . The National Republican Senatorial Committee was quick to say it stands firmly behind Enzi , the GOP incumbent . `` Our mission is to re-elect our incumbents and build a Republican majority , '' NRSC Communications Director Brad Dayspring told CNN . Cheney , who chairs a nonprofit on national security and education called Keep America Safe , had been rumored this year to be considering a Senate run . Early last week , former Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming told the New York Times that a potential Cheney primary challenge would bring about `` the destruction of the Republican Party of Wyoming , '' adding that , `` It 's a disaster -- a divisive , ugly situation -- and all it does is open the door for the Democrats for 20 years . '' Simpson had a different message after Cheney 's announcement on Tuesday . `` I deeply care about them both , '' he said , according to the Casper Star Tribune . Cheney will come under attack for being a carpetbagger . She was born in Wisconsin and grew up in Virginia 's D.C. suburbs before attending college in Colorado and law school in Illinois . She spent most of her career working in the nation 's capital before moving to Wyoming last year . Cheney touted her family 's longtime Wyoming roots in a speech in May and in her announcement Tuesday . He highlighted that her family `` first came here in 1852 , in search of religious freedom , '' adding that her grandmother `` was raised in the Salt Creek oil field and grew up to become Natrona County 's first female deputy sheriff . '' Will the carpetbagger tag stick ? There have already been comparisons to Hillary Clinton . In 2000 the first lady , who grew up in Illinois and lived for many years in Arkansas , successfully ran for the U.S. Senate in New York , but faced the carpetbagger attacks . `` What did Hillary Clinton have ? She had national name identification . She had a giant fundraising network , she had a bunch of people willing to work for her and willing to fight and she ran a very effective campaign and she won , '' King recalled . As for Cheney , he said , `` She will have money . She has the name identification . Now the test is , since she 's new to politics , can she run a campaign . Can she convince the people of Wyoming that she 's right . '' CNN 's Kevin Liptak , Ashley Killough and Bryan Koenig contributed to this story .
Cheney has worked for the State Department and been a the State Department contributor . John King : `` She has ( Dick Cheney 's ) blessing or she would n't do it '' Dick Cheney 's is challenging incumbent Democrats Sen. Cheney , a popular conservative . Enzi said that Cheney told him she would not run if he ran for re-election .