Wyoming Vote Tracker

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: politics is a funny thing, especially in Wyoming. Granted, we take our politics seriously, but sometimes we (as in the collective we) say the strangest things and make the strangest assumptions, all the while prophesying the strangest things about this outcome or that outcome.

It’s not just Wyoming. There seems to be this “fear” that if Sen. McCain were to be elected President, it would essentially be President Bush’s “third term.” I mean, that’s just outright silly. President Bush (according to the crazies that come up with this stuff) is doing everything for the benefit of the oil companies, while Sen. McCain has not exactly been all that friendly with the oil companies. That’s just one example.

Back to our issue at home. We have a contested election for our opening congressional seat. Four Republicans have stood up to be considered. One of them is a woman. Conclusion: if she’s elected, it’ll be Rep. Cubin’s 8th term. Not only are they both women from Wyoming that served in the state legislature, but Cynthia Lummis is using blue plastic-bag type yard signs with white lettering, just like Rep. Cubin has done in her campaigns! Calm down folks. Rep. Cubin’s signs were a slightly lighter shade of blue than what Cynthia Lummis is using and Rep. Cubin had an elephant dotting the “i” in her last name, whereas Cynthia Lummis has written out “Republican.”

Yes, the politics of the fear of business as usual is creeping through the Wyoming rumor wind-mill. We’ve all had some degree of frustration over Rep. Cubin’s voting record over the past few years. Truth be told, I’ve had mixed emotions about it. I know, she’s our lone vote in the U.S. House, but there are the legitimate concerns that she’s had for her husband’s well-being. I for one cannot imagine how tough it must be to take on the task of representing 500,000 people and spending a fair portion of the year across the country to do so while entrusting the care of my ill wife to doctors back home. To squelch any new rumors, I do not have a wife, ill or otherwise. I’m merely trying to illustrate in the hypothetical.

Somehow, Barbara Cubin took this delicate balance and tried to give it all it was worth. I will be the first to say that I appreciate that she believes in making sure that she’s there for her family, and that would obviously include her husband. Sometimes life throws a crazy curve ball at you that just makes you wonder when normalcy will return. Does that mean you just give up? My mom has gone through two major neck surgeries in less than a year (one on her upper vertebrae and another on her thyroid). Now she’s facing the possibility of a third surgery, this time on her ankle, which she broke on the 3rd of July from stepping off a curb. All this while coping with M.S. Additionally, she has a part-time job as a front desk clerk. She has missed a lot of time in the past year, even the past two years. Just a couple months after Mom started at the motel, Grandpa passed away and we moved Grandma up to Cody, and it took quite a bit of time to get her settled in and everything situated. The manager at the motel appreciates Mom’s work ethic. As a result, she has not lost her job, even though she’s had to have a lot of medically necessary time off in the time that she’s been employed.

Am I happy and thrilled that Rep. Cubin became the Representative out of the 435 with the worst voting record, and below 50% at that? No, I’m not. Am I bitterly upset with her? No. Flustered from time to time, yes. Is Barbara Cubin’s voting record a concern for me in this election? No, because SHE’S NOT ON THE BALLOT!!!

But, nevertheless, there is concern flying around that Cynthia Lummis has anything from a slight case of seasonal allergies to a severly chronic case of M.S. which would interfere with her congressional duties, namely showing up to vote. I have it from an excellent source, Cynthia Lummis is healthy and doing just fine. For all the “voting record naysayers,” in the fourteen years Cynthia Lummis served in the state legislature, she missed a mere five votes. The five missed votes are quite forgivable, since she missed them in giving birth to someone that would grow to become a wonderful young lady.

So, if you think Cynthia Lummis doesn’t take being elected lightly, think again. Earlier this year, she said that if she were elected, she would show up to vote, and she’s got a record that speaks to that commitment.

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