Editor:
Have you met anyone in Wyoming – and I mean a real person – who in real life, genuinely and enthusiastically supported Nikki Haley? I haven’t.
That's why it came as a shock when Americans for Prosperity, a self-described “grassroots organization” endorsed Haley in her now-failed campaign for president.
It seemed an odd pick as regular, Wyoming grassroots Republicans have grown tired of Cheney-style global interventionism. Haley can’t identify a Middle Eastern country she doesn’t want to bomb or invade at the expense of American blood and treasure.
This is not the AFP I remember from my ALEC days.
Americans for Properity's fishy endorsements don’t end with Haley. Friends around the state have been sending their flyers to me, and I’m unnerved.
In recent months, the organization announced that it would be endorsing a slate of Wyoming legislative candidates. These endorsements, explained state director Tyler Lindhom, are based on principle, and civility.
The first candidate to earn an endorsement was Rep. Ken Clouston. According to Lindholm, he “carried the ball on school choice.”
AFP claims on its website to support “educational opportunities for everyone,” and believes in funding “every kid.”
Interestingly, Rep. Clouston voted against universal school choice, and stomped his feet over amendments to an Education Savings Account bill that made the program available to "every kid." Does AFP support universal school choice, or just Rep. Clouston?
Also endorsed was former Rep. JD Williams, who has announced his intention to challenge Rep. Allen Slagle. Lindholm explained that Williams earned the endorsement because of Slagle’s poor record on energy.
Rep. Slagle sponsored a bill to block private wind companies from using eminent domain to confiscate Wyoming land to power California. Does AFP support left-coast energy mandates and the use of eminent domain by private corporations, or just Williams?
There’s an inconsistency between what AFP promotes on their website, mail pieces, and social media advertisements and the candidates they support. Is AFP a front to help Lindholm’s liberal friends maintain power in the Wyoming Legislature?
After all, his organization threw money in the furnace back in March when it dropped mail pieces in Sheridan County profusely thanking a lawmaker (and friend of Lindholm) for successfully fighting regulation – by referencing a bill that was never even introduced.
It’s not principled or civil to lie so comfortably about things so easily proven false. For Wyomingites who do care about principle and civility, I encourage you to toss the glossy AFP mailers you’re bound to get in the trash and do your own research this cycle.
Sincerely,
Marti Halverson
Etna, Wyoming
