WMCs not all in GOP camp

During the past several decades, it has seemed that U.S. Christian evangelicals have been on a Rapture-like ascendancy. Not only were mainstream churches losing members, but mega-churches blossomed from coast to coast. Mega-churches raised cash and raised hell for The Lord (their close personal friend), damning to hell all unbelievers, secularists, Democrats and artists. They bought up bushels of Republican politicians and, sometimes, entire communities. Colorado Springs, for instance, and the neighboring Air Force Academy. "Attention Zoomies! You're all Christians now! Or else!"

Look how the mighty have fallen. All it took was eight years of Bush and Cheney and John Ashcroft ("cover that nekkid statue!"). War and torture and economic collapse, all done with the support of your local mega-Christians. In fact, it was Married White Christians (WMC) who voted overwhelming for Bush twice and even voted for that non-churchgoing divorcee John McCain. Meanwhile, the rest of us voted for the guy with the brains and the plan, not to mention a loving marriage with an accomplished wife and two fine children. He goes to church, too.

Not all WMCs are GOPers, even in Wyoming. Chris and I have been married more than 26 years, with nary a divorce between us. We're Christians, too, in thought and deed, although we sometimes fall prey to cursing Bush on TV. We're white, too, northern European and Irish Celts, skin white where the sun don't shine but speckled with freckles where it does. We're White Married Christians in one of the most Republican of states. Yet we're Liberals, and damn proud of it.

Many of our Repub neighbors, though, bet on the wrong horse. They're WMCs and, according to columnist Kathleen Parker, they're a vanishing breed and that spells doom for the GOP. Parker used to be reliably pro-Republican, and maybe she still is, but once she wrote that scathing column about GOP Veep candidate Sarah Palin, the hate-filled screeds from conservative Christians started filling up her e-mail in-box.

Didn't seem to faze her, though. Today's column in the local paper spelled out the obvious:

The evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't soon cometh.

...three long-term trends identified by Emory University's Alan Abramowitz have been devastating to the Republican Party: increasing racial diversity; declining marriage rates; and changes in religious belief.

In Wyoming, marriage rates have remained fairly consistent. As of 2006, 53 percent of households are headed by married couples. Wyoming ranks third in the nation in that category. In 2005, Wyoming ranked 7th in the nation with 9.4 marriages per 1,000 people. But if having half of its households headed by married couples makes Wyoming third in the nation, what are the stats in the rest of the country? In this state, 5.8 percent of households are headed by a single female with children under 18 (2006 figures). That makes Wyoming 49th in the U.S. So most states have more -- some many more -- households with single moms. And Wyoming's single-mom stats have risen 13 percent since 2005 -- a pretty dramatic increase.

Wyoming's not a particularly religious state. It's nothing like the Deep South or neighboring Utah or the Okie Bible Belt. One map I saw shows Wyoming as a state with less than 50 percent of the population declaring any religious affiliation. The state's residents tend to be independent that way, although they still mindlessly vote Republican.

It must be the white person factor. Wyoming's 2006 stats showed us with 88 percent white persons (not Hispanic). So, Wyoming has quite a few married people and a good number of self-declared Christians and a whole bunch of white people. That's how you get 66 percent of the population to vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Still, 33 percent of the populace voted for Barack Obama. Chris and I weren't the only ones voting for hope.

Abandoned children a mental health issue

We’ve been hearing a lot about Nebraska’s safe haven law. Thirty-four children -- mostly teens -- have been abandoned in the state since mid-September, shortly after the new law went into effect.

Today, I read another piece about the situation in Karen Ball’s sobering Time Magazine story, "The Abandoned Children of Nebraska." There are some parts of the story worth repeating.

....dealing with the underlying causes of abandonment is much harder, child welfare experts say. "These parents had to be totally overwhelmed to do something like this," says Rev. Steven Boes, president of Boys Town — the original safe haven of Father Flanagan fame, which happens to be headquartered in Omaha. Once upon a time, Depression-battered parents would buy bus fare for their children and hand them a sign, "Take Me to Boys Town." Their counterparts today "are parents who have tried to navigate the system for years and this is their last resort; these are parents who ran out of patience too darn fast and gave up too early, and everything in between," says Father Boes.

Boes says one root of the abandonment problem is that there is simply not enough help for parents in crisis. In Nebraska, for instance, there are only six child psychiatrists in the entire state, he says. "It's a national problem... insurance often won't pay after six visits — so if the kid's not fixed, you're out of luck. States have a jumble of services. It's a puzzle with missing pieces."

Only six child psychiatrists in Nebraska? In a state with 445,000 residents under 18 (2006 census), that’s one child psychiatrist per 74,000 kids. That’s a lot of 50-minute appointments.

Wyoming, Nebraska’s squarish neighbor to the West, doesn’t fare much better. At last count, Wyoming had two child psychiatrists. That’s one psychiatrist per 60,770 kids. How many of these youngsters will need mental health care in the course of a year?

The National Alliance on Mental Illness web site cites that fewer than one-third of adults and one-half of children with diagnosable mental disorders get treatment in any given year (stats from HHS Mental Health: Report from the Surgeon General). Suicide is the third leading cause of death of those 10-24 years old (suicide ranks number one among that age group in Wyoming). 90 percent of those who commit suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder. More than 50 percent of kids with a mental disorder at 14 and older drop out of school.
Both of my kids have a diagnosable mental disorder. They used to see a child psychiatrist in Cheyenne, back when we had one. My son moved to Arizona. Not because AZ has more shrinks, but because he went off to college. My daughter has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and relies for assistance on our family physician and a psychiatrist who specializes in adult mental health and a great therapist.

Resources are available, but you have to seek them out. I'll address those in future posts. Meanwhile, those of us in the 177,000 square miles that comprise Wyo-Neb will have to resort to the Depression-era strategy quoted above. Take your child to the airport (very few buses anymore). Pin a sign to the tyke’s shirt that reads: "Take me to a child psychiatrist in Colorado or Kansas – anywhere but here!" Or, you can follow the example of some frantic parents, and abandon your troubled child at any Nebraska hospital.

Poll: Wyomingites want renewable energy

A UW Survey and Analysis Center poll shows that Wyoming residents favor a variety of solutions to meet U.S. energy needs, with near-unanimous support for renewable energy.

Wind power had the support of 97 percent of respondents and solar power, 96 percent. Almost 87 percent favored pumping more oil from existing wells, drilling more offshore wells (74 percent) and opening the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge for oil production (56 percent).

Nuclear energy? 60 percent in favor.

Respondents were split on whether the U.S. should release oil from its strategic oil reserve, with 49 percent in favor and 44 percent in opposition.

And 83 percent of respondents believed that Teapot Dome is Dick Cheney's White House nickname. Just joshing. That wasn't really part of the survey -- but it could have been.

Here's a quote from a UW press release:

"Senators (Mike) Enzi (R-Gillette) and (John) Barrasso (R-Casper) and Rep.-elect (Cynthia) Lummis (R-Cheyenne) have stated that addressing the nation's energy needs will be among their priorities when Congress convenes in January," says Jim King, a professor of political science at UW and the poll's director. "Our survey results indicate that Wyoming residents are open to many solutions to the current energy situation."

Yes, and Wyoming residents voted for John McCain by a margin of 2-1. Shows how much they know. And the Enzi-Barrasso-Lummis triumvirate will have very little sway over what happens in Congress during the next two years.

But it is gratifying to see that those polled were overwhelmingly in favor of renewable energy sources. Wind power, especially, is catching on big in Wyoming, with wind farms sprouting faster than poppies in Afghanistan. What's being fought over are the venues by which that power will reach the citizenry. Transmission lines, anyone? We'll need entire forests of those.

Notice anything missing from the poll?

C-O-A-L. Especially the "clean" variety.

University of Wyoming should build Cheney Bunker on campus

A brouhaha has arisen on the University of Wyoming campus about the name of the new Cheney International Center. That’s "Cheney" as in "Dick," the UW grad and outgoing V.P. Two students, Fred Vanden Heede and Suzy Pelican, have stoked opposition to the center’s name with letters in UW’s Branding Iron and newspapers across the state. Here’s an excerpt:

"For a long time to come, many Wyoming residents and millions more people across the U.S. and beyond will seriously doubt the legitimacy of an international center named after Dick Cheney."

They’re being a bit hard on the Veep. He’s traveled widely during his time in politics, meeting world leaders such as Saddam Hussein (remember him?) and other assorted dictators who used to be our friends. He’s also been the impetus behind our country’s many international peace-keeping efforts, such as bombing Iraq back to the Stone Age. This guy knows his international. It’s odd, though, because during his student years of many draft deferments he said he "had better things to do" than visit Vietnam. He missed out on a grand adventure!

But I think UW is missing the boat on the Cheney naming rights thing. I think the U should construct an entire mini-campus dedicated to Cheney. His many international accomplishments could be represented in a grand assemblage of buildings. Here are a few suggestions for the Cheney International Center:

We gotta have art. The center's centerpiece should be a gigantic statue of Dick Cheney, something like that big likeness of Saddam Hussein that was pulled down when U.S. troops got to Baghdad in 2003. Big Soviet-style statues would suit Cheney's Soviet-style tactics in his role as the All-Powerful Oz of Veeps. It might be fun to designate a "Topple Dick Cheney Day" each year on campus, when the students can haul down the statue in celebration of democracy's return on Jan. 20, 2009. I suggest the statue be fitted with a spring-loaded pedestal so it can snap back into place once the celebration is over. This is so we don't have to keep building more statues. Whadda ya think, Dick's made of money? By the way, no government funds should go to the monument, as Lynne Cheney spent most of her professional career lobbying against gubment funding for statues.

What of the buildings? A big fort modeled after the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad would be nice. But it has to have a moat. And a big huge concrete blast barrier around it, which would make the structure a fort within a fort. Maybe two big concrete walls, with would make it a fort within a fort within a fort. And a drawbridge, too. And...

Now I'm sounding like Cheney. A few deep breaths. I'm not Dick Cheney! I'm not Dick Cheney! I'm not Dick Cheney! That's better.

The building should be modeled after other buildings on the UW campus. Nothing grandiose. Nothing fat-headed. It should match the sandstone facades of the other structures, such as the student center and the English Department HQ. I'm not sure there's any room for a new structure like this.

But I have a great idea. Since the Veep has spent most of the past eight years in an underground bunker, why not build the center underground? Below Prexy's Pasture? Halliburton crews could dig out a huge cavern and there's no limit to what you could do with it. So much space. You could even put the Dick Cheney Vice Presidential Library inside. You could nuke-proof it, and Dick might even want to include a living space for his visits to campus. The Veep Lair. "To the batmobile, Lynne. All of us at the Dick Cheney International Center have countries to ruin!"

The (election) party's over -- time to get to work

This is a good day to remember that Americans can do great things when we work together. Here are some good suggestions from numero uno populist Jim Hightower:

Here’s an idea: Instead of wasting our tax money on Wall Street slicks who don’t use it to help anyone but themselves, why don’t we use our public funds to build something in America? Like what? Like bridges that are in disrepair, schools and libraries that need upgrades and expansion, high-speed rail networks to connect our population centers, energy-saving technologies for every home and building, public transportation for all of our cities, state-of-the-art internet systems everywhere, and public park repairs and expansions. America has important work that needs to be done. America also has millions of workers who need good jobs. Let’s combine the two needs so we can lift our country up and move forward together.

Yet another Veteran's Day during wartime

Wyoming State Government employees are off on Veteran's Day. This year the holiday falls on a Tuesday so some get a four-day weekend. In past years, Chris and I and the kids drove down to Denver's Fort Logan Military Cemetery to put flowers on my grandparents' graves. Florence Green Shay, first lieutenant in the U.S. Army nursing corps during WWI. Raymond Shay, second lieutenant in the Iowa National Guard's cavalry brigade. He saw action in the U.S. border skirmishes against Pancho Villa and in France during WWI.

We're not making the trip this year. Chris has to work at the YMCA. She supervises the Veteran's Day activities. It means a little more to her because her father was a 30-year Army NCO and a veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He's buried along with Chris's mom at Arlington National Cemetery.

It will be a busy day at the Y especially in the afternoon as the kids have only a half day of school. And all those adults (even bloggers) with the day off need something to do. As they work out, they can view the oral history video of Wyoming's rapidly shrinking group of WWII veterans. Chris's Writer's Voice program commissioned the video six years ago. The interviews are interspersed with archival footage from the war. Often the film is shown on Wyoming Public TV. It's also archived in the Library of Congress's Veteran's History Project. I believe that Chris has copies of the video of you're interested in purchasing one. Call her at 307-634-9622.

The YMCA's also throwing a party later in the day with punch and a big sheet cake with the legend: "Thank You, Veterans." Once the kids finish swimming or playing basketball, they're hunkering down to write letters to those military men and women now serving overseas.

Those ranks will soon be swelled by 900 troops from the Wyoming Army National Guard's 115th Field Artillery Brigade. They're being deployed to Kuwait in April for at least 400 days. The Guard's not saying whether the trip to Kuwait means jaunts into Iraq -- but you can read between the lines. According to the Guard, it's "the largest single-unit mobilization the Wyoming National Guard has ever received."

The unit's commander, Col. Richard Knowlton, will be traveling Wyoming during the next few weeks to discuss the deployment. Any time you rearrange the lives of 900 people and their families and their jobs, it has a huge impact. Especially in this state with a population of 500,000. Meetings will be held in Afton, Evanston, Rock Springs, Laramie, Torrington and Cheyenne. You can get more info at http://www.wy.ngb.army.mil/.

On this Veteran's Day during wartime, we wish you well.

When they return, they'll find resources through a new web site by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). Go to http://communityofveterans.org/.

Rae Lynn Job resigns, search begins 11/12

As if we aren't outnumbered enough in the state legislature. This release comes from Bill Luckett, director of the Wyoming Democratic Party:

Democratic state Sen. Rae Lynn Job of Rock Springs resigned her position in the Legislature on Thursday, Nov. 6, requiring the Democratic Party to begin the process of selecting a replacement to fill the vacant seat for the remainder of her term.

Sweetwater County Democratic Party Chair Joyce Jansa Corcoran announced today that the Democratic precinct committeemen and committeewomen of Senate District 12 will meet Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. at White Mountain Library in Rock Springs to interview those interested in filling the Senate seat.

Senate District 12 includes roughly the eastern two thirds of Sweetwater County, including part of Rock Springs, as well as the Atlantic City precinct in Fremont County.

The process for filling a legislative vacancy is governed by the Wyoming State Statutes and the bylaws of the Wyoming Democratic Party.

The rules require the precinct committee members of the Senate district to meet and select three finalists for the position within 15 days of Sen. Job's resignation. But, the party plans to hold the meeting this Wednesday.

State party bylaws state that any registered Democrat who lives in Senate District 12 who wants to be considered for the position must either appear in person at the meeting or send a written statement of intent. At the meeting, each candidate will be given the opportunity to present their qualifications and may be questioned by those present.

After all the candidates speak and answer questions, the precinct committee members vote by signed ballot to choose the three finalists. Those finalists' names will be submitted to the county commissioners in both Sweetwater and Fremont counties. Then, the respective county commissions will have five days to meet and vote to appoint one of the finalists to fill the Senate vacancy.

The county commissioners' votes will be weighted by the population of the portion of the Senate District that is in each county, using numbers from the 2000 U.S. Census.

Contact: Joyce Jansa Corcoran, Sweetwater County Democratic Party Chair, 307-371-1633, 307-362-5301; Bill Luckett, 307-631-7638.

UW Active Minds sponsors 11/12 panel discussion on stigma of mental illness

Reducing the stigma of mental illness in society will be the focus of a panel discussion Wednesday, Nov. 12, at noon in the University of Wyoming Union Skylight Lounge.

Active Minds, a registered student organization, and Psi Chi, the UW Psychology Club, will host "Reducing Mental Illness Stigma." Panel members will include individuals who will share their personal experiences of having mental illnesses, along with professionals who work to reduce the stigma of mental illness.

Active Minds is the nation's only peer-to-peer organization dedicated to raising awareness about mental health among college students. The organization serves as the young adult voice in mental health advocacy on more than 100 college campuses nationwide.

Trauner's post-election interview on Wyofile.com

While I was wondering about Gary Trauner’s disappearance after the Nov. 4 election, Wyofile’s Charles Pelkey and Reese Jenniges were actually talking to the Democratic Party’s candidate for the state’s lone U.S. House seat. Gary was as gracious in defeat as he was during the campaign. He kept his cool even when faced with TV and radio ads from the Republican Slime Machine.

The victor in the race, Cheyenne’s Cynthia Lummis, said in a post-election interview that she has some trepidations going to a "Democrat city" (Washington, D.C.) She is thankful that she will have the guiding hand of outgoing Veep Dick Cheney. Sure, but first she has to find him. And the proper terminology is "Democratic city," as in the political party that now is in charge and because you need an adjective to define a noun. As in "Obama’s overwhelming victory" or "the Democratic Party’s huge majorities in the House and Senate." Like that. I’d be happy to send Ms. Lummis a copy of Strunk & White’s "The Elements of Style." There’s even an illustrated version.

What follows are a few Gary Trauner quotes from the 11/6 Wyofile interview. Read the entire article at http://www.wyofile.com/democrat_trauner_defeated.htm

Trauner said that he did "pretty much everything I could do in this race."

"Sometimes, there are just obstacles you can't overcome," he said. "Being a Democrat in Wyoming in this race might have been one of those. We did everything and I think we did incredibly well. I don't have any regrets. I don't have any second thoughts."

Trauner said on Thursday that he hopes that Lummis' tenure in Washington will ultimately result in a benefit for the people of Wyoming."

A lot of people told me that they would support me, but they didn't want to send that support to Nancy Pelosi," he said. "That probably cost me quite a few votes. Of course, now we have a member of Congress who not only lacks seniority, but is in the minority there."

"I hope she exceeds my expectations," he added.

Can pro athletes think beyond sports?

Professional athletes are not known for their political acumen. Just look at John Elway -- diehard McCain supporter who campaigned with him in Colorado. He gets points for getting involved. But he's just another one of those rich athletes who was glorious on the field but became a fat-ass golfing Republican upon retirement. And why not? Elway really made out with Bush's tax cuts for the rich. And he stood to make even more dough with McCain's plan for even more tax cuts for duffers. How much money do these people need? Remember Elway refusing to visit with Bill Clinton after the Broncos Super Bowl win? He's only become worse with time.

Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall was a big Obama supporter during the recent campaign. He wasn't the only one, but seemed to be the leader of the pack. Here's how Denver Post sports reporter Lindsay Jones describes an election day interview with Marshall:

Marshall, who has been one of the most out-spoken Barack Obama supporters in Denver’s locker room throughout the fall, said he got to his local voting precinct at 6:20 a.m. He said the process was easy and he was out by 7:10 a.m. It was his first time voting. He wore his “I voted” sticker on his hooded sweatshirt, but because he was shirtless during the interview, he took the sticker and put it on his forehead.

Marshall caused a frenzy Thursday night when the Broncos played Cleveland. Denver went ahead with just 1:14 left on the clock behind a touchdown pass from Jay Cutler to Marshall. In the end zone, Marshall pulled out a black-and-white glove to celebrate Barack Obama's victory two night's before. His teammate Brandon Stokley intervened, thinking that Marshall's move might penalize the Broncos for delay of game or unsportsmanlike conduct. Marshall was quoted later that he wanted to make the same sort of salute as black U.S. athletes Tommie Jones and John Carlos made at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. As most commentators noted, Marshall's was a good-hearted salute that came at the wrong time for the Broncos.

Maybe so. But it's good to see a pro athlete thinking about something more than himself. I always wonder why we don't see more of that sort of spirit from athletes. Sure, there's basketball great Bill Bradley as a U.S. senator. And everyone remembers Roberto Clemente's ultimate sacrifice when he died flying in earthquake supplies to his native Nicaragua. Sure, there are a few other examples. But most pro athletes are self-absorbed and know little beyond their own playing field.

Marshall thinks beyond the gridiron. I admire him for that.

Hey Gen O voters! Not bad, not bad at all...

I like this Generation O -- "O" as in Obama. I have to admit I'm a bit biased. Chris and I spawned one of its members -- 23-year-old Kevin in Tucson. Good job Kevin! We have another offspring, a 15-year-old pre-Gen O who will be 19 in 2012 and vows to vote for O for his second term.

I talked to Kev a few nights after the election and he was at a friend's house playing X-Box or Wii or one of those many games in which I'm all thumbs. Actually, that's probably a good thing. In Wii, don't you use your thumbs a lot? I'll text Kevin later and ask. Anyway, I was talking to Kev and he was with five of his friends. I asked him how many voted and he said at least half of them did, although one guy was too busy gaming to answer. So let's say 50 percent of these Gen O voters in a cramped Tucson apartment voted and they all voted for O. Not bad. Not bad at all. But -- if all of you had voted, McCain would have lost his home state.

Here are some facts from today's article about Gen O voters in the New York Times Style section.

Mr. Obama’s victory was greatly helped by his young allies. More 18- to 29-year-olds went to the polls this year than in any election since 1972 — between 21.6 million and 23.9 million, up from about 19.4 million in 2004, according to preliminary estimates from the Center for Information and Research of Civic Learning and Engagement. And 66 percent voted for Mr. Obama, according to exit polls by Edison & Mitofsky.

These young voters and those slightly older, who together may forever be known as Generation O, were the ground troops of the campaign. They opened hundreds of Obama offices in remote areas, registered voters and persuaded older relatives to take a chance on the man with the middle name Hussein.

As you can see in the NYT photo, Gen O voters don't all look the same. But two-thirds of them had the same goal, to elect a young guy with great ideas to the highest office in the land. Almost all of the Obama organizers I met were in their 20s and 30s. They came from all over the country and were very focused on the prize. They earned this victory.

Congrats to Kevin and his pals. Keep voting, stay involved, and please finish school sometime soon.

Here's a snap of Kevin taken when he visited us in red-state Wyoming in March....

Obama Internet Army on the march

A McClatchy News Service article on Yahoo News wonders how President-elect Obama will use his "Internet Army" once he gets to D.C.

I'm one of the 3.1 million Americans who signed on with My Barack Obama to make phone calls, knock on doors and donate money. Some of the toughest work was back before the Democratic caucus in March, which is when I signed up. Especially true at my house, with me and my cell phone in one room and Chris and her cell in another. I called for Obama; she called for Clinton.

But phone calling is only part of the equation. This Obama Internet Army may be a key ally to the president once he's inaugurated. According to the McClatchy article:

Joe Trippi offered a more dramatic scenario: "Obama will be able to say these are the 10 members of Congress standing in our way on health care. Basically, it'll be the president and the people united, with some members of Congress in between, which won't be a very comfortable place to be."

A million Obama activists nationwide translate to an average of nearly 2,300 for each of 435 congressional districts. "And if someone in my district had a list of them with e-mail addresses and a lot of good will, I'd pay a lot of attention to them," said Scott Lilly, a senior staffer for Democrats in the House of Representatives for nearly 30 years.

The article does point out that this kind of pressure will work best against moderate "Blue Dog" Democrats. It's not clear what sort of effect it would have on Republican members of Congress in red states. Places like Wyoming. The most active MyBO (we need a better acronym) volunteers in Cheyenne were called on to knock on doors in Greeley and Fort Collins, Colo. Obama strategists figured that was a better use of resources and they were right. Democrats in our county of Laramie voted for Obama. The Republicans voted for McCain. Registered Repubs outnumber Dems by a wide margin and that's what the results showed.

But Larimer County in Colo., home to Fort Collins, went for Obama. Weld County (Greeley) went for McCain but just barely. I haven't looked at the statistics yet, but my guess is that college students and minorities (notably Hispanics) and all the registered Dems and some Indies and at least some Repubs (I know one in Fort Collins) went over to the Obama side. Some southern Montana counties went blue for Obama. Some northern Wyoming MyBO people made the trek to Billings during the campaign.

We all know that Obama can achieve his (and our) goals without any response from Wyoming or its Congressional delegation. Enzi and Barrasso and Lummis are part of the minority. They will obstruct. That doesn't mean I won't write my obligatory e-mails and letters to them. I've been doing that for the past eight years. It just means my P.O.V. will have the same non-effect.

More from the McClatchy article:

What his [Obama] supporters will accomplish in Republican districts is another uncertainty.

"If they're networked into PTA meetings and barbershops and call-in talk shows, they can let people know that their guy isn't doing what we want him to do. That would be an extraordinarily powerful tool," Lilly said.

Barbershops? I can just imagine haranguing Repubs at my local barbershop and then sitting in the chair and asking the barber for "a close shave." But I know what Lilly's talking about. Be active in your community. Speak up. Be part of the progressive team.

Some of the more interesting parts of the article came at the end. It concerns the use of modern technology in the political arena. Remember that Obama's style of instant Internet response and fund-raising was pioneered by Howard Dean in 2004, just four years ago. We may just be seeing the beginning of a huge revolution.

Reform advocates who see the Internet as a tool want to reduce Washington's grip on power by providing universal Internet access to more government deliberations and records. It's an idea that appeals to lots of Obama activists, who can be expected to push for it.

Obama has promised to create a "transparent and connected White House ." He's also promised to appoint a Cabinet-rank chief technology officer to promote openness in federal agencies and help the new president communicate with the electorate. More generally, Obama supports expanding high-speed broadband Internet access, which roughly half the nation lacks.

An easy and popular step toward transparency would be for Obama to reverse the Bush administration's secretive policy on Freedom of Information Act requests for government records. That could be done by declaration, without congressional involvement, noted John Wonderlich , the program director of the Washington-based Sunlight Foundation , which promotes transparency.

Visionaries in the realm of Internet politics, several of them well-known among Obama activists, would like to see Obama go further and use Internet social networks for ideas and collaborative problem-solving.

UPDATE: Just saw the 11/7 post from Chris Hughes about the future of my.barackobama.com. Here's an excerpt:

And the site isn't going anywhere. The online tools in My.BarackObama will live on. Barack Obama supporters will continue to use the tools to collaborate and interact. Our victory on Tuesday night has opened the door to change, but it's up to all of us to seize this opportunity to bring it about.

In the coming days and weeks, there will be a great deal more information about where this community will head. For the moment, let's celebrate this victory and know that the community we've built together is just the beginning.

Gary Trauner, where are you?

Wish that Gary Trauner would come out of hiding and say something. He lost, sure, but he waged a fierce and above-board campaign. That's more than I can say about his opponent, Republican Cynthia Lummis. But I will try not to be a sore loser.

The Democrats won the White House and a bigger majority in the U.S. House and Senate. Three Senate seats are still to be decided. Al Franken is in a recount battle with Norm Coleman in Minnesota. Georgia will stage a runoff between chickenhawk Republican Saxby Chambliss and Democratic hopeful Jim Martin. And I'm not sure what's happening in Alaska with Ted "The Convicted Felon" Stevens. Democrat Jeff Merkley, a former Habitat for Humanity leader, was announced as the winner in Oregon.

So Gary, come on out and groove in the good feelings of the many Wyomingites who volunteered and voted for you.

Flashback: Dem Convention photos

Had to display these photos, which I just received from fellow Dem and Wyoming state legislator Lori Millin. They say a lot about the enthusiasm of the convention in Denver which spilled over into the presidential campaign. That didn't translate into an Obama win in Wyoming -- not this time, anyway.

Looking back, wish I would have worn my cowboy outfit.

Barack Obama, the writer, headed to D.C.

I haven't yet read Barack Obama's two books. Maybe I should have, since he wrote them and not some ghost-writer. But political biographies, especially those written and released during a campaign, are usually bland and self-serving. They're written to get the candidate elected. At its core, the book is no different from a stump speech at a gym in Paducah. On the other hand, those memoirs written after a stint of public service tend to be a lot more interesting. I have a whole shelf of those, inherited from my father the accountant. My prize is an 1885 edition of Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant which goes into incredible detail about an incredible life.

Toni Morrison likes Obama's writing. And, according to an AP story by Hillel Italie, Obama is a Morrison fan. Last winter, he called up the literary Nobel laureate to ask for her support in his race against Sen. Hillary Clinton. But politics was not first on the agenda. Obama said that Morrison's Song of Solomon had "meant of lot to him." Here's Morrison's post-election take on the conversation:

"And I had read his first book (Dreams from My Father). I was astonished at his ability to write, to think, to reflect, to learn and turn a good phrase. I was very impressed. This was not a normal political biography."

That's high praise coming from Morrison. Song of Solomon is one of my favorite books. Lyrical and strange, a great story with a surprise ending. Some may call it magical-realist but we'll leave that long discussion for another time.

Italie ends the article with a comment that "the vast majority of writers usually vote for Democrats anyway." Maybe that's true in NYC but not in Wyoming. But I know what Italie means. In the summer of 2003, I was at an outdoor concert in Cheyenne. I was wearing my "Poets Against the War" T-shirt. A friend introduced me to a young writer who took a look at my shirt and asked, "Do you know any poets for the war?" I had to think about that.

To have an actual writer in the White House? That seems like a good thing. Writers have an ability to explore the subtleties of an issue. We don't see the world in black and white. We like "gray areas" because that's where the stories are. Is this a good trait for a president? It will be a big change from our current regime. But too much gray can overwhelm you, leave you lost in a fog. Obama's pragmatism should prevent him from getting lost in any fog.
And we'll probably have to wait eight years before another Obama book. He'll be busy in the interim.

Why is Wyoming so darn red?

An article in today's Casper Star-Tribune notes that 65 percent of Wyoming voters cast their ballots for McCain. That is the largest McCain margin of any state save Oklahoma, which came in at 66 percent. Wyoming voted more red than our redder-than-red Rocky Mountain neighbors Idaho and Utah. In Idaho, McCain got 62 percent of the vote and Obama got 36 percent. In Utah, 63 percent supported McCain; 34 percent were for Obama.

Wyoming also sent three Republicans to Congress, with Repub Cynthia Lummis as the new U.S. House member. We'll have a lot of dissecting and transecting of this vote during the next few weeks. We do know that Repubs hate Washington, D.C., especially when the Repubs aren't in power -- especially when the Feds aren't sending us any money. Per capita, Wyoming is one of the top states reaping federal largesse. I ain't complaining, since it does a lot of good in this state in social services, health care, transportation and the arts. Then, I'm a Democrat who doesn't spend his livelong day complaining about the gubment. I spent two years in D.C. during the Clinton years and learned a few things in the process.

We Dems are partly to blame. We're still getting organized, still trying to figure out how it's done. Montana may be able to show us the way. We'll see. Meanwhile, we have to study Gov Dave's modus operandi to see how he does it.

Here's an interesting quote from the Star-Tribune:

Lewis Newman of Casper, a Republican and lifelong Wyoming resident, said he wasn't a bit surprised to see the GOP dominate Tuesday -- but he's not sure it's such a good thing.

It's not healthy for the Republicans to have so much power, Newman said.

"If they took Saddam Hussein and put an 'R' behind his name, he would get elected in this state," Newman said. "Voters don't give two thoughts to who they send back to Washington."

Paul Krugman hopes for "the end of the monster years"

Sometimes other bloggers say things better than you ever could. This comes from a Nov. 5 post on the New York Times blog of Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman:

Last night wasn’t just a victory for tolerance; it wasn’t just a mandate for progressive change; it was also, I hope, the end of the monster years.

What I mean by that is that for the past 14 years America’s political life has been largely dominated by, well, monsters. Monsters like Tom DeLay, who suggested that the shootings at Columbine happened because schools teach students the theory of evolution. Monsters like Karl Rove, who declared that liberals wanted to offer “therapy and understanding” to terrorists. Monsters like Dick Cheney, who saw 9/11 as an opportunity to start torturing people. [My emphasis, to note Cheney's Wyoming roots.]

And in our national discourse, we pretended that these monsters were reasonable, respectable people. To point out that the monsters were, in fact, monsters, was “shrill.”

Four years ago it seemed as if the monsters would dominate American politics for a long time to come. But for now, at least, they’ve been banished to the wilderness.

Lessons in here somewhere for WyoDems

When the news about Barack Obama's victory was announced last night, I was in a room filled with Republicans. It was a small room, and there were only three of them, but it seemed as if I was surrounded. J.D. was on the main microphone, Dave was tallying the election results on a legal pad, and Bob sat next to me at the guest mike. Bob was packing, his sidearm jutting ominously from his Cheyenne Police Department holster. Big guy, big weapon -- but he's the police chief and also my state senator. He was the Republican guest and I was the Democratic guest at KFBC 1240 AM in Cheyenne. The TV in the corner was on Fixed News, but even the Fox knuckleheads had to acknowledge Obama's victory when his electoral votes ratcheted up to 297.

"Now I have to listen to Democrats gloat for four years," said Dave, scribbling on his legal pad.

I replied: "There's not that many of us in Wyoming, so it won't be too bad."

I wanted to gloat my ass off. But I was a guest at the radio station, providing some powerful insights into the conversation. Besides, my Republican state senator was packing heat.

J.D. called up the Laramie County Clerk web site to find the local results. One big surprise -- Ward 3 city councilman Pete Laybourn was last in a field of four candidates. In city council races, the top two vote-getters are elected and the bottom two go home. Pete's one of those outspoken rabble-rousers who used to appear at every city council meeting to complain about overspending, potholes, and almost everything else under the sun. He was elected four years ago and reelected in 2006. This time, his constituency thought he'd gone a bit too far when he harassed the new city attorney so badly that she quit after only a few months on the job. Maybe they'd just grown tired of his rants and bad attitude. He can ponder the reasons during retirement. But Pete isn't a retiring guy. He'll be back in his role as citizen complainant as soon as new council members are sworn in.

One of those new council members is outgoing mayor Jack Spiker, who was elected (along with incumbent Pat Collins) in Ward 2. There should be some titanic tiffs between Citizen Laybourn and Councilman Spiker when the new session rolls around.

A couple other surprises in the night's results. A close U.S. House race between Dem Gary Trauner and Repub Cynthia Lummis got worse and worse for Trauner as the night progressed. A slim Lummis lead widened until she was ahead by about 8,000 votes with 130 precincts out of 465 statewide left to report. J.D. turned to the Laramie County Clerk's page and saw that Trauner was ahead of Lummis by about 150 votes. Cheyenne is Lummis's home town! It turned out not to be the only county that came in for Trauner -- Albany, Teton and Sweetwater also went to Trauner. Gary's home county of Teton gave him the biggest margin with 3,990 votes. Albany County voters gave Gary a 2,736 vote margin while Laramie County (LummisLand) voted 20,818 to 18,642 for Trauner -- a 2,176 edge.

But the state's other 19 counties all went for Lummis. Campbell County gave Lummis a 6,500-some vote lead. That did in Gary, who lost by almost 25,000 votes. Lummis rolled out the dirty attack ads in the campaign's last week, ads that appealed to the yahoo in rural Wyomingites. Gary gonna take away your guns! He a East Coast smarty-pants Liberal! Jackson Hole! It seemed to work. Or maybe it was just a combination of events. One good thing is that we worked our butts off for Gary in Lummis's home turf. Almost 21,000 people voted for Gary in the county. We knocked on all those people's doors and called them on the phone. We were out on the streets until 6:30 and then went to the Plains Hotel to party with the other Dems. After awhile, I sauntered over to KFBC to spell my Dem cohort, Ken the Retired Fighter Pilot. I sent Ken over to the party while I faced down the Repubs.

When Ken came back for the late shift at 10, it all seemed decided. The Laramie County Clerk was reporting that District 8 incumbent Lori Millin was losing to Republican Bob Nicholas, who is filling in as Cheyenne's city attorney. The margin was only 19 votes with 100 percent of the precinct's reporting. Damn! I couldn't believe it. Lori is a great legislator and she worked hard to get reelected only to lose to this new guy. While I was elated about Obama's win, I was bummed about Lori. I went to bed disappointed.

This morning in the paper, I see Lori's smiling face on the front page with news that she'd beaten Nicholas 2,438 to 2,271. Close, but it counts. You have to wonder how Lori could be shown behind the night before with all votes counted but be the winner in the morning with even more votes counted.

There are some lessons in here for WyoDems but I haven't yet grokked them. More tomorrow....

"Change has come to America"

Barack Hussein Obama is president-elect