Local Democrats digest Iowa results

Local Democrats held an informal "Iowa Caucus Party" last Thursday at C.B. & Potts in Cheyenne. I was late to the party, so I skipped the ribs and dove into a flagon of Buttface Amber Ale. We watched two sets of results on two TVs. The good TV showed FOX with its Republican noisemakers such as William Kristol. The other TV, which was as old as Dick Clark, carried MSNBC with Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann. I made the wrong choice and sat facing FOX. I quickly switched seats and engaged in a lively conversation about the Iowa results. Most of the 20-or-so Dems in attendance seemed pleased that Barack Obama took the convincing win. In the fall of ought-seven, Obama had finished first in the Laramie County Democrats straw poll. I was happy to see that John Edwards made a convincing number-two showing, although he finished neck-and-neck with Hillary Clinton.

I was distressed that Kucinich didn't even place. Predictable but still distressing. Kucinich has the best policies of any of the Democratic Party candidates. His stands against the Iraq War and in support of the U.S. Constitution have pushed him to the fringe. His own party has been complicit in this, as you'll notice that Kucinich was nowhere to be seen in the New Hampshire debate. Kucinich is a good man, a brave man. He'd be a radical alternative to what we have now. That's not saying much, I know.

Who attended the caucus party? Local party officers. Union members. Gubment workers such as myself. An Air Force veteran who now flies for United Airlines. Several candidates for public office in ought-eight. A Boston Red Sox fan. A poet. A Vietnam veteran. A young rabble-rouser. A Colorado refugee. A rancher. An historian.

All Americans. People trying to take back their country.

You too can get involved. The next meeting of the Laramie County Democrats will be on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m., at the Historic Plains Hotel in downtown Cheyenne. Our county convention will be March 8 and the state convention will be Memorial Day weekend in Jackson. Get statewide news on Bill Luckett's blog at the Wyoming Democratic Party site.