This has been an interesting political season, but it is a faint glimmer of what Wyoming was going through right now two years ago.
Because of the feud between our three-term then-Congresswoman Liz Cheney and former President Donald Trump, it seemed the whole world descended on the Cowboy State to see how her reelection race would turn out.
In the end, she was fired by the people of Wyoming. And not just fired but literally tossed out the door as Harriet Hageman demolished her.
Cheney spent millions in possibly the most expensive campaign in state history only to lose by a nearly 8:1 margin. It was a total rejection and the whole world wanted to know about it.
Few observers, including this writer, seemed to predict such a slaughter. Except for Darin Smith, Cheyenne, who bet me a steak dinner that it would be that very one-sided. I still owe him that meal.
Trump even made a campaign stop in Casper in support of Hageman to the joy of 10,000-plus supporters.
And yet, as exciting as that primary season was, on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2022, (the day after) it got very, very quiet. We returned to our normal Big Empty status almost immediately. Some of us even suffered a letdown with all the new found calm.
Cowboy State Daily Did Its Part
Cowboy State Daily Executive Editor Jimmy Orr set up a livestream written commentary on our web site the night of the primary election two years ago with several of our writers and columnists.
We had a huge amount of interest around the state. It was so much fun. Nobody had ever done something like this. It took modern electronics and digital media to do it in real time.
This year we are going to top that with continuous live video coverage from all over the state. Stay tuned.
A sad fact about 2022 was that our Managing Editor Jim Angell lost his battle with cancer the next day after that primary. He would have loved to been able to participate in it
International News Outlets Keen On Race
In my column just prior to that 2022 Republican primary, I wrote “the world is watching us!”
It was surreal. A great many Cowboy State journalists and political pundits were interviewed by media from all over the world. Here is what happened to me:
• Our coffee group, the Fox News All-Stars, was featured in a two-page spread in USA Today.
• It was fun to be interviewed by the two major Japanese TV networks about the political campaign.
• The largest newspaper in France La Monde sent a reporter to my house. The photo I use for this column was snapped by that reporter.
• The New York Times interviewed me a couple of times which resulted in at least one or two sentences being quoted.
• The largest newspaper in Denmark Berlingske sent a reporter to Lander to interview our coffee group.
• The Guardian in London quoted one of my columns.
• And lots, lots more.
This Year’s Primary
As usual, all the excitement this year is in the Republican primary where its two factions, the Wyoming Caucus and the Freedom Caucus are battling it out.
For small tiny races, huge amounts of money are being spent. We are seeing between $50,000 and $80,000 being spent in contested races and perhaps even more, in some cases.
A lot more out of state of money is being poured into these races than before.
The ubiquitous square mailer with lots of scurrilous accusations on them has become commonplace.
We are seeing an all-out assault on several of these members of the Wyoming Caucus and I predict one or two of them may fall.
John Barrasso Is A Shoo-In
Our senior U. S. Sen. John Barrasso will coast to an easy win and he deserves it.
He was considered the most popular senator in the country and this election will verify it. He should get 100 percent of the votes but, alas, there will be a few dissenters.
We are so fortunate to have this articulate man representing us. He loves his country and he really loves Wyoming! Congrats in advance, Senator.
Donald Trump Visits Wyoming
After his big Bozeman rally recently, former President Donald Trump flew into Jackson for a quick fund raiser.
Although Jackson is Wyoming’s bluest place, there are a whole bunch of well-heeled Republicans residing there, too.
Too bad the late Foster Friess has passed on. He was a personal friend of Trump’s and would have loved such an event. His wife Lynn was appointed to the Kennedy Center board by Trump. The Friess family has lived in Jackson for many decades.
Former state Sen. Senate President Eli Bebout of Riverton attended and said: “I attended the Trump event yesterday and, wow did he nail his comments. No teleprompter. Spoke from his heart about his love for the USA. If we don’t elect this man, it will be a huge mistake.”
As for this year’s primary we voted via “early voting,” which was amazingly secure. No way could such a process be corrupted was my conclusion after that exercise last Thursday involving so many dedicated public servants.
