Dear White People: Columbia University wants to know what you think about the issues of the day

Columbia University's Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics (INCITE) wants to find out what white and partially-white folks in Cheyenne think about their role in society.

They came to the right place as Cheyenne is mostly white and partially white, ethnically speaking. The latest census figures for Laramie County, Wyoming, shows that 89 percent of the population checks the Caucasian or "white" box under the question about race.

I haven't yet received the results from DNA testing from ancestry.com, but I can attest I am probably all-white, or at least mostly white. I would love to see a percentage come back showing I am partially sub-Saharan African or Latino or Asian. But anyone can look at me and say, "Damn, I've never seen anyone so white." If I didn't have freckles where I was kissed by the sun, I would be so white that I would glow in the dark.

One more thing. I could be a little Basque on my maternal grandfather's side. He came from Ireland but had a very un-Irish name in Hett. Some genealogical research by my cousin showed that the name probably was de la Hett, possibly from the genes of a Spanish Armada sailor or maybe one of the French soldiers who occasionally ventured into Ireland to join the Irish in a doomed uprising. Ever read "The Year of the French?" I'm not giving anything away to say that it ends badly.

So I am European of the northern variety with maybe a dash of southern Europe.

Which brings me back to the Columbia University INCITE study. At the county Democratic Party convention at LCCC a few weeks ago, flyers circulated that promoted a survey for white people. Here's the basic text:

Columbia University is conducting a study here in Cheyenne on race and ethnicity, specifically about how white or partially white people think about their own race/ethnicity. If interested, you can take their survey by going to www.cheyennestudy-columbia.org/participate/ 

How could I resist? I went to the site and filled out the survey. It included questions about race, religious preference and political affiliation, among other things. I checked "none" for religion. This is a tough one for me. I do not go to church. But I spent my early life in churches and catechism classes and Catholic schools. I spent much of my adult life working hard at being a Catholic who believes in the social justice gospel. It was a losing battle. So I don't go to church. Shoot me. Fortunately, the bill to allow firearms in churches did not make it through the crackpot legislature this year. But it may in 2019.

I invite my fellow Cheyenne residents to fill out the survey. It would be fun to skew the results in favor of liberals. Imagine the eggheads at Columbia looking at their results and deciding that Cheyenne, Wyoming, was the most liberal place on the planet, more so than Boulder, Colo., and San Francisco and some of those college towns in Vermont. Wouldn't that be an eye-opener?

So take a fifteen-minute break and fill out the survey. You'll be glad you did.

Wyoming may be red, but it ain't very religious

Gallup released its religiosity survey this week. Each state is ranked according to how many residents polled by Gallup admit to being "very religious." Red states tended to score high on the survey while blue states were on the lower end of the scale. Although Wyoming is one of the reddest of the red states, with the second-highest margin of victory for Mitt Romney in 2012, it's on the lower end of the scale when it comes to religion. Only 32.8 percent of Wyoming respondents admitted to being "very religious." This puts it just behind godforsaken places such as Connecticut (Damn Yankees) and Hawaii (alleged Obama birthplace). We're slightly less religious than neighboring reefer-mad Colorado, which came in at 33.5 percent. See the entire survey here. And thanks to Rachel Maddow's MaddowBlog, where I first saw this map.

Tea Partier lurking behind every Wyoming sagebrush

On Sunday, Rasmussen Reports released a telephone survey of “Likely Voters” in Wyoming.

No surprise:

Republican Matt Mead leads Democrat Leslie Peterson, 61%to 25%. This is pretty close to the majority held by registered Republicans over registered Democrats.

No surprise:

Mead, a former U.S. attorney, is favored by 84% of membersin his own party.

But all of this is scary and weird:

Twenty-six percent (26%) of Wyoming voters consider themselves membersof the Tea Party movement, much higher than the national average.

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Tea Partiers in Wyoming favor Mead. Only 38% of non-Tea Party members support the Democrat, while a majority(51%) favors the Republican.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of all voters in the state say the Tea Party movement is good for the country.

And, finally, we get to the crux of the matter (also no surprise):

John McCain carried Wyoming over Barack Obama by a 65% to 33% margin in November 2008. Now just 32% of Wyoming voters approve of the job Obama is doing as president. Sixty-seven percent (67%) disapprove of his job performance. This is considerably higher disapproval that is found nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

So, Republican Matt Mead will be our next governor. The majority of Tea Partiers will vote for Mead, as will some Democrats. Dems will vote for Mead because he is a moderate in the tradition of many Wyoming politicians. Repubs don’t have to be moderate, but let’s just say it’s a tradition. Democrats, such as Gov. Dave Freudenthal, have no choice – wearing the cloak of Republicanism is crucial to victory. He ran against Republican loonies in two races and won both times. Will Mead stay moderate? Or will he have to kowtow to the very loud Tea Party.

A look at his web site shows a few Tea Party planks slipping in. Here’s one on his “Health Care and Quality of Life page,” which is also a priority of the Republican Party:

Wyoming should join with other states in the ongoing legal challenge against the recently passed federal health care law. In my view the law is unconstitutional and infringes on individual liberties. Our state’s voice should be heard. Under the new federal law, the Federal government is meddling in one sixth of our national economy. The law will kill jobs, distress small businesses, and hurt future growth. The expansion of Medicaid, the mandate for individuals to purchase health insurance or be penalized – these and other aspects ofthe federal law are not good for Wyoming or our citizens. This is not the time for our State to remain silent.

However, on the same page, he says this:

As Governor, I will tackle the tough issues that affect quality of life, like unemployment, health care, treatment of juveniles, domestic violence, services for persons with disabilities, teenage pregnancy, and the elderly. I want the best for Wyoming families now and in the future. We want safe, friendly communities and the ability to enjoy our great outdoors.

Some disconnect here. Can’t have great health care without health care reform. Many thousands of Wyoming families depend on Medicaid. To curtail the teenage pregnancy rate, will he engage in education or the Republicans usual weapon of choice – fear?

Four weeks left to election day. In Wyoming, you can vote early. Do it now or later – but vote!

The Tea Party is counting on you to stay home.