Wyoming Vote Tracker

Some belated thoughts on the Park County Lincoln Day Dinner. I’m not a fast enough writer to transcribe what was said word for word, and I was so in awe, that I forgot I had a pad and pen handy, so I’ll commentate relying on the things that stick out in my mind. I have made some comments in a couple of prior posts, so if I repeat them here. it is merely because I forgot that I already said it or that I just wanted a central location for my thoughts on the event.

The event over-all:

The 2008 Park County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner was a thrill to attend and be a part of. Ever since I met and had a chance to talk in-length with Park County Republican Committeewoman Cherie Fisher at the WYGOP Presdidential forum in Riverton last September, she has made sure that I would have ample opportunity to participate. She lets me know what’s going on, when, where, and all the rest. We have our occasional disagreements, and that’s OK. I’ll have her converted over sooner or later.

Anyway, she chaired the decorating committee for the dinner and invited me to join. Though I was only able to attend one meeting (which she scheduled to accommodate my crazy work schedules) it was great to be a part of setting up and getting ready for the dinner. She did good work in getting us all organized and assigned with duties for the afternoon before the dinner. Though there were times of civil debate about where to set this or that, we accomplished the tasks at hand and had a wonderfully decorated dinning and social area with enough time left to go home and clean up.

Sen. Enzi’s Remarks:

There was a certain excitement in the air when Sen. Enzi was introduced by Cody Mayor Roger Sedam. Mayor Sedam had alluded to the fact that Sen. Enzi had not yet announced his campaign intentions. One had to wonder if Sen. Enzi had him do so for the sake of a springboard into the speech. Would this be the speech? Would he announce at a dinner that was well-attended by Republicans in Cody, WY? That would be so cool!!!!

Sen. Enzi was welcomed very warmly. He expressed his pleasure to be there, and declared Park County to be the most Republican county in Wyoming.

Since Mayor Sedam put the topic of discussion out there, Sen. Enzi essentially had an obligation to address it. He told of an encounter he had with a reporter in D.C. recently, asking about his re-election plans. He told the reporter that when he was ready to announce, he would announce in Wyoming. That makes for a huge non-story, so the reporter pried further, asking which way he was leaning at this point. Sen. Enzi, quick on his feet, said, “Now if told you that, I wouldn’t be announcing in Wyoming, would I?” He calmed all of our excitement when he said that he was still not ready to announce. His perception is that Wyomingites don’t like long campaigns, thus he will be waiting to announce when the time is right for him and Wyoming.

Sen. Enzi also talked about the work that he and Sen. Barrasso are doing in D.C. He said he found recent push-polling efforts in Wyoming to be very deceptive. Voters were being called and asked if they generally supported Mike Enzi. If the respondent answered yes, they were asked if they would still support him if they found out he was writing legislation with Ted Kennedy.

Well, here’s the dirty secret: Mike Enzi and Ted Kennedy are writing legislation together. They have good reason to. They are both the ranking members of their respective parties on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. The trick is that Sen. Enzi doesn’t cave on his beliefs and focuses “on the eighty percent” of issues they agree on. While I think the 80% agreement clause is a bit high for Sens. Enzi and Kennedy, I wonder what Ted Kennedy supporters in Massachusetts would think if they found out Ted Kennedy was writing legislation with Mike Enzi?

He also bragged about the success of the HELP Committee. Sen. Enzi noted that a typical committee gets about three bills approved biannually (that’s every two years, for those of you in Emblem). The HELP Committee in the last two years has had 27 bills signed by President Bush.

Sen. Enzi when on to introduce Sen. Barrasso and commended the hard work that he is doing in the Senate, perhaps one of his biggest hallmarks is being the junior Senator of the country and being able to call all the witnesses to a committee hearing for legislation that would protect the Wyoming Range.

Sen. Barrasso’s Remarks:

Sen. John Barrasso is no stranger to Wyoming, particularly Cody. He is something of a hero, holding the feet of the Sec’y of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne to the fire on the issue of AML money that is owed to the state and keeping the East Gate of Yellowstone open to winter use.

Sen. Barrasso reiterated his popular four-point commitment that he has shared in many of his speeches, including the major part of his campaign to get the nomination:

• show up,
• stand up,
• speak up,
• shut up

Sen. Barrasso has been getting his message out, and it resonates, not just with Wyomingites. I believe it was one of his Senate colleagues that advised him he had the  potential of having the catchiest campaign slogans.

Sen. Barrasso had the pleasure of introducing V.P. Cheney at the CPAC convention in February. Later on, that same day, Mitt Romney suspended his campaign. Now I watched the suspension live on Fox News, and until I heard Sen. Barrasso bring it up on Feb. 15, the thought had not struck me. But at any rate, Mitt Romney apparently pays attention to Sen. Barrasso. Perhaps it was his way of tributing Wyoming for the first delegates awarded. I don’t know, but here is the quote:

As of today, more than 4 million people have given me their vote for president, less than Senator McCain’s 4.7 million, but quite a statement nonetheless. 11 states have given me their nod, compared to his 13. Of course, because size does matter, he’s doing quite a bit better with his number of delegates.

To all of you, thank you for caring enough about the future of America to show up, stand up, and speak up for conservative principles.

As I said to you last year, conservative principles are needed now more than ever.

So, there you have it.  Our own Sen. Barrasso being quoted by Mitt Romney of all people. All in all, Sen. Barrasso gave a good speech, even the part where he described Sen. McCain’s love for his son (though I’m still holding out for someone better).

The Candidates:

Three candidates seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. House were present at the dinner. Each was allowed to give a brief speech. Unfortunately, you can only get so much in two minutes.

• Mark Gordon is a family man and not a career politician. He has been to Cody numerous  times thanks to various school sporting events in the spring and fall and passing through to Yellowstone in the summer.
• Bill Winney was a contender against Barbara Cubin in 2006. He is a retired Navy submarine captain and has a “complicated” plan for keeping the East Gate of Yellowstone open to winter use.
• Cynthia Lummis served two terms as state treasurer and has worked effectively with government budgets. She also believes in the Wyoming way of legislating, and her daughter Annaliese chose the Big Horn Basin for her campaign focus area. I have to admit wondering what compelled her to choose the Big Horn Basin. I have my speculative theory and I’ll leave it at that.

Pictures:

Yes, I took pictures, and they should start appearing tonight.

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