Wyoming Vote Tracker

I really want to talk about something/someone else, but a certain someone out there makes this so easy, it’s ridiculous!

Yup, you guessed it. Mark Gordon is at it again. Apparently it’s getting a little warm with all the donation information flying around the state and the internet, and finally the mainstream media. So, he’s gone out to defend his Republican credentials, as long as you go to his website; otherwise, you have no idea. So, in an attempt to prove that he really is a Republican, contrary to what his donations record shows, here’s what he now says about himself in a section on the home page called “GOP Fast Facts”:

Lifelong Member of the Republican Party
Past Delegate to the Wyoming GOP Convention for Johnson County
Past Precinct Person for Johnson County GOP
Supported Senator John McCain at 2008 Johnson County GOP Caucus

And Sen. McCain was such a popular candidate in Wyoming that he garnered one whole alternate delegate from Bill Winney’s homeland, Sublette County. Of course when I saw this info about support McCain in January, I began laughing myself silly. Check my second post on this issue:

We already have John McCain as our presumptive Republican Presidential nominee. We don’t need the younger version of him going to Washington on our behalf.

But even right from the top, “Lifelong Member of the Republican Party?” What kind of a selling point is that? Up until last year, he hardly contributed a dime to the party, but he could afford a whole bunch of dimes to the other party? Being a lifelong member of the GOP totally justifies donating to John Kerry, Gary Trauner, Tedd Ladd, Kathy Karpan, and Mike Sullivan?

OK, so he’s not a Rep. Cubin fan. How much was donated Bruce Asay or Bill Winney?

Not a fan of Mike Enzi in 1996? How much was donated to John Barrasso, Curt Meier, Nimi McConigley, Kevin Meenan, Kathleen P. Jachowski, Brian E. Coen, Cleveland B. Holloway, or George “Russ” Hanrahan?

I began working on this post last night and had no idea that it was going to finally hit the presses, but I am pleasantly surprised that it has. I am further surprised that we finally get the information we’ve all been seeking. Why the donations were made, at least the recent donations:

Gordon said Tuesday that he’s given to Democrats in recent years to register a protest with the Republican Party over deficit spending and big government.

“The party kind of walked away from some of its core principles,” Gordon said. “We’ve built a huge deficit. We’re a huge debtor nation now. These are not core Republican principles.”

He said he’s been disappointed with Republican politics - “especially Washington Republican politics” - in recent years and expected that his Democratic donations would come out during his race for the Republican nomination.

“All of that stuff is a public record, and your history is your history. But what we’re talking about here is your future,” he said.

Well, at least he’s not surprised about the criticism, but still, the question remains why he didn’t donate to the incumbents’ contenders in the primary cycle, or if he did, he didn’t donate enough to register on the FEC records. He could very well have helped propel a number of campaigns before the third Tuesday in August, but he only did his contributing once the general election process was underway. Thus, “protest donating” is not likely to be a big , “Oh, OK; no problem” solution with fellow lifelong Republicans. There’s a lot of us, myself included, that have not been happy with the spending and “big government Republicanism,” but that didn’t justify in our minds “go out and support the Democrat.”

Continuing on with the media report, I am pleased that WYGOP Chairman Fred Parady has been asked about the issue:

I regret the way in which it came out. But I think those kind of questions in a Republican primary, they’re going to be legitimate for people to ask and have answered.

YES!!! Chairman Parady says the issue of concern is legitimate as well!

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