For Democrat Charlie Hardy -- Have lights, will travel

Wyoming Democrat Charlie Hardy doesn't have the funds for fancy billboards, be they old-fashioned variety or the new e-versions. However, he does have some old stage lights and a "Charlie Hardy for U.S. Senate" template. He takes his jerry-rigged projection system around Wyoming on a refurbished 1960 city bus festooned with campaign signs. He projects his electioneering slogan and the simple "Vote!" on the sides of buildings around the state. His favorite screen is the front of Wal-Mart stores, when he can find one.

The projection medium above is one of the many excellent outdoor murals in Laramie, where Charlie and his red-white-and-blue bus prowled last weekend during University of Wyoming's homecoming weekend. When he's not campaigning, he parks the bus in the corner of the most visible intersections in his hometown of Cheyenne.

Charlie is an ex-priest. He ministered to flocks throughout Wyoming then, from 1985-1993, he ministered in poverty-stricken areas in South America. He lived for most of those eight years in a pressed-cardboard-and-tin shack in a barrio on the edge of Caracas, Venezuela.

Charlie's opponent in the U.S. Senate race is incumbent Republican Mike Enzi. He's a kindly gentleman, an indie businessman, a dedicated reader and long-time arts supporter. Problem is, he votes with the right-wing loonies 98 percent of the time. He has to go.