New Mexico's Richardson endorses Obama

I remember back to those golden days of yore in early 2008 when I listed a whole batch of Democratic candidate links on my sidebar. Populist John Edwards was there, as was anti-war stalwart Dennis Kucinich. So was Bill Richardson, who remains governor of New Mexico. I liked all of these candidates for different reasons. Richardson I liked because he was chief executive of a Western state and had more international experience than any other Dem candidate, thanks to his role in Bill Clinton's cabinet. He was Hispanic, a plus in a year when the Hispanic vote will likely go to a Democrat because of the Republican Party's insistence on demonizing illegal immigrants from South of the Border.


It was great to hear Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama. It had something to do with Obama's dazzling race-oriented speech on Tuesday. Also, Sen. Obama is going to win the nomination and Bill Richardson is a smart politician who recognizes that he may make a great running mate. The African-American senator from Illinois teamed up with the Hispanic governor of a border state. Could be a winning combination.


It was a surprise announcement (at least to me) because of Richardson's ties with the Clintons. It's done, and it will be a boost to Obama in the West. He won four primaries/caucuses in the Rocky Mountain states: Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho. Clinton claimed New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. Montana is up later, but should go to Obama. It might not be such a great sign that Richardson's state went to Clinton. Maybe if he had made his endorsement sooner?

Spirituality trumps dogma on Good Friday

For kids in Catholic School, the best thing about Good Friday (circa 1961) was that there was no school. While public school kids rotted at their desks, we were free to play ball or (if snowing) sled or wage Holy Week snowball wars. But that was after we attended church to pray the stations of the cross and feel really bad about Christ’s crucifixion. In the dark and dreary church, the citizenry was swathed in somber clothes and the air reeked of incense. It wasn’t too unusual when an old lady broke down in tears at the sight of Christ on the cross. To a wise-ass ten-year-old, this was a very long day. Only when the stations were completed could we go home and cut loose.

The sorrows of Good Friday gave way to the joys of Easter. Sure, we had to go to church again, but it was to celebrate Christ rising from the dead and an Easter Egg hunt followed, as well as chocolate bunnies and then Easter dinner with the relatives. It didn’t matter if it was cold and snowy because you knew that spring was coming, and after that summer. Easter marked the change of seasons and the return of (mostly) sunny days.

I no longer do the stations of the cross, as I’m only nominally Catholic. I attend a United Methodist Church with my wife Chris and daughter Annie. My parents and Chris’s parents are spinning in their consecrated graves. Chris’s father was the grand knight of the Knights of Columbus chapter in Ormond Beach, Florida. His K of C Hall was the site of our wedding reception in May 1982 after we were married at St. Brendan’s Catholic Church (yes, named after Ireland’s St. Brendan the Navigator). We were both raised Catholics with all the attendant sacraments. I won the K of C "Mr. Catholic" savings bond when I graduated from high school in 1969.

I guess I’m what’s called an "historical" Catholic. I feel deserted by the Church because it’s become so conservative in an alliance with American Fundamentalists. The last time I went to mass during the lead-up to the 2004 elections, a church deacon’s homily warned us not to vote for any Catholic candidates (John Kerry) that didn’t follow church teachings on abortion (against) and homosexuality (really against). Real Catholics voted for pro-life candidates, even if those people (George Bush) were currently killing babies with bombs in Iraq.

That was it for me.

So, since I can’t be a "real" Catholic, I go somewhere else that welcomes people like me.

My Christianity is complicated. I struggle with it all the time. I’m un-Christian at times, especially when confronted with the hatred and intolerance of so-called Christians. I’m not better than they are – I’m intolerant of them and their shenanigans. I should forgive them for their imperfections. I should also forgive myself.

I was casting about for some words of wisdom to illuminate my predicament. I found them, as I often do, on the Sojourners web site. Sojourners has a daily posting called "Verse & Voice" that featured a Biblical verse and spiritual quote from someone. Today, it was noted Christian theologian Henri Nouwen in a lecture, "The Vision of Jesus," at the Scarritt-Bennett Center. Here’s the quote:

The vision that Jesus gives us is this: That I am unconditionally loved, that I belong to God, and that I am a person who can really trust that. When I meet another person who also is rooted in the heart of God, then the spirit of God in me can recognize the spirit of God in the other person, and then we can start building a new space, a new home, a house, a community. Whether we speak about friendship, community, family, marriage, in the spiritual world we are talking about spirit recognizing Spirit, solitude embracing Solitude, heart speaking to Heart. And where this happens, there is an immense space.

Try that on for size this Good Friday.

McCain 2003: "We will be welcomed as liberators"

Posting on Daily Kos today -- the fifth anniversay of the slam-dunk invasion of Iraq -- Bill in Portland Maine offers up these 2002-2003 quotes from Senator John McCain:

"I believe that the success will be fairly easy." (9/24/02)
"We’re not going to have a bloodletting of trading American bodies for Iraqi bodies." (9/29/02)
"We will win this conflict. We will win it easily." (1/22/03)
"[T]here’s no doubt in my mind, once these people are gone, that we will be welcomed as liberators." (3/24/03)

For more, go to:
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/9541.html
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/22/mccain-hypocrisy/

Sen. McCain should know better than to be a cheerleader for a war promulgated by chickenhawks. A Vietnam veteran, a former POW during our nation's longest and most ill-advised war (until now), McCain should have seen through the Bush/Cheney smokescreen. Makes you wonder about his judgement on foreign policy.

Read text of Sen. Obama's speech

Read the full text of Sen. Obama's speech today in Philadelphia by going to http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gGBbKG

On watching Sen. Obama's Tuesday speech

I'm home for spring break this week, not because it is Easter Week or because I'm a teacher with a gap in the schedule. I took the week off so I can spend it with my son who's visiting from Tucson. My wife is off, too.

So I have time to watch Barack Obama's speech this morning on MSNBC. The theme could be boiled down to "Race in America," but it was more than that. Sen. Obama revisited both America's history and the history of its racism. On the latter issue, he invoked a quote by William Faulkner: "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past." I believe that Faulkner was speaking specifically about the South. I'll look it up later to make sure. But that would make sense, because he was from Mississippi and all his writing was consumed with the South's tortured soul. But all that stuff isn't past. Not in the white community. Not in the black community. Not in any community.

But what Sen. Obama asks us to do is not to dwell on the past but find ways to change the present. He said that the mistake made by Rev. Wright, his former pastor, was to think that "we are bound to a tragic past." Added Obama: "But we can change." America has been able to do that during most times of crisis and will continue to do so.

And that's what we need to focus on. We're in trouble here, people, and if we keep fighting about the past, we'll keep repeating it.

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. Some Irish-Americans celebrate by wearing green and drinking until they puke. They curse the Brits and sing sappy old songs. They think that this has something to do with being Irish, Meanwhile, in Ireland, the Irish have moved on, becoming an economic powerhouse. The Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland are making nice, although they're not quite best pals. Bobby Sands is not forgotten but hunger strikes have given way to peace talks. New Irish writers and poets are building on the legacies of Yeats and Joyce and Synge and Swift. The members of U2 aren't exactly youngsters anymore and they still include "Sunday Bloody Sunday" in their repertoire, but their Christian message of healing and hope has more to do with Barack Obama that with the blarney-laden crap you hear from most Irish-Americans on March 17. And in Ireland it may also be true that the past isn't dead and buried and it's not even past. Despite that, the Irish are moving ahead. I'm not sure we Irish-Americans can say the same.

I'm an Irish-American who lives in red-state Wyoming and grew up in the segregated South during the Vietnam War. The past isn't past but I'm one Baby Boomer who's looking ahead. I continue to support Barack Obama for president.

HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE (3/21): On St. Patrick's Day, NPR broadcast a segment about how the U.S. Civil Rights struggle influenced Catholic activists during the troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1960s and 1970s. Here's an excerpt:

We also spoke with Brian Dooley, author of Black and Green: The Fight for Civil Rights in Northern Ireland and Black America. Here's some of what he said: "As early as 1963, civil rights protesters in Northern Ireland had compared themselves to blacks in Alabama and Little Rock, and identified themselves as the 'Negroes' of Northern Ireland. They sang 'We Shall Overcome' at their marches and in early 1969 deliberately modeled a protest march on the lines of the Selma-Montgomery march. Oddly, perhaps, the Northern Ireland protesters identified more with black American protests than the myriad of protests in Europe that year -- in Paris, Prague, Berlin, Rome and London. They saw their struggle as closer to that of African Americans in the U.S."

For the rest, go to: http://www.npr.org/blogs/newsandviews/2008/03/n_ireland_and_the_us_shared_ci.html

"On the Streets of Baghdad:" Deadeye Dick and the Arizona Kid

When in doubt about foreign policy, send in the western gunslingers.

"Deadeye" Dick Cheney and John "Arizona Kid" McCain are in Iraq today in a showdown with the Al-Qaida Gang.

But they won’t be moseying into the Green Zone without backup. The Arizona Kid brought along sidekicks Joe "Red Belly" Lieberman and Lindsey "Carolina Slim" Graham. Al-Qaida doesn’t stand a chance.

As the Arizona Kid told the AP:

"We recognize that al-Qaida is on the run, but they are not defeated," McCain said after meeting Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "Al-Qaida continues to pose a great threat to the security and very existence of Iraq as a democracy. So we know there's still a lot more of work to be done."

To show how dangerous life is on the Streets of Baghdad, explosions went off near the Green Zone shortly after Deadeye Dick arrived. The U.S. Army called out the Air Cav which choppered to the rescue but couldn’t find anything to shoot at. That’s the thing about this crazy war. No "High Noon" style showdowns. No guys in black hats daring you to "Draw!" Just ghosts and shadows.

Both Deadeye Dick and the Arizona Kid vowed a long-term military presence in Iraq. The Arizona Kid has previously vowed to stay in Iraq 100 years, which will take us to 2103. By then, McCain will be a very old gunslinger indeed.

The Arizona Kid is running for the U.S.A.’s "Top Gun" and, at home, is facing down Barack "Chicago" Obama and Hillary "Boot Hill" Clinton. The two Dems have been sharpening their skills with showdowns in states such as Mississippi and Wyoming. Six other Dems have been gunned down in the process. Their next big battle will be on the streets of Philadelphia. The Arizona Kid recently eliminated his final Repub challengers when he outgunned Mike "Bible Thumper" Huckabee and Mitt "Avenging Angel" Romney during street fights in Ohio and Texas.

Meanwhile, the Al-Qaida Gang continues its cowardly ways by blowing people up, including mounted U.S. troopers. Thus far, almost 4,000 have been killed and more than 20,000 wounded.

Up to a million Iraqis have died. "That’s some good shootin’," said Deadeye Dick, who should know.

Enzi trying to wrangle health care costs

U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, one of Wyoming’s two Republicans in the Senate, will be touring the state this week to talk about his "Ten Steps to Transform Health Care in America." It’s subtitle is "Building on Market-based Solutions and Strengthening Current Insurance Programs."

To start, Sen. Enzi gets points for tackling this country’s abysmal health care system. Well, not really a system, more like a haphazard array of insurance company plans that leave 46 million Americans uninsured and many of the rest of us woefully uninsured but paying huge premiums.

According to a press release, Sen. Enzi is hitting the road during spring break to "draw attention to the nation’s health care crisis and the steps Congress can take to wrangle health care costs in America."

I like the term "wrangle." It’s a Wyoming word, one that refers to cowboys herding and caring for horses and other livestock. "Wrangler" is often used in place of "cowboy." We all know who wears Wrangler jeans -- and why.

Enzi wants Congress to wrangle those health care costs, to lasso them in and put them into a fenced corral so they can’t run willy-nilly over the countryside.

O.K., pard, you get points for that. But Enzi’s also a Republican businessman and is seeking market-based solutions. We’ve had market-based solutions. They’ve solved nothing and led to a huge mess.

Two other U.S. senators were in Wyoming recently talking about their health care plans. Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton both have realistic plans which address the fact that government must be a partner in health care. They also address the unsavory fact that the health care industry is a monster, consisting of insurance companies and hospitals and doctors and drug companies. They make billions annually and employ herds of lobbyists. If anything needs wrangling, it’s those lobbyists. Wouldn’t you like to put your brand on a drug company lobbyist’s flank? Yee-hah!

Our future needs some futuristic thinking. For the most part, Sen. Enzi’s plan is more of the same. There are a few good ideas embedded in the list. Cross-state pooling of health plans, and insurance portability when you change jobs – those deserve a listen. But he would also privatize Medicaid and SCHIP. I know for a fact that both of those programs are crucial for many in Wyoming.


This is the old Republican song-and-dance of privatization, where the free market can solve anything, including health care, Social Security, etc. President Bush tried to pull a fast one on Social Security and it didn’t go anywhere because Americans are wise to the ploy. He also monkeyed around with a plan crucial to older people and older people vote.

You can read Sen. Enzi’s full plan at his web site.

Here’s his travel schedule for the week:

MONDAY, MARCH 17
Cheyenne: 8-9 a.m. at the Cheyenne Depot (121 W. 15th St.)
Rawlins: 12:30-1:30 p.m. at the Rawlins Depot (400 W. Front St.)
Rock Springs: 4-5 p.m. at Western Wyo. Community College, Room #1302 (2500 College Dr.)
Pinedale: 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Sublette County Library (155 S. Tyler)
TUESDAY, MARCH 18
Lander : 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at The Inn at Lander in the Pinnacle Room (260 Grand View Dr.)
Worland: 4 to 5 p.m. at the Worland Community Center (1200 Culbertson Ave.)
Lovell: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Lovell Community Center (1925 Highway 310)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19
Casper: 1 to 2 p.m. at the Community Health Ctr. of Central Wyo. auditorium (1522 E. A St.)
Lusk: 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Niobrara County High School auditorium (702 W. 5th St.)
THURSDAY, MARCH 20
Gillette: 9 to 10 a.m. at City Hall in the Community Meeting Room (201 E. 5th St.)

Jackson Hole Radio interview with Obama

Barack Obama was interviewed on Jackson Hole Radio on the morning of the March 8 Wyoming caucuses. In it, he talks about national issues such as health care and college affordability, but also western-oriented issues such as land use, coal sequestration, and clean energy transition. He speaks of a "Manhattan Project" for energy, an emphasis on R&D for alternative sources that would include wind and solar, as well as coal. In an interview with the Casper Star-Tribune, he likened the all-out effort for clean energy to NASA's "Apollo Project."

Whatever you call it, Obama is proposing an actual energy policy, something that has been totally lacking during the Bush & Cheney years. I take that back. Their energy policy has been simple: "Foreign oil -- and more of it." Or, as Upton Sinclair put it in the title of his 1927 book: "OIL!" It's just a bit ironic that the 2007 film based, in part, on the novel is entitled "There Will Be Blood." Not only in Texas and California oil-boom country, but in Basra and Baghdad too. The sequel: "There Will Be Blood -- for Iraqi Oil!"

To listen to the Sen. Obama interview, go to http://jacksonholeradio.com/Newscasts/Obama.mp3

Thanks to jhwygirl for the podcast link

My grandfather -- Irish without the blarney

My grandfather, Martin Hett, was 12 when he left home in County Roscommon, Ireland, and traveled to northern England to work in the coal mines. Anything was better than his home life, even 12-hour days spent underground. One positive thing -- a Brit family took him in and treated him well. At 17, he had enough money to sail to the U.S. and then on to Chicago where he lived with his older brother and worked on the city's rail system. After having a lung and several ribs removed due to a massive infection (this was before antibiotics), the doctors told him to move to the dry climes of Arizona or Colorado. He arrived at Denver's Union Station on a bright summer day. The air tasted sweet, and he could see the Rocky Mountains. It was 1920, he was 20, and life looked pretty good.

Seventy years later, my one-lunged Irish grandfather died in Denver.

He was a good man with an angry streak that his grandkids saw only occasionally. It infuriated him when his fellow Irish in South Denver cursed the Brits. He'd respond that the Brits treated him better than the Irish ever did. It's not that he didn't like his Irishness. He was Irish Catholic through and through, and a longtime member of the Hibernian Club, which is where he met my grandmother. But the Brits had given him a job and taken him in and fed him when he was a lad. In County Roscommon, he lived in a tiny drafty house with many siblings, a drunken father, and a crazed stepmother. The priests at school were harsh. When a boy disobeyed, the priests ordered him down to the local stream to fetch a switch for a beating. Young Martin fetched more than a few switches.

My grandfather never returned to Ireland. He could have, many times, but didn't see the need. He preferred America to Ireland. He toasted the country of his birth on St. Patrick's Day and whenever necessary, but he'd also raise a glass to Denver and the Colorado mountains and the U.K. and his many grandchildren and the president (especially JFK) and the pope and to life itself.

On Monday on St. Patrick's Day, I'll raise a glass to the memory of my grandfather. He was Irish without all the blarney. I miss him.

Cowardly saloon owners prefer Hillary

The 8,753 votes cast at Democratic Party caucuses Saturday in Wyoming swamped the 675 votes tallied in 2004.

The turnout was stupendous, as bloggers and reporters and even Fox News have all pointed out. Sure, some were turned away because they came late or because they weren't current on their party registration. Others grew tired of waiting in line. But, 1,532 Laramie County residents had the wherewithal to stand in line and listen to speeches and cast votes even if they were late for work or didn't feel so hot. That's approximately 1,500 more than voted in the county party's 2004 caucus.

Still, Wyoming can't get any respect. Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank was speaking on Keith Olbermann's "Countdown" today. The issue was whether the Michigan and Florida caucus/primary votes should count as is (Clinton's view) or there should be a revote (Obama's take on things). Milbank scoffed at the influence of caucuses, noting that Wyoming's record turnout "was a school board election" and not a real election. Harumph, harumph.

Monday night on "The Daily Show," John Stewart had a great time picking on Wyoming. He noted that there were 59,000 registered Dems in the state. "I have more Democrats in my building," he quipped. If he's in New York, I'm sure he does. Later, Samantha Bee broke down the caucus numbers for us. It seems that grizzled prospectors went for Obama while mustache guys liked Clinton. John Stewart asked about gay cowboys, and Samantha Bee said that hadn't been in issue for about a year (remember the hubbub over "Brokeback Mountain?") and that thoase numbers were no longer tabulated.

Let's trot out all the stereotypical western characters, old and new. Gabby Hayes is an Obama supporter; Dale Evans likes Hillary. Shane was a Ron Paul man but now is undecided. The Virginian ("smile when you say that!") likes McCain's steadfast nature and steely gaze.

And as you might guess, the rough-and-tumble oil men of the high prairie are all Bush & Cheney people.

If you were a western stereotype, whom would you support for president?

CORRECTION: I misremembered Samantha Bee's March 10 breakdown of Wyoming Democratic caucus voters. Supporting Obama were the rugged outdoorsmen, gizzled old coots, and ornery drifters. Mustache guys also preferred Obama. Hillary won over the hearty prospectors and cowardly saloon owners. Hummingbirdminds regrets the error.

Rare Dem toad not an endangered species

I was looking for the right words to describe my experiences during Wyoming's recent Democratic Party caucuses, and Julianne Couch found them for me. It's great to live in a state with so many fine writers.

Julianne's a writer in Laramie. Her column about the caucuses appeared in this morning's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. The Obama-Clinton surge meant a lot to Wyoming "Non-Republicans," whom Julianne likened to "a rare species to toad -- a curiousity that is easily squashed by the heel of a heavy boot when it gets in the way of progress."

She was happy that the caucuses "took the Wyoming Democrats off the endangered species list, at least temporarily."

As a Dem toad, I'm finding it difficult to recover from my caucus rush. It's not something you really want to recover from, is it? John Millin, head of the Wyoming Democrats, has sent out an e-mail that urges us to keep up the momentum and donate $25 to the state party. Each donation will be matched by a private donor. To pitch in, go to
https://orchidforchange.com/wy/index.php?display=MakeDonation


We passed the hat (actually it was a see-through Lucite cube) regularly Saturday at the Cheyenne caucus. Not sure how much was gathered, but there were a lot of fives and tens floating around among the dollar bills. There are a lot of expenses during a big election year like this one, so I'm sure that Laramie County Democrats' treasurer Bobby Marcum was happy.

Julianne points out another benefit of the high-profile political race:

"I heard Democrats and Republicans talking together about politics, chatting about 'Bill' and 'Hillary' and 'Barack' as if they were neighbors or folks from work. Just about every conversation eneded with, 'Well, it can't possibly get any worse, no matter what happens.' "

I heard -- and participated in -- some of those conversations. And we usually did agree that things couldn't get any worse. Will my Republican and Independent and Libertarian neighbors have the same feelings come November? Stay tuned....

5 years on, Iraq policy doesn't have a prayer

President Bush is storming the country this week making excuses for his five-year-old Iraq War. Today, he talked to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, where I’m sure he got a rousing chorus of "Amen -- now pass the ammunition."

And now comes something completely different, Christianity-wise.

The following is on the Sojourners’ web site, and includes a call to sign a petition:

This season of Lent, we are truly living "in darkness and in the shadow of death" (Luke 1:78-79) as we mark, on March 19, the fifth anniversary of the war with Iraq. It is a war that is being waged by our country, financed by our taxes, and fought by our sisters and brothers. As U.S. Christians, we issue a call to the American church to lament and repent of the sin of this war.

We lament the suffering and violence in Iraq....
We lament the effects of this war on our country....
We repent of our failure to fully live the teaching of Jesus to be peacemakers....
We believe repentance means more than just being sorry....
We dedicate ourselves to the biblical vision of a world in which nations do not attempt to resolve international problems by waging war on other nations....

Sign on now at http://go.sojo.net/campaign/iraqstatement

How many delegates does Wyoming have?

Bill Luckett, communications director of the Wyoming Democratic Party, sent out an e-mail this weekend as a reminder of how the state's Dem delegates are partitioned. Here are the numbers:

Eighteen delegates, breaks down to six unpledged delegates, and 12 pledged delegates.

UNPLEDGED DELEGATES

Five "superdelegates." These people are entitled to go to the convention, and they do not have to pledge support for any candidate. Wyoming's superdelegates are Gov. Dave Freudenthal, state party Chairman John Millin, state party Vice Chair Nancy Drummond, National Committeeman Pete Jorgensen, and National Committeewoman Cynthia Nunley.

One "unpledged party leader/elected official." This person is entitled to go to the convention, and he/she does not have to pledge support for any candidate. The state party chairman will nominate one or more people for this delegate position, and the person will be elected by the delegates to the Democratic State Convention on May 23-24.

PLEDGED DELEGATES

Seven "district-level delegates" (and three alternates). They will be awarded to the presidential candidates based on the percentage of the vote each receives statewide in the March 8 county caucuses/conventions, with the allocation to each candidate to reflect the vote as closely as possible. This is based on the raw vote totals, or the popular vote, NOT the number of delegates to the state convention.

Three "at-large delegates." (and one alternate). They will be awarded to the presidential candidates based on the vote by the delegates at the Democratic State Convention on May 23-24. The delegates to the state convention, and which candidates they are pledged to support, will be determined within each county based on the percentage of the vote each candidate receives at the March 8 county caucuses/conventions.

Two "pledged party leader/elected officials." They will be awarded to the presidential candidates based on the vote by the delegates at the Democratic State Convention on May 23-24. The delegates to the state convention, and which candidates they are pledged to support, will be determined within each county based on the percentage of the vote each candidate receives at the March 8 county caucuses/conventions.

Dems been down so long, it looks like up

Mcjoan, writing in Daily Kos on the eve of the Wyoming caucuses, did a pretty thorough job of dissecting the situation. She wrapped up with this:

The challenge for Wyoming Democrats, just as it is for Idaho Dems, will be to capture the enthusiasm of new and reinvigorated Wyoming voters in actually being relevant in a presidential campaign, and to harness it to carry through November and beyond. An invigorated and involved Democratic base could make this the election that sends Blue Majority candidate Gary Trauner to Congress.

Maintaining enthusiasm – that’s the challenge for Wyoming Democrats. That goes for Obama and Clinton supporters. I was impressed at the intense campaign waged by the Obama team here in Cheyenne. Those people were organized and they brought fire to the cause. Every Dem household in the state received a phone call. All doors were knocked on. I’ve talked to lots of people received multiple phone calls. When we brought this up to field director Pat Lane, he had an interesting response, one I’d never thought about. He said that supporters won’t be dissuaded by multiple phone calls. They may get testy, but they can be counted on to vote. A second or third call might sway an undecided voter, or it may remind Dems to get out to the polls. Independents and Libertarians may get angry, but it also may get them to the polls. Republicans may see multiple calls as harassment. But what the heck – why not irritate a Republican? Any Wyoming Democrat who hasn't been cussed out on the phone (or in person) by a Republican can't really call himself/herself a Dem.

But Wyomingites never received the amount of calls that Iowans did in the months leading up to its primary. Households received calls from all the candidates multiple times. And they turned out in record numbers this year.

The message is clear. It takes a well-organized and well-funded campaign to win an election. Democrats in Wyoming have been down so long it looks like up to us. Many had just given up. It took a lot of effort to get them out of their lethargy – but they did come out. Almost 8,700 votes were cast statewide. In the 2004 county conventions, less that 700 votes were cast. The 2008 numbers are 12 times those of 2004. Some of those reflect people who switched parties, a Republican or Independent registering as a Dem and who will probably switch back before November. But most of those voters were either new registrants or newly-motivated Dems or people so fed up with the Republican Party that they switched and won’t go back. I know several of those in Cheyenne.

Historic day for Wyoming Democrats

"Democracy," as someone once said, "is messy."

Sure, but it's fun too.

Today in Cheyenne, we had 1,532 Democrats vote in a presidential preference poll. I manned one of the ballot boxes, aided by a stalwart Hillary Clinton volunteer from North Dakota. Our job: make sure that each person votes only once. Caucus-goers, some of whom stood in line two hours to get inside, were a bit restless, anxious to vote and get to work or get home to relieve the babysitter. Two school teachers stood next to the crude voting machine (me), ready to cast their votes and get to an in-service that started at 8:45. They finally got to vote at 10. One young woman had to pick up her baysitter, drop her off at her house, and then go to work, all by 10. She didn't make it to work on time. But she stayed, and cast a vote.

Final tally: 941 votes for Barack Obama, 588 for Hillary Clinton. Three votes were for Edwards or another Dem on the ballot who had dropped out of the race along the way.

Statewide, said CNN, Obama came out ahead in the caucus votes 59-40 percent. He clinched seven delegates while Hillary got five.

The race for the Democratic Party's presidential nominee continues. Wyoming's vote solved nothing, really, but it taught us some things. First, there are more Democrats in Wyoming than we think. Flood them with phone calls, mailers, and TV ads, add a dash of national media coverage, and they'll turn out at the caucuses. Second, Democrats have to do a better job keeping those people involved and motivated.

Today, anyway, there was more than enough motivation to go around. Oilfield workers and government employees and stay-at-home moms were angry about the state of the nation, and the fact that George W. Bush has nearly ruined this country. One of those stay-at-home moms, a young woman named Sarah, spoke in public for the first time today, she said, in an effort to become a Clinton delegate at the state convention on Memorial Day weekend in Jackson. She fell a few votes short in the delegate count, but got the nod as an alternate. She joins my wife, Chris, as a Clinton alternate. I was selected as an Obama delegate. In Jackson, when I'm not delegating, I'll be blogging.

Both CNN and Fox did broadcasts from the Cheyenne caucus (see photo above). When the emcee noted that Fox News was on-site, the crowd roundly booed. The Fox cameraman bowed, no doubt used to such warm receptions from crowds of Democrats

On to Mississippi and beyond....

Lines around the block for county caucus

The votes are being counted during lunch, but even before we know the numbers, it's obvious that thousands of people turned out for today Democratic Party caucuses in Cheyenne. I arrived at 7:30 a.m., and by the time the doors opened at 8, the lines snaked around the corner of the downtown parking garage.

We woefully underestimated the number of Democrats who would show up for the caucus. We guessed 500 to 1,000 would come. We rented a bigger building that seats 1,500. We planned for multiple registration tables. We had lots of volunteers. But still the Dems filed in the doors of the Civic Center, so many that we had to hold the balloting in two shifts.

That didn't seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the attendees (see above).

I have to get back to the action before the delegate selection process begins. More later...

Barack Obama stages huge Laramie rally

Some 10,000 people packed into the Arena-Auditorium tonight at the University of Wyoming in Laramie to greet Sen. Barack Obama. The crowd was jazzed to be at what might be the largest political rally ever held in the state. College and high school students were huddled near the stage. Their elders were huddled in their fold-out seats, most recently used by Pokes' b-ball fans.

As my friend K and I drove into town, we saw the senator's jet circling town, aiming for a landing at Laramie International Airport, with puddle-jumper service twice daily to Denver. I'd never seen a big passenger jet over Laramie. Usually it's the 18-passenger vomit comets piloted by Great Lakes Aviation, and the ocassional Piper Cub. I suppose the Veep uses Air Force Two (accompanied by a fleet of black helicopters and flocks of vampire bats) when he comes to Laramie to raise funds for his alma mater. He's also donated a bunch of his ill-gotten Halliburton gains for scholarships for students studying foreign affairs. Now don't laugh -- Cheney knows a few things about foreign entanglements.

Sen. Obama was in town to rally the troops for the Saturday Democratic Party caucuses. He wants all of Wyoming's twelve delegates at stake this weekend -- and he'll probably get them too. Obama's teams have been in the state for a month, and they're organized and ferocious. And there are a lot of us volunteers making calls and knocking on doors. Now we just show up and vote.

Sen. Obama delivered a fine speech. he's an orator, a trait that Hillary Clinton can't claim. Her silver-tongued husband was in Laramie yesterday charming a crowd not nearly as large as this one. Sen. Obama talked about details of his health care plan and the phased withdrawal from Iraq, which will be complete in a little more than a year after he takes office. He got a rousing cheer from students when he talked about plans to make college more affordable and tax credits for higher-education costs up to $4,000, which would be a boon for us taxpaying parents of collegians. Students would be expected to pay back this largesse with community service, which also received a round of applause.

I sat next to Nancy, an Army veteran who's a member of the national group Vets for Peace and Laramie's Stand Up for Peace. She was knitting a "Vets for Peace" stocking cap and cheering whenever Sen. Obama talked about withdrawal from Iraq. She's been knitting socks and caps for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the other side of me, K used her digital camera to record the event. I took photos, as my digicam doesn't have enough juice for an hour-long video.

It was great to be in the arena, watching and listening an African-American presidential candidate who can draw a crowd of 10,000 on a Wyoming winter night -- and a Friday to boot. An historic event, no matter what happens on Saturday or during April in Pennsylvania or in August in Denver.

"Stand for Change" in Laramie Friday

Sen. Barack Obama's "Stand for Change" rally in Casper is officially sold out, according to the Casper Star-Tribune. You can still attend the rally in Laramie at the UW Arena-Auditorium at 7:15 p.m. Friday. No tix required; first-come, first-served. Get more info at http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/wyhome.



Bill Clinton's Riverton rally for his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, today drew an SRO crowd of 2,000. Sen. Clinton will be in Cheyenne at 2:15 tomorrow at Laramie County Community College.



A wealth of Democratic riches today in Wyoming. One of these smart & talented senators will be our next president.



My wife Chris has a plan. What about eight years for Sen. Clinton and then eight years for Sen. Obama. "It'll take at least 16 years to clean up Bush's mess," she says. I agree -- it will take several decades to clean up Bush's messes. But I disagree with the order or presidential succession. What about Obama first, Clinton second? Hillary will only be eight years older, much younger than Sen. John McCain ("Won't Stand for any Change!") is right now. She'll still be sharp, with eight years more senatorial -- possibly even vice presidential -- experience.

This day in history: Who would Jesus bomb?

Who said this, and when:

“My faith sustains me because I pray daily. I pray for guidance and wisdom and strength…. But it's a humbling experience to think that people I will never have met have lifted me and my family up in prayer. And for that I'm grateful.”

Give up? Five years ago tonight, on March 6, 2003, Our Fearmongering Leader conducted a televised press conference, saying in his introduction, “We will not wait to see what terrorists or terrorist states could do with weapons of mass destruction.” One weak-kneed but spiritually uplifted reporter asked President Bush to comment on his religious strength. The quote above was his answer.

Two weeks later, his faith sustained him as he gave the order to bomb Iraq back to the Stone Age.

Source: Editor & Publisher web site

Back off, man -- I'm not a political scientist

My message to the old hands of America's Democratic Party: butt out.

This is our election and not yours. We might take your sage advice if it hadn't proven so bad over the past eight years. We lost the presidential elections in 2000 and 2004 because you cautioned caution instead of fighting the Republican Slime Machine. Many of you were in the House and Senate in 2002 and 2003 and bought Bush's load of crap about weapons of mass destruction. Some of you are still in Congress, waffling over war funding and constitutional rights and torture and health care reform.

Why should we listen when you advise us that a long-drawn-out battle between Clinton and Obama is bad for the party when, in reality, it allows all of us to play a role in the selection of the best candidate? You'd prefer that all this messy caucus and primary stuff in the hinterlands would end so you could play your superdelegate card and trump us all. Before the Clinton primary wins on Tuesday, some of the Dem superdelegates (senators, governors, etc.) were saying that Hillary should drop out of the race for the good of the party. See how much they know?

So back off. We are calling voters and walking neighborhoods for our candidate. Mine is Obama; my wife's is Clinton. On Saturday we caucus. And then we keep on marching to the convention.