Judge puts stop to wolf killing in Wyo.

This is big news from the wires:

A federal judge in Montana has restored endangered species protection for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, putting a halt to legal wolf killing in Wyoming and derailing plans by it and two other states to hold public wolf hunts in the fall.

500 new Wyo. donors for Gary Trauner

Adam Ruff, campaign manager for Trauner for Congress, reported today that Gary raised $322,578.45 during the second quarter of this year. With cash in hand of more than $700,000, that gives the campaign a war chest of a million-plus. More than 500 new Wyoming donors kicked into the pot this quarter, adding up to 1,000 donors inside the state.

Trauner for Congress raised a big chunk of change two weeks ago when Ruff put out a call for donations on June 30, the last day of the quarter.

We told you that we were just over $7,500 short of reaching our goal for the quarter. You stepped up. You stepped up in a BIG way. In the next 12 hours we raised $35,143.63 online! When we asked for help, you showed what support Gary Trauner has in this state and the nation.This quarter – Gary not only out-raised every other opponent – he out-raised every other opponent COMBINED.

I was one of them, making a modest donation (no, it wasn't the 45 cents part of $322, 578.45). But it's important for Wyomingites to make modest donations to Trauner's campaign. The Republican opposition has tried to paint Gary, a Democrat, as an elitist "Coaster" who moved to Jackson Hole -- and you know how liberal that place is! The more support we throw behind Gary, the weaker that weak argument appears. At least one of the four candidates running on the Republican side -- rancher Mark Gordon -- has "donated" more than $400,000 of his own dough to his campaign. Gordon also picked up the endorsement of Malcolm Wallop. This name rings a bell with Wyomingites, as Wallop served as one of the state's U.S. Senators. Newcomers won't know him from Adam, and Democrats don't care.

While we have raised almost 1 million dollars to date – this race will be expensive and competitive. Our opponents have, and will likely continue to, dump in their own money. The other side will fund television, radio, newspaper ads and mail against us. We need to make sure we are able to compete. Please continue to help in any way you are able.

So, keep those sawbucks rolling in. And when Gary comes to town, walk door-to-door with him in your neighborhood. You may have trouble keeping up, but you'll learn a lot about him -- and your neighbors.

UPDATE (7/19): Republican Mark Gordon, the rancher from Johnson County running for the U.S. House, has donated $648,000 to his campaign, not the $400,000 I mentioned above. That's a lot of dough. Ranching been bery bery good to Mr. Gordon.

Dave Plouffe, close personal friend, asks for support (and five bucks)

David Plouffe, campaign manager for Obama for America, sent me another personal e-mail message this morning. To me and millions of his closest friends and advisers. The messages usually carry good news, which is nice. There's a slightly ominous ring to this one. The Republican National Committee and the McCain campaign, according to Dave (may I call you Dave?), "finished June with nearly $100 million in the bank." And that's just the spare change that Cindy McCain found rummaging around in her purse!

Democrats are trailing, money-wise. And Dave, I hope we don't have any accounts with IndyMac Bank. Obama supporters raised $52 million in June, helped significantly by my $25. If you add all that to the DNC's account, "we now have nearly $72 million in the bank. That's a very strong financial position to be in. But we remain at a massive disadvantage to our opponents."

Dave is asking me and my compatriots to donate $5 online now. The least I can do. A million people donating $5 apiece adds up to $5 million more in the bank. To contribute, go to https://donate.barackobama.com/junenumbers.

Here's how Dave sums things up:

I know this isn't the first time we've asked you for financial support, and it won't be the last. We have developed a strategy -- a very aggressive strategy -- that will only work if our millions of supporters continue to contribute their time and their money. That strategy will work, and it has to. The stakes are too high and the need for change too great. But victory is only possible with your continued help. We can't do this without you.

I'm fine with that. The stakes are high -- couldn't be any higher -- and money talks in all election campaigns, but talks the loudest every four years.

The Obama campaign is never shy about asking for money. I noticed that during the winter when the Obama operatives parachuted into Wyoming in advance of the March caucuses. They arrived organized and motivated, with armloads of U.S.-made "Wyoming for Obama" T-shirts for sale. I like it when I hear the word "aggressive" spoken by Democrats. I like the fact that Sen. Obama responds immediately to Republican slime attacks. I like the Dems new in-your-face style. I wish that Al Gore and John Kerry had used the same tactics instead of listening to the namby-pamby wing of the party.

Local Dems needed for database updates

Nicole Novotny, secretary of the Laramie County Democrats, sends this notice:

There will not be a meeting of the Laramie County Democratic Party in July, but we are in need of your help! We currently have the huge task of entering names into our new database. We have gathered names from our caucuses and meetings to assist us with our membership drives and fund-raisers.

We also would like to help out our local candidates by making this information accessible to them for their campaigns. If you have the time, please volunteer a couple of hours down at our local/state headquarters in downtown Cheyenne and assist with this effort.

Call the party office at 307-634-9001 to arrange a time to volunteer.

Wyoming Republicans: What, We Worry?

Republicans aren't worried about losing the strangehold they hold on Wyoming politics. At least if you believe GOP Chair Diana Vaughn.

In an AP story by Matt Joyce:

Vaughan said she expects the party's core principles of "smaller government and lower taxes" to win the day in state and federal elections this November.

"We're talking about Wyoming," said Vaughan, who became the state GOP chairman last month. "This is what Wyoming stands for. That's why we've got the overwhelming majority in the state Legislature. People believe in those Republican principles and that's why we elect the people that we do."

Smaller government and lower taxes, eh? She couldn't be talking about the bloated Defense Department, which is part of government, last I heard. What about the deficit spending it takes us to continue to wage the 100-Year-War in Iraq? Lower taxes? Yes, for the richest Americans, thanks to Bush's tax cuts. Republican values: bigger federal government, spending money you don't have, and a free ride for the rich -- to hell with the middle class.

It gets even better:

Vaughan said the GOP is strong enough in Wyoming to overcome any national backlash over controversial Bush Administration policies, such as the Iraq war. Vice President Dick Cheney -- a Wyoming native -- is committed to helping the state GOP in the lead-up to the general election, she said.

Now this is great news for Democrats. If there is one man in America more reviled than Dubya, it's Dick Cheney, Wyoming's favorite son. Vaughn may think that Cheney's transgressions will be forgotten once he moves back to his hideout outside Jackson. I don't think so. Sure, the Wyoming Republican Old Guard will be happy to have Dick back in the fold. But Wyoming is not theirs and theirs alone. There are Republicans and Libertarians and Democrats who think that Cheney should answer for his crimes against humanity and the U.S. Constitution.

Later in the article, Bill Luckett, executive director of the state Democratic Party, said:

Wyoming residents are listening to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's commitment to overcoming partisanship in Washington. "I understand why the Republicans want to continue thinking that this is a Republican state and Republicans are just going to win because that's the way it's always been," Luckett said. "But we have outstanding candidates this year, up and down the ballot."

Republicans have long treated Wyoming as their own conservative ranch. It's time we opened up the gates to let us Dem dogies run wild!

And impeach Dick Cheney.

Can Latino voters tip balance in Wyoming?

The Washington Post reported today that both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain are "aggressively courting Latino voters."

"Make no mistake about it: The Latino community holds this election in its hands," Obama said Sunday at a conference of the National Council of La Raza, one of the nation's largest Latino civil rights groups. "Some of the closest contests this November are going to be in states like Florida, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico -- states with large Latino populations."

"If you have any doubt about whether you can make a difference, just remember how, back in 2004, 40,000 registered Latino voters in New Mexico didn't turn out on Election Day," Obama said Sunday in San Diego. He noted that Democratic candidate John F. Kerry "lost that state by fewer than 6,000 votes -- 6,000 votes."

Despite becoming the nation's largest minority group over the past decade, Hispanics lag behind other groups in voting. According to the Census Bureau, 58 percent of eligible Hispanics were registered to vote in 2004, compared with 75 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 69 percent of blacks.

So, that's a problem. Hispanics may register but, unless highly motivated, won't come out to vote.

While New Mexico and Colorado have large numbers of Hispanic voters, Wyoming's Hispanic population is only 6.4 percent, or about 32,000 people. Say half of those are adults, and only half of them register, that's still 8,000 potential votes for Obama. If two-thirds vote for a Democrat in 2008, that's around 6,000 votes. That's a lot of votes in the least-populated state in the U.S.

What's your excuse for not voting?

I have a low tolerance for people who don't vote. I've heard all the excuses. "It doesn't matter -- all political parties are the same." That was disproved soundly in 2000 and 2004. "Too much trouble" or "My boss won't give me time off to vote." Jeez, in Wyoming you can vote early and absentee and by mail and even on election day. "Don't know how or where to register." Before elections, register at the County Clerk's office. But, in Wyoming, you can even register at the polls. How easy can it get? "I don't know where my polling place is." Again, go to your County Clerk's office or look it up on the Internet.


All that said, it is difficult for some people to penetrate the voting process. So the League of Women Voters is making a modest proposal (from a story in the Casper Star-Tribune by Joan Barron):

The Wyoming League of Women Voters wants the secretary of state's office to encourage the 23 county clerks to provide more voter registration outside their offices as allowed by state law.

"Part of the reason for the resolution is it's very hard for people in managed care residences, like assisted living facilities, to get out and go to register to vote," said Amy Williamson of Laramie, the league state president. She was referring to the resolution adopted at the league's recent state convention in Casper.

Williamson acknowledged that it is easy to vote in Wyoming because residents can register and vote the same day at the polls."But we are thinking also of people for whom it's difficult to get to the polls, people who are going to have to vote absentee because of that."

"But that should not bar them from voting," Williamson added Thursday. "We should be making every effort to make it as easy as possible for them to vote."

County clerks in Laramie and Washakie counties said that they set up voter registration outside the office when requested to do so."What we do is we'll go where asked," said Laramie County Clerk Debra Lathrop. "We don't just willy nilly say, Today would be a good day to go the library and register people.' You have to do it in conjunction with a sponsored event." The registration site must be a public area and there must be advance public notice of the event.

Deputy Secretary of State Pat Arp said Thursday: "Voter registration is a popular topic nationally because in most states if you don't register way ahead of time, you can't vote. Casting the vote is what is important. Registration without voting is of little value,” she said.

Statistics show that a lot of Wyoming people register but don't vote.


It's hard for me to believe that people are registering but not voting. Seems to me that if you go to the trouble of going downtown to register in Cheyenne or Casper or Sheridan, or if you have to travel from Wamsutter to Rock Springs or Jeffrey City to Riverton, then it would be just as easy to haul yourself to the polling place. Are Wyomingites lazy? Are there so many registered Republicans that their votes will just be superfluous? I will bet that there are some Democrats and Independents on the that of non-voting registered voters. Why, when there is so much at stake?