Wyoming GOP leadership advances its dangerous pursuit of control

I was recently reminded of a wonderful analogy used by Friedrich von Hayek upon accepting his Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, on Dec. 11, 1974.  

By way of addressing the limits all men face in improving the social order, he contrasted the work of a carpenter with that of a gardener.  A carpenter “shapes his handiwork,” whereas a gardener, “cultivate(s) a growth by providing the appropriate environment.” 

In other words, one forces an outcome while the other nurtures the natural order, interfering only with supportive acts like weeding, watering and keeping pests out.  

Hayek had a warning for those tempted to force: “There is danger in the exuberant feeling of ever growing power which the advance of the physical sciences has engendered and which tempts man to try, “dizzy with success”, to use a characteristic phrase of early communism, to subject not only our natural but also our human environment to the control of a human will. The recognition of the insuperable limits to his knowledge ought indeed to teach the student of society a lesson of humility which should guard him against becoming an accomplice in men’s fatal striving to control society – a striving which makes him not only a tyrant over his fellows, but which may well make him the destroyer of a civilization which no brain has designed but which has grown from the free efforts of millions of individuals.”

It is very tempting to force outcomes, and in politics, that temptation is growing evermore dangerous.  

The Wyoming GOP recently held their state convention here in Cheyenne, and I can’t say that I made it. Having attended our local Laramie County GOP convention with Mr. Edmonds the previous month, I’d had my fill. More about that in a bit.

Attending these things is always an eye opener, but the main takeaway for those of us who have been active in party politics for many years is the degree to which animosity and pettiness, most of it self inflicted, have come to characterize such functions. But while the pettiness is sad, it’s the party leadership’s deep desire to control that is troubling.  

Control in how we organize our political parties can lead to control that finds the bedrock principles of a free nation terribly inconvenient, and too easily discarded.

Take for instance the Wyoming GOP’s latest bylaw change enabling the expulsion of elected precinct members. In this their apparent dislike or distrust of voters is becoming more and more public. The latest move at the state convention gives county chairman the ability to toss out any duly elected precinct member for failing to attend a certain number of monthly meetings without an excuse.   

Lincoln County GOP Chairman Lance Oviatt went on record to say he would not enforce such a rule as he did not feel the party had the authority to remove someone who had been elected by the people.  

He is exactly right, and good for him for saying it. We must all stand by these important principles or we will all fall from the lack of them.

Precinct members are the only persons within the Republican Party organization to have their names placed on ballots and go before the voters of the state. Everyone else — including the ever-controlling state party leadership — is either elected by the internal vote of those precinct members, or, as we see the Wyoming GOP doing more and more, they are appointed. 

Sadly, this is becoming more and more the order of the day, voters are out, party rulers are in, force and control. Voters, it would seem, are too unpredictable for this new cadre of political innovators. Best to decide these things in secret or after diminishing any legitimate attempts at debate.

Which leads me to my next point, a continual obsession with controlling who is and is not a “Republican.” Most of the present leadership appear to believe all of their problems will go away if they can rid the state of any voter not exactly like, well, them. And while they have no control over who registers to vote as a Republican to vote in elections, they can and do try to force their way into the process by actively kicking members out of the internal party apparatus. And by extension, continually “censuring” or “unrecognizing” elected officials who don’t tow their line. 

This habit of kicking people out is somewhat of an obsession with them, which is reflected in the contemptuous nature some of their members treat fellow Republicans they don’t deem as their kind of “Republican.” 

At the Laramie County GOP Convention, Mr. Edmonds and myself watched a woman scream “RINO” across the room, breaking decorum in a very ugly manner. She was not reprimanded from the podium — not at all. Business just continued as if this kind of indecent behavior is the new norm, because it is.

It’s a logical progression then that the current Wyoming GOP spends little to no time talking about recruiting new Republicans into the fold. This would be too much like letting things grow, I fear. They might give this idea lip service once in a while, but we all know their hearts aren’t in it. Why would it be when their main focus is establishing and maintaining absolute control? New people inevitably bring new ideas, beliefs and perspectives — also known as new hurdles to forcing control over every outcome.

The old saying goes if you aren’t growing, you’re dying. Party leaders should think about that. 

The reality is, the Wyoming GOP can froth and foment, plot and plan to force and control everything within the party apparatus all they want, but none of that will have any real effect on how and who voters select in the end.  

But we the people should take note. We need more gardeners and less craftsmen, as Hayek puts it so well. 

As much as the present (and temporary) masters of the Wyoming GOP would like to manipulate their way into tight and lasting careers through political control and consolidation, their reach will most likely exceed their grasp.