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Saturday, February 20, 2010
2010 - 09 Could we have a Gov. Mike Enzi? Not this year
A few months ago in this column, I hinted about the possible entry into the 2010 governor’s race by a candidate who would be unbeatable.
That mystery candidate was our Senior U. S. Senator Mike Enzi.
There were two dominating reasons for this discussion to have been occurring:
First, he is possibly the single most capable person available for the job as our governor. As a former mayor, state representative, state senator and U. S. Senator, the breadth of his experience and ability would dwarf any other candidate.
Second, when the Democrats took over the Senate, it greatly reduced Sen. Enzi’s influence. Plus with the death of his colleague Ted Kennedy, well, it appeared he might be interested in taking on a job where he really could make a huge difference.
But alas, it was not meant to be. And perhaps was never meant to be. I chatted with him about this process by phone after he addressed the Wyoming Legislature on Feb. 19.
“I was flattered and intrigued when this possibility was presented to me,” he said. “Several people from across Wyoming approached me about it, even though I never broached the subject. “
The possibility of an Enzi gubernatorial bid was never made public except for my hint about a mystery candidate back in December.
A lot of wild speculation was dished my way as people speculated that I was talking about Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, John Barrasso, Cynthia Lummis, Dave Freudenthal turning Republican, Ray Hunkins, Eli Bebout and even this writer (wow!).
But I never divulged the name until now. And I was surprised that no one guessed the senior senator to me in this speculation.
And that probably also tells the true tale of why this never happened. “When I signed up for my six-year term, it is just about impossible for me to consider not fulfilling that obligation,” he says.
And Wyomingites know this.
A political opportunist? Not in the least.
And now the world has changed again. The Obama White House is in disarray and the Democrat-controlled Congress is in a shambles. The worm is about to turn.
By January 2011, the Republicans might control the Senate again and Sen. Enzi would retain his leadership positions on these key committees. He can hardly wait.
He is anxious to get back involved in knitting together some kind of health care legislation for the country. He laments that the passing of his pal Sen. Kennedy severely limited the possibility of getting a bi-partisan health care program through Congress in the past six months.
“Ted and I set a new record for getting the most bills passed,” he says. “I sure miss him.”
Our Wyoming senator was the first Republican to accept an invitation to the White House this past Thursday for a candid and open discussion about where to go on health care.
Sen. Enzi knows this can be a hot seat but he would prefer to keep working and keep trying.
“My style is normally working in the background,” he says. “I believe that usually both sides can agree on 80 percent of a bill. Let’s get that passed and then we can work on the remaining 20 percent later on.”
He says one of the keys to getting a health care bill passed will be to separate out Medicare from the bill. “We need to deal with that huge issue on its own. By including it with the health care bill, well, it just makes it too complicated.”
As for the 2010 Wyoming governor’s race, he says he is impressed with the candidates who have expressed an interest in running.
Does he have any advice for them?
“I would tell them to do what Diane and I always did. First, we did not do negative ads. Second, we never spent money on campaign ads that we didn’t have.”
Sounds like his accountant background is coming to the fore again.
His first Senate primary was just as tightly fought at this GOP governor’s primary looks to be. But those candidates pulled together and the man who finished second to Sen. Enzi in that first race was the man who is currently our junior U. S. Senator, John Barrasso.
‘To show you how unified we were,” Sen. Enzi concludes, “John asked me if he could be my financial chairman during the general election. I said yes and we went on and won big in November.”
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