Wyoming got good economic news early Wednesday morning with
the national election of Donald Trump as president and Liz Cheney as our new U.
S. Representative.
Sometimes when
you live out here on the frontier, you could assume that what happens in a
presidential election probably would not have much impact on your
small-populated rural state.
Not so.
For example,
the two candidates for President in the Nov. 8 election had strikingly
different plans concerning some big ideas for a state like Wyoming.
For Wyoming’s
economic benefit, the winner was Trump, who has claimed to favor existing
energy forms such as coal and has been a vocal opponent of the concept of
global warming.
The loser,
Hillary Clinton, was constantly quoted as saying she was going to put coal
mines out of business. As the country’s biggest exporter of coal, her words were
not welcome in the Cowboy State.
I recently
joined 500 other Wyomingites from all ends of the state at the annual
Governor’s Business Forum, held in Cheyenne. Most of us expected this to be a
solemn funeral-like event in the wake of the expected election of Clinton. The conference, like the state, is dominated
by the energy industry. Instead, it was a very upbeat event with smiles all
around. Happy days may be here again.
Sure, our
energy industry is still in the pits but with a Trump Presidency and, more
importantly, the demise of an Obama-Clinton attack on fossil fuels, the future
looks brighter than it did on Nov. 7.
Before going
much farther, I often get criticism when I sometimes seem to blindly support Wyoming’s
energy industries and also seem to ignore the obvious fact that something is
happening when it comes to climate change.
My mind is much more open than columns like this might indicate, but the
thrust here is the need to salvage energy jobs and looking out for the best for
the state’s immediate financial future.
Two folks in
Wyoming who appear to be on President-elect Trump’s radar are Foster Friess and
Robert Grady both of Jackson. Foster was an early and consistent backer of the
new President and the billionaire will have something to stay about policy in
the new administration.
Grady is
already being discussed as a possible Secretary of Interior. Retiring U. S. Representative
Cynthia Lummis is also being mentioned for the post.
A third
Wyomingite who will be important to the Trump administration is Liz Cheney, who
as a new representative will have influence that far outweighs those of any
other newly elected Congressperson.
Our two U. S
Senators will have tremendous influence. Trump had earlier reached out to Mike
Enzi. Our senior senator helped provide the Trump organization with a number of
key budget staffers as the transition team prepares for life after the Jan. 20 inauguration.
U. S. Sen.
John Barrasso is already moving up in the leadership in the Senate and will
hold key committee positions going forward.
Had Clinton
won, our folks would have been in a frustrating place. With Trump as President,
our state’s influence will be way out of proportion to our small population. This is very good news.
Now this is my
post-election reflections column so here are some more comments:
• My wife
Nancy and I recently returned from a 10-state, 4,100-mile, six-week road trip
in our motorhome. We did not see a
single Hillary sign along the way. We
saw probably 100 Trump signs. I found
that foretelling.
• Two of the
most interesting mayor races in Wyoming were at opposite ends of the
state. In Jackson, incumbent Sara
Flitner lost by 38 votes. Too bad. She
was terrific. In Cheyenne, that
community could not lose as two great young gals in Marian Orr and Amy Surdam
ran for the top city office. Orr won with 55 percent of the vote.
• Two losers
in the election cycle were longtime Democrat Mary Throne of Cheyenne and
longtime Republican Gerald Gay of Casper. Throne was terrific and is a huge
loss. Gay made some horrible comments about women earlier this year and paid
the price.
• I was right
in my predictions about Trump trouncing Hillary here in Wyoming as he beat her
by more than 3:1. No state favored Trump
in the entire country more than Wyoming.
• Phil Roberts
will collect a steak dinner from me as I thought Liz Cheney would top Ryan
Greene by 3:1. It was just 2:1. Super hard for a Democrat to win in Wyoming.
|