Wyoming Vote Tracker

I don’t know where to start on this. I am so excited at what is happening in Wyoming politics right now, it is absolutely an incredible time to live in the Cowboy State.

I would first like to say that I had a wonderful trip to Riverton through Yellowstone and Teton National Parks. I had quite an experience in Yellowstone traveling a newly rebuilt and completely paved Sylvan Pass. Avalanches were non existent. Snow decorated the mountains and it was not until I cleared the summit of Sylvan Pass that it began to snow on the road. I was very glad about that because I might have got tunred around at the gate if the snow hit the pass sooner than I could travel it.

I did not get to fully see the Tetons. I did see some big rocks that were covered by clouds though. At any rate, the scenic views offered on the trip trip were well worth the extra travel time.

Meeting and Reuniting

I got to meet a Fremont County blogger friend, Tammi (Mrs. C, Sunflower Desert, wytammic…) We had some good discussion about some political goings on and and family things, as well as blogging!

That’s actually the first time that I’ve met a blogger that I did not previously know in person (I have some blogger friends that I knew “B.B.,” Before Blogging).

If you want to read a short version of what you are about to embark on reading here, you can do so at her blog. But, if you want a slightly different perspective–one seat to the left actually, and no, I don’t mean politically; I was sitting one seat to the left, which was nice having the aisle seat–keep on reading here!

When going into the auditorium, I recognized one of our Park County Precinct Committeewomen, Cherie Fisher. She did recognize me (not by name, just looks) from being at a few Republican interest events in Cody. We a had some good discussions as well regarding political situations, Yellowstone East Gate issues, and political involvement.

I saw Senator Barrasso. He actually called me by name when he saw me standing nearby. For a while I thought he recognized me from the Cody town hall meeting, and after I was on my way home after the forum, it dawned on me that I was wearing a name tag at that point. Anyway, I thanked him for his work that he is doing in D.C., on the pro-life side and the Yellowstone East Gate. He mentioned that he had just recently talked to Dirk Kempthorne again, and they’re not steering very far from close the gate in the winter, but at the same time, Sen. Barrasso (and it stands to reason the other 2/3 of the delegation) is not giving up on keeping the gate open either. If you ask me, and even if you don’t, it seems that Mr. Kempthorne ought to be fighting on our side, not against us since he was Governor of Idaho before being appointed to direct the Dept. of the Interior.

I got to meet the WYGOP chairman Fred Parady. He’s nice man and seems to be doing some good work for the GOP.

The Forum

In his opening remarks about the forum that was held in Casper and the one taking place in Riverton, Mr. Parady spread the credit around for the organizing of the events.

In addition to all the local party officials and the campaigns, Tom Sansonetti, who candidated to succeed the late Sen. Thomas, was one of the major workers in getting the WYGOP County Conventions moved to Jan. 5 of ‘08. Reason being that “our national primary System is broken.” Mr. Sansonetti is an architect of the Delaware Plan, which regionalizes the Presidential primary process and puts the least populated states first in line, ensuring states like Wyoming have a voice in who becomes President.

Sen. Barrasso spoke for just a few minutes reminding us of what he stands for (show up, to stand up, to speak up, and then to shut up) and his work ethic. He has been in Wyoming every weekend since taking the oath of office.

Now onto the candidates. Fred Thompson showed up in Casper, but was unable to attend the Riverton event, so the video of his speech in Casper was played. He is quite an inspiring speaker. Folks in the Big Horn Basin might remember the radio spots he did with (I wish I could say “then”) Sen. Ted Kennedy, called “Face Off.”Some one would inquire on an issue and then both Senators would give their respective views. Anyway, Mr. Thompson does seem to fit the conservative bill on the wide range of issues facing us in 2008. He noted that we are going to be having serious discussions about serious issues. The bullet points of his speech:

• don’t emulate the western European model of government; they’re looking at our model and wishing they had it.
• our freedoms come from God, not government.
• his political philosophy doesn’t depend on the geography
• there is a separation of powers on the federal and state level (and yes, the federal is separate from the state)
• if you can’t secure the boarders, you can’t remain soverign

Josh Romney was able to deliver a speech on behalf of his father. That seemed to show some prejudice since the other candidates–that for one reason or another couldn’t attend–were not allowed to have spokespersons on the platform. Not like the former Massachusetts Gov has totally snubbed Wyoming since he did pay a visit to Jackson last month. But his son does pay Wyoming taxes and does own property in Wyoming. Sure, let’s exempt him from the rule.

I’m sure the Ron Paul campaign workers (who had a table) really liked the opportunity to not address the crowd (or perhaps they were offered a speaking opportunity and declined in an effort to play by the rules). Anyway, to the credit of whoever decided to let Gov. Romney’s son speak, they did limit him to just speaking and not getting questioned by the precinct committee members (or proxies; more on that later). Sounds like Mr. Romney grew up in a nice family.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) was next on the roster. He right off jovially blasted the surrogate-Romney speech by stating that it must be nice to have one of “your kids get up and speak well of you.” Not that Rep. Hunter’s kids would speak evil of him (one is simultaneously seeking office and serving on the frontlines in Afghanistan), just probably as confused as the rest of us over who exactly could and could not speak. If you want a stellar conservative on the issues, Duncan Hunter is an excellent choice.

• He is pro-bring jobs back to America as a means of strengthening America and calling China out on their cheating ways.
• He is pro-define the boarder with a good fence, actually two good fences with a good road for the Boarder Patrol between them.
• On health care, he is all for deregulation of the insurance industry, allowing small businesses to pool together, removing mandates for what must be purchased and if you can find a better deal in another state, you should have the freedom to purchase there without moving there.
• He is pro life and author of the Life Begins at Conception legislation; he also believes in a Mom and Dad leading the family, and by the way, marriage is a union between one man and one woman.
• American sovereignty is a must; we are not subject to being governed by the UN or any international body
• School districts need more freedom to do what works best for them

Sen. Sam Brownback was last on the platform. He paid tribute to Kansas victory over Texas and his love for “beating New Yorkers in politics.” He also noted that our great Senators in Wyoming, and told of Sen. Enzi being part of the smallest caucus in the Senate: The I Won’t Run For President Caucus.

Sen. Brownback is another one of the great conservatives. The only issue I have with him is that he’s been a proponent of the “path to citizenship” amnesty legislation. Other than that, he’s pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-second amendment, pro-states rights (including the Dept. of the Interior working with the states, not the sates working with the Department of the Interior). Has some good leadership ability, just not good on the immigration issue (which he avoided entirely, nor was he asked about it).

Meeting & Greeting

After the forum, we all got to mingle with each other, our committee men and women, and the candidates. The showing of people was not huge, so it made it nice to not have to wait long if you wanted to chat. Park County Precinct Committeewoman Cherie Fisher wanted to chat with a lot of people. She felt that Park County got gypped out of a question to the candidates. She investigated and found out that state Rep. Simpson took it by proxy in Casper**. She was less than thrilled about this, but the meet and greet did calm her once she got her frustrations expressed to the party leaders.

I did some mingling and happened to come across state Senator and former Republican Gubernatorial candidate Eli Bebout chatting with Rep. Hunter. A break in the conversation occurred and after telling him I hailed from Park County, I thanked Mr. Bebout for his question (to Sen. Brownback) regarding multiple use. Mr. Bebout took the pitch and went to bat. He told Rep. Hunter about the Park Service planning to shut down the East Entrance to Yellowstone for winter use. Rep. Hunter said that he was aware of the plans and is working with Rep. Cubin on it. “That gate will stay open” was a wonderful icing on the cake. As an anecdote, when I left, I stopped at the Maverck gas station before leaving town. As I was pulling in, I saw Rep. Hunter finishing his fuel-up! It was great for me, because I got one more chance to thank him for coming and for the work he’s doing in the House, and also to wish him well on his antelope hunt.

I straightway went to find my committeewoman. She was waiting to catch an open opportunity to chat and I told her about what I had just heard, knowing that it would delight her as a founder of the Shut out of Yellowstone committee. I went back over for a photo-opp with Rep. Hunter. Later on I caught Cherie chatting with Sen. Brownback about the East Gate. He was not familiar with the issue, but he said that he would look into it and would likely follow Sens. Enzi and Barrasso on the issue.

And the Winner Is…

Well, this is going to be interesting. I’m sure I’ll be accused of flip-flopping. But, know that this is something that I’ve been contemplating for some time. I can only judge a winner based on who shows up to compete. I can’t really count Mitt Romney in the score because he wasn’t there. If the Denver Broncos said “Hey, we can’t make it to the first game, so we’re going to send the Colorado Crush to play for us because they’re from Colorado and John Elway is their owner.” Roger Goodell might have a thing or two to say to Pat Bowlen. Bronco fans would not look at it as cheering for the Broncos. So, no score for Gov. Romney.

Fred Thompson is pulling through a tight squeeze. He did make it to Casper and we did get to see him on video from Casper. However, I could not meet and greet him, so his ride didn’t last a full eight seconds.

Sen. Brownback: like I said, a great conservative, doing, for the most part, great things in the Senate. He has an understanding of the West, but he needs to do some repair on his immigration policy that is not just spoken, but also done. Again, didn’t get a full eight second ride here either.

Rep. Hunter is doing great things for his district in southern California. He has shown leadership by getting a double-layer fence built and spearheading legislation to extend that fence through Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. He’s a conservative’s Conservative on the fiscal and social issues, and even though he may be from Khal-lee-for-nee-uh, he is in tune with Wyoming issues and is willing, as a member of the House of Representatives, to stand up with us. Rep. Hunter rode all eight seconds and then some; he comes out the victor with the big gold buckle of my endorsement. Wyoming would love President Duncan Hunter.

Technorati Tags: Sen. John Barrasso, WYGOP Presidential Forum, Gov. Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Sen. Sam Brownback, Rep. Duncan Hunter

Photo taken by Mrs. C/Tammi/wytammic from Sunflower Desert

Special thanks to EverythingCody.com for linking to this post

**Correction: Rep Colin Simpson is, in fact, a precinct committee member and thus his question was not by proxy**

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