Wyoming Polls thus far

We have some poll numbers conducted from Sept 22-24th, and Gary Trauner is once again in a dead heat against a Republican opponent. The rest of the Democratic hopefuls are polling in the mid-thirties percentile. These numbers are pre-presidential debate, but with only 3% stating themselves as undecided, it is unlikely Obama will make any headway here in the Equality State. Colorado is most certainly a battleground state and it will be interesting to watch the results from our neighbor.

Poll results, asking who you would vote for if the election was held today:
Trauner 42% Lummis 42% Undecided 16%
Carter 34% Barasso 58% Undecided 8%
Rothfuss 35% Enzi 59% Undecided 6%
Obama 36% McCain 57% Other 4% Undecided 3%

Other stats are available in this brief from DailyKOS.

First Presidential Debate 2008

I eagerly awaited the debate last night, hoping that I would see Barack Obama trounce John McCain. I thought overall Obama did a very good job, but McCain did get in some good jabs. McCain likes to be snarky, and it seemed Obama had to take the defensive more often. The Washington Post stated that McCain twice called Obama's views "naive," called them "dangerous" four times, and seven times said Obama doesn't "understand." In reply, Obama said nine times that what his opponent claimed was "not true." Four more times he piped up to "correct" his opponent.

My ears tuned into how many foreign countries McCain has been to, and it's true, he has had plenty of time in office to travel the world twice over. I guess if we need to cut out the pork we could schedule a few less field trips? What really chaffes me is that if "foreign experience" is so tremendously important to John McCain, how on earth did he feel Sarah Palin would be ready to roll should she need to sit in the big seat? If you compare the two tickets, I feel far safer with Obama/Biden at the helm.

Barack has been accused of late of being to "cool", with newspeople saying he needs to show stronger emotion. I don't think I can agree with these opinions. I prefer to see Obama remain cool and collected. I don't think, and this has been mentioned before on the campaign trail, that appearing as an "angry black man" is going to score any points with a good deal of the population. I hate to mention race, but I would be naive myself to deny the type of comments I hear around Platte County on a regular basis. This county is full of people who won't give the man a chance because of the color of his skin. I think Barack needs to remain calm under pressure. This type of mature stature is an asset if we are to have dialogues with the leaders of foreign nations, both those who like us and those who don't.

Concerning the current economy crisis, I think Obama did a good job tying McCain to Bush, stating that eight years of bad policy is how we got into this mess. I am fearful of this bailout, but it seems it is going to happen. We're pretty much screwed either way this goes down. This whole issue is a pivotal point for our history books. I believe they're adding a chapter called "The Second Great Depression" as we speak. Obama made a good point that while McCain is railing against pork barrel spending (which has decreased over the past five years), we do have this occupation over in Iraq that is costing us billions every week.

In the sorting the fact from fiction department, both sides had misrepresentations. Rather than repeat the work of the pros, I'll simply point you to factcheck.org's summary of the debate.

The polls are showing Obama as winning, but admit the demographics watching the debate were slanting left. Most are saying it was a draw. I think, with foreign affairs being McCain's strong suit, Barack held his own. That's a good thing. Next week Joe Biden will have his chance to take on Sarah Palin. If she performs like she did when speaking to Katie Couric this week, I'm going to bring some popcorn to this comedy special.

Gary Trauner 3rd Ad 2008

Biden slams McCain’s response to fiscal crisis

Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden sharply attacked John McCain’s evolving response to the fiscal crisis that has bankrupted investment firms and forced millions of homeowners into foreclosure.

“Where was John a week ago, where was John a month ago? Where was John five years ago?” Biden said. “I’ll tell you where he was, he was bragging to the very Wall Street titans he now calls ‘merchants of greed,’ he was literally on Wall Street bragging to them that he was shredding the regulations that were tying them down." Full Story

Factcheck.org's Whoppers of 2008

Factcheck.org does an excellent job of sorting fact from fiction along the road to the White House. They just summarized the tales from the campaign trail and showed that both parties have perfected the art of distorting the truth. It's always good to have the actual facts before stepping into the voting booth, so I strongly recommend reading the whoppers uncovered thus far.

Lummis' Press Secretary Caught Calling Trauner

This is a good example of sneaky politics. The old "call-in-to-ask-a-question-to-your-opponent-and-pretend-you're-someone-else" trick. Well, Rachael Seidenschnur got busted and now she finds herself removed from the Lummis campaign. Serves her right. This just shows that Trauner is the right choice for Wyoming. No dirty politics. For more on Rachael AKA Sierra, check here.

First Presidential Debate of 2008

The first debate of the general election will be held on September 26th at 7:00 p.m. MST. Tune in to watch Barack debate John McCain about America's foreign policy and our role in the world.

This is a great opportunity to learn more about the issues. Watch the debate with friends and supporters, and talk about how you can get involved in this movement.

Go Barack!

Platte County Democrats Meet the Candidates

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Sunday October 12th is your chance to meet the candidates! Take the time to come meet the candidates running for legislature, including Gary Trauner, Nick Carter, Chris Rothfuss, Terry Jones, Joe Reichardt, and others.
When: Sun, Oct 12, 2pm – 4pm
Where: First State Bank Conference Center, Wheatland, WY

Platte County Gearing Up For Election

The plattecountywyoming.com website has the latest election news, including forms for absentee voting and voter registration. If you haven't registered yet, get going!! From the site, take a look at the 2008 General Electoin Ballot Proof. Not much going on with the Wheatland Town Council positions. Two candidates, two positions open. Hmmm. The County Commissioner race will be worth watching. There's one position available, with our Democrat incumbant Joe Reichardt and a Republican candidate Terry Stevenson both aiming for it. There's a couple of constitutional amendments and a taxation continuation on the ballot. Those always seem to catch people off guard. Terry Jones has been stumping (came to my house this week!) for the State District #3 House Rep position. He's up against Frank Peasley.

There's some good races. Be sure to visit with your candidates and give them your support!

Gary Trauner 2nd Commercial 2008