It was nearly a Custer-esque asskicking, and the Wyoming GOP primary election left the flyblown corpses of right wing populist politicians festering under the hot sun of the Big Empty. The Wyoming Freedom caucus as a political movement is, if not dead, at least bleeding out beside the trail.
It took three election cycles for the Freeeom Caucus to emerge as a political force in the Cowboy State, gaining enough seats to control the Wyoming House and to move the legislative agenda. It only took one election night to turn their dreams into rubble.
Pundits, politicos and talking heads like me will pontificate for a long time on the post-mortem of the Freedom Caucus as a phenomenon in Wyoming’s political life. We’ll parse the election, race by race, and try to pin this political bloodbath on one factor or another.
Freedom Caucusites and their ilk in their miniscule captive “media” will rationalize their disaster by blaming everyone but themselves, their own scandalous behavior and ineptitude. They’ll double down on their claims that “conservatives” are playing against a stacked deck. Screw ‘em.
But the short answer is; they did it to themselves, and they deserved to get their butts whupped. They not only shot themselves in the foot, they emptied the gun.
The Chemtrail Caucus committed the one unforgivable political sin: they took the voters of Wyoming for granted.
Whether bolstered by the hubris of success or by tone-deaf internal cheerleading, these knuckleheads convinced themselves that they represented the vast majority of grassroots Wyoming voters. They took the bit between their teeth and got out in front of the lead horses.
Certain that they could do no wrong, they proceeded to do wrong. Scandal after scandal. Failure after failure. And through it all, they blustered, “Hey, we represent the people of Wyoming and this is what you voted for!”
But they didn’t reckon with a Wyoming population that would recharge their bullshit detectors so that they could see behind the smoke and mirrors of populist snake oil. They didn’t reckon, that is, until Tuesday night.
I’ve had a powerful inkling for a while – from reading the political goat entrails and listening in on the Sagebrush Telegraph – that this would be a tough election for the Freedom Caucus. The clues were hard to miss.
But I didn’t foresee the extent of the slaughter. I’m hearing that the massacre extends down to the precinct level on the long streets of our small town of a state. It was a Chemtrail Caucus Waterloo.
With the failed Freedom Caucus experiment behind us, we in Wyoming can now get back to the business of governing ourselves intelligently, without a gnarly outside influence second-guessing us. We have some damage to repair, but we have a new crop of new home-grown cowboys and cowgirls to help us get it done.
The first day of the next legislative session will see new legislative leaders sworn in, folks that won’t be hell-bent on destroying the institutions that make Wyoming great.
We will once again be represented by statesmen and stateswomen who will put our interests above those of out-of-state power brokers, to whom Wyoming represents nothing more than a scalp to hang on the wall.
My ol’ Brown & Gold heart is warmed by how my fellow citizens stood up this election, and pushed back against a political movement that was tarnishing our reputation. I have never been more proud to call Wyoming my home!
There is considerable whoopin’ an’ hollerin’ around the ol’ campfire, an’ sweaty Stetsons are tipped in the direction of the voters of Wyoming. Muchas gracias!
Now, a word to those of you (and you know who you are) who have wagered with me on the outcome of this election. It looks like your over-confidence in the Chemtrail Caucus will wind up costing you around $1500 apiece.
A couple of payment options present themselves to you. You can either mail me a cashiers check for my winnings, or you can send it to The Committee to Re-Elect Rep. Karlee Provenza. Your choice.
Rod Miller can be reached at: RodsMillerWyo@yahoo.com
