Living in Wyoming, mostly by choice, we know that “liberals” are, if not exactly endangered, at least a threatened species. Wyoming Democrats haven’t always been so scarce; indeed, there were equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans in the House in 1948, and half the Senate was Democratic. There’ve been 11 Democratic governors since statehood in 1890, and several — including Joseph Carey and Ed Herschler — have been more than consequential.
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That was then. We haven’t had a Democratic statewide elected official since Gov. Dave Freudenthal finished his second term in 2011. The 93-seat Legislature has a mere handful of Democrats today. They fight uphill battles for “radical” things like environmental quality, health care, fair wages, access to public lands and equitable public school funding. The public might like those things; legislative heavyweights do not.
Deep red Wyoming went even farther right at the ballot box on Nov. 6. The oxymoronically named Freedom Caucus expects to run Wyoming’s Legislature. The fatally defective Donald Trump again won Wyoming by a larger margin than any other state: 69,508 Wyomingites voted for Harris while 266,275 voted for Trump.
Just 26% of Wyoming voters backed Harris. But nationally, the race was closer, with 74.1 million voting for Harris (48.3%) and 76.7 million for Trump (50 %). That is a clear win in the Electoral College and by popular vote.
“Why?” asked anguished friends and relations from far and wide on Nov. 7. Lots of reasons, including racism and misogyny, which we collectively try to deny even exist anymore. Simply put, the majority of voters liked what Trump was selling. I talked to one on Nov. 6 who, like many, doesn’t like Trump but voted for him because he didn’t think Harris was strong enough to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Other supporters say they think Trump will close the borders and lower prices.
Time will tell. Putin’s been very pro-Trump for a long time, so how and why would Trump consider bucking him now? Trump didn’t manage to close the borders last time, photo ops suggesting otherwise notwithstanding. In the unlikely event Trump succeeds with the mass deportations promised, what will that mean to the US economy? If the undocumented people who’ve been picking America’s crops and cutting its meat for decades are ejected, who’s going to do that work?
A dozen organic eggs cost $4.05 on Nov. 7, 2024, in Cheyenne and the average price for a gallon of unleaded was $3.16. The workers doing the repair work around my neighborhood speak Spanish. How different will these things be in 2025, or 2028, the next time America gets to pick a president?
Beats me, but I do know I’m not going to compound Trump’s win by leasing out my heart and brain to anguish for the next four years. To paraphrase Thich Nat Hanh, a Buddhist monk, philosopher and peace activist who lived to 95, the most important thing is not to allow anxiety about the state of the world to fill your heart. If you do, you’ll get sick and you won’t be able to help.
The 26% who subscribe here in Wyoming to the American ideals Kamala Harris represented in her 2024 campaign face challenges ahead. We can begin by maintaining good cheer. We can do our daily best to exhibit that most “beautiful form of courage, to be happy,” in the words of poet Jeanne Lohmann, age 101. Finally, we can take the vice president’s uplifting and correct concession speech and call to action to heart.
Find it here: https://time.com/7173617/kamala-harris-concession-speech-full-transcript/.
More of the standard rants about being racist and misogyny instead of drilling down on the underlying reasons why people are attracted to Trump. We are not all racists, we are not all misogynist. Frankly there are some really talented compassionate people on the other end of the spectrum.
People are tired of government, tired of the ongoing onslaught of rules and regulations. Tired of the rules for thee and not for me. We are tired of being told that inflation is transitory while dumping billions more borrowed money into an over inflated economy through the Inflation Reduction Act. We are tired of our rights being trampled upon daily. We are tired of a biased media that has become nothing but propaganda – no matter your spectrum. We believe anything fed to us. It’s becoming so bad that the Mayor of Denver threatened to use the Denver Police to stop immigration enforcement? Granted, he walked that back, but you know he really meant what he stated it – and nobody on the more liberal side of the spectrum seems concerned? Really?
A friend of mine pointed this out to me today. We just want to live our lives, raise our kids, earn a living and enjoy living in this great country. Most of this country is tired of the rhetoric. I think many of our leaders have lost grasp of what the people truly want – and it’s certainly not the vision provided by Biden/Harris the last 4 years. Biden/Harris was a disaster because simply put, people hated Trump. Biden/Harris were terrible leaders. In the most recent election, had Trump stepped aside and the right Republican candidate stepped up to the plate, I think it would have been a landslide because Biden/Harris has been such a disaster. But many voted for Biden/Harris strictly because they hated Trump. Millions more were able to put aside their hate for Trump thinking it was the lesser of two evils.
So maybe lets all stop the name calling and find the strength to build some consensus and direction. 50% of this country is not racist, misogynist, corrupt, greedy, throw in any 10 disparaging words you want. It may make you feel better in the moment, but does it contribute to the solution or just add more gas to the fire? Sure, we may not all agree, but what we are doing now certainly is not working. We survived 4 years of Biden/Harris, we will survive 4 years of Trump. What scares me is what happens after that?
I don’t know where the vote numbers came from; final tally was 69,527 Harris votes and 192,633 votes for Trump in Wyoming, which is actually a little over a thousand less than Trump received in WY in 2020.
Kamala lost my vote when she sided with genocide.
Well said Marion. I need to remember to keep my chin up and pray for the best for all of us. We’re going to need the prayers I fear.
Isn’t this just a sad and last, cometary on the ( me inc., limited liability). Boomer generation, book-ended by the Clintonestas and the Trumpanzees? The generation of less than noble lies. Dark-Money has destroyed both parties while the bands play on the quarter deck and the bantie roosters argue on.
My husband and I left Wyoming in 1969 when he joined the Navy, coming back after he retired 10 years ago to an unrecognizable state. The religious right had taken over the Republican Party and was slowly strangling political debate. I have watched one liberal friend after another give up and leave the state in frustration from having zero representation in our district. Despite the majority’s claim of moral superiority, they relied on bearing false witness to win. I hope democrats around the state will organize and be ready to successfully challenge them with good candidates in 2026. When our policies are presented without a D they are what wyomingites want, and we need to make sure our fellow citizens understand that.
26% is a higher number than I would have expected. Lately, WY seems more a seeping orange postule than the wonderful state I was raised. Morally and ethically a land that has finally lost its Fall colors and turns toward a very dark winter. For the 26% take some time to mourn what is gone now, of course. That might be the belief in your neighbor or old friend that proved a fools errand, or that last strands of thinking “no, we are better than this.” Then get up and turn your energies inward. Starve the cruelty the feeds on your outrage. Take care of your tribe, take care of each other. Plant the garden, harvest the game, and build the table to serve the 26% who remain. The rest can worship at the altar of Mammon. Bless their hearts.
Thank you for saying that. My kids both moved out of state as a result of Wyoming politics, as did most of their friends in high school. It’s not that they’re scared of the GOP. It is because they, like me, believe that one party rule is bad for everyone involved.
May those that voted for him realize the full impact of their flawed reasoning, and may those of us that are cognitive beings, not.
It wasn’t about the price of a gallon of gas or a dozen eggs. The election pulled the mask from this country, revealed in the anonymity of the booth what in nice company would be shunned.
Well said, Marion! You represent the Wyoming I remember growing up in…
if you can’t beat em,join em !