Only you can prevent the spread of campaign lies

The old saying goes “there are lies, damned lies, and statistics,” but I think here in Wyoming we can say with certainty that “there are lies, damned lies and campaign lies.” There sure have been a whole lot of “whoppers” being sold to the voting public this summer, and this mess has turned into quite the David and Goliath story of big versus little. The big outside political action committees and their big outside money are facing off against little Wyoming candidates sweating through the summer knocking on doors, trying to combat the lies being told against them.

It was recently reported that the Goliath Freedom Caucus’ PAC sent out some very polished, professional mudslinging mailers telling voters how specific candidates voted “to remove President Trump from the ballot!” 

Whopper me stupid, but I’m fairly certain Wyoming state legislators don’t vote on whether a federal candidate gets to be on the ballot or not. Our statutes already dictate that this is decided by the nomination of someone by a major, minor, or independent political party and outline how that process works. But I’ll stop there, we needn’t get bogged down with too many facts. This is the season of whoppers, after all.  

But it shouldn’t be. Voters in Wyoming deserve to know their elections are conducted freely and fairly, including the campaign season leading up to the actual voting. This is why all states, and the federal government, have put in place laws to try to ensure campaigning doesn’t become, as one old political veteran put it, “a contest of who could baffle the voters with the most bullshit.”  

The person overseeing Wyoming elections is Secretary of State Chuck Gray. He’s been oddly silent through several news stories about all of this, despite his usual eagerness to weigh in on election and political matters.

I wonder why. 

The group behind the misleading mailers on the Trump vote that never occurred said they were in reference to a legislative attempt to keep Gray from using state funds to initiate litigation against other states. That attempt was a fairly standard legislative move to check the powers of the executive branch, save taxpayers money and more importantly, in this case, ensure executive branch authority lies squarely where it belongs, with the governor, and not one of the other statewide office holders.  

For some reason during these past few legislative sessions giving anyone but the governor the authority to sue, sue, sue, has been quite in vogue.  The Legislature was right to try and shut down that nonsense.

That was the vote now being sold to voters as voting “to remove President Trump from the ballot!”

Rep. Dan Zwonitzer (R-Cheyenne) put it best when he told Wyofile, “To have legislative colleagues make up complete fabrications that are categorically false is a new low in Wyoming politics. And they should expect a full slander lawsuit against the PAC and everyone associated.” 

It really is a new low and while I’m loath to see lawyers make even more money, this lawsuit seems like a good place to start to stop these kinds of dirty tricks from becoming commonplace in Wyoming. None of us wants to see that happen, so the sooner these Goliaths are brought to justice, the better.  

But the lies being committed are real and they can cause real damage. They speak to the very heart of “election integrity,” something Gray has spent a lot of time telling us he’s passionate about. And yet on the misinformation-laden mailers, he’s been pretty quiet. Odd. 

Of course, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus is not alone, it has a Goliath brother in arms, the Make Liberty Win crowd out of New Jersey who have also been tossing out a fair share of whoppers across Wyoming. But all these questionable efforts by Make Liberty Win, an apparent arm of Young Americans for Liberty, and the Wyoming Freedom Caucus PAC, an obvious arm of the D.C. Freedom Caucus, bring with them another unanswered question.  

Why are these mailers, text messages and live phone calls all so similar if they come from two different groups? They all seem to be using the same few issues, with just a couple of small differences here and there. So how statistically possible is it for two groups, one from Wyoming, and one from the East Coast, to identify the same couple of issues after two legislative sessions where Wyoming lawmakers voted on hundreds of bills and amendments?  Seems more likely these groups might have compared notes and gotten some tips from locals in the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. A new low indeed.  

Someone recently reminded me of lines from the movie, “The Hobbit.” “Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found,” the wizard Gandalf says. “I’ve found it is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”

These lines mirror the big versus little theme happening here in Wyoming and give an apt description of how these lies can be defeated — by the everyday deeds of ordinary folk, learning the truth.