Gov Dave endorses Gary Trauner

Wyoming's Democratic Governor, Dave Freudenthal, endorsed Gary Trauner today for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat. As he noted in his remarks at a noon press conference, he doesn't do many endorsements. In fact, some of us Dems have been a bit upset that his endorsement didn't come earlier. But, better late than never. In Sunday's Casper Star-Tribune poll, Trauner led Republican Cynthia Lummis 44-43 in this squaker of a race. Gov Dave's endorsement may help. The Gov is wildly popular, his approval rating in this Republican-heavy state hovering around the 81 percent mark. During the summer, he was the second-most popular Western governor, ranked just behind Sarah Palin of Alaska. But her numbers have taken a hit since emerging into the national spotlight.

I won't quote all of the governor's remarks about Trauner. You can get a transcript and an audio at http://www.traunerforcongress.com.

Here are a few choice paragraphs:

It's the same thing in another of the ads that his opponent [Lummis] runs that talks about during her tenure, she developed $5 billion in state money. Well, the truth is, anyone can take credit for that. I can take credit for that, the Legislature can take credit for that. The real reason that that money exists is the way that this economy has been over the last five or six years. I make a persuasive argument that it all happened because I was elected Governor. Because about the time I was elected, if you remember, that's about the time that prices went up.

I think we need to be realistic about what it is that we say to the public in terms of these races. The fact of the matter is that as politicians, we shouldn't believe our own press releases. The reason that this state is prosperous, and the reason that we have the money that's available, is not by virtue of somebody who was in office, whether they were Governor or Treasurer, but by virtue of the fortuitous circumstances of the nature of this state's economy.