“Thee yards and a cloud of dust” is gridiron arithmetic that holds up, if you have patience and persistence. If a team can gain three yards with every snap of the ball, then first downs are guaranteed and touchdowns are inevitable.
A ground game isn’t sexy or crowd-pleasing. It doesn’t generate the ooohs and ahhhhs nor the dramatic highlight reels that long bombs or desperation Hail Marys do. But it wins games.
This is exactly how Sen. Eric Barlow has quarterbacked his run for Governor of Wyoming.
Barlow hasn’t resorted to weird formations or trick plays. He hasn’t used last-minute personnel changes or thrown sideline tantrums at the refs.
His campaign has been devoid of gimmicks.
Barlow’s 2026 campaign has been old-school, a throwback to the day when games were won the old fashioned way - three yards and a cloud of dust.
My venerated political sensei, Tom Jones, equates a successful political campaign to a three-legged milking stool. The three legs are time, people and money, and all three legs must be equal and equally stout or the candidate falls on their ass.
Candidate Barlow gave himself plenty of time by announcing his run for governor in August of 2025 in the energy town of Wright, the epicenter of the districts that he represented in the Wyoming House and Senate.
He gave himself over a year to make nine or ten complete circuits of Wyoming, meeting voters, kissing babies, shaking hands and listening. He redeemed every minute.
Barlow put more than 60,000 miles on his vehicle, going through a set of tires, many tanks of gas and several oil changes.
Who says Barlow doesn’t support our energy industries? Certainly not the Wyoming Petroleum Association or the Wyoming Mining Association, both of which support his candidacy.
He estimates that he has shaken well over 20,000 hands, and looked each voter in the eye. He’s been seen and heard by many thousands more in parades, stump speeches and potlucks.
This approach carries real weight in a state like Wyoming, where in the words of Al Simpson, “all politics is personal.”
In an era when politics seems to be conducted via glossy mailers, rude social media posts and frantic TV ads, Barlow’s playbook is refreshing. Hard work, but refreshing.
Now, about that “people” leg of the stool. Barlow only has two or three paid staff, but he has a strong cadre of a couple thousand volunteers scattered throughout all of Wyoming’s 23 counties who put boot leather on the pavement on his behalf.
That’s likely why he won every county in the primary.
James Carville said in The War Room, “Next to love, our time is the most valuable gift we can give anyone.” Barlow’s multitudes of dedicated volunteers speak eloquently of how they value his candidacy.
With that kind of broad support comes money, the third leg of the stool.
Barlow’s campaign has raised over two million dollars since inception, an impressive total.
But what is even more impressive is that 70% of that amount came from 2000 residents of Wyoming in individual contributions. That is genuine grassroots support.
A good ground game pays off in more ways than one. And candidate Barlow has racked up yardage without the help of his own party, who refuses to endorse him.
He is instead playing for the voters of Wyoming, the ultimate officials in the game.
I am particularly impressed with Barlow’s demeanor throughout the campaign. He hasn’t risen to the bait of screeching wild-eyed criticism by his opponents, and that too is refreshing.
He has always said that he’s running for Wyoming, not against anyone.
I asked him about not responding to all the vitriol and he said, “I won’t say anything in the campaign that I’d be ashamed to say in front of my family or my Lord.” Amen!
I’ll make a safe prediction that Eric Barlow will win election for Wyoming’s next governor. His campaign style fits Wyoming like an old work glove.
And, in so doing, Governor Barlow will have provided a playbook that future politicians in the Big Empty would be very wise to follow.
If more Wyoming politicians played the game like Eric Barlow, politics in the Cowboy State will improve.
Rod Miller can be reached at: RodsMillerWyo@yahoo.com
