As candidates, we did something radical this last election. While campaigning, we made it a point to also listen to what voters had to say. Our group even invested in some polling to confirm what we were hearing in person. We got a very clear idea from Wyoming voters what was concerning them and what they wanted done.
What was so radical about that? For one thing, we are breaking from the time-honored tradition of running as conservatives and then voting as moderates once we’re here. Like President Donald Trump, we planned to state clearly what we wanted to do, then go do it.
Opinion
We identified five areas that voters told us mattered to them the most, then we helped craft legislation that would address those priorities. Then we came here to the session and did what we said we were going to do. From some people’s reactions, that is apparently not “the way it’s done” in Cheyenne.
President Trump’s election triumph was historic. He does not believe he was elected to a second term to maintain the status quo. In his campaign, he made it real clear what he was going to do, then this past week or so, has set about doing it like no one before.
In re-electing Trump, one thing voters rejected was continued reliance on the “expert” class, the so-called “people who know better.” Those experts took every wrong turn during the pandemic, have trapped our nation in endless foreign wars, created multiple systems of justice, flooded the borders, tried to kill fossil fuels, weaponized the courtroom against Trump and his supporters, and run up over $37 trillion in national debt.
We think the sweep of all seven swing states, the Electoral College, and the popular vote was solid confirmation that Trump was re-elected to undo everything done by the worst president in American history and his cronies of both parties.
Don’t forget, Wyoming was number one among 50 states in supporting President Trump in saving our nation. Wyomingites led the rejection of entrenched elitists, the “people who know better.” Wyoming voted for a Trump agenda of bold action and common sense.
But surprising as it may be, in both Washington and here in Wyoming, there are Republicans who evidently missed the memo. The McConnell/Cheney wing of DC Republicans is still somehow kicking. That wing may have a presence here, as well.
In an article about our “Five and Dime” action plan, Sen. Tara Nethercott, a charter member of “the people who know better,” had this to say about our first five bills: “I am concerned with the level of the freshman House members. Certainly learning that skill set takes a little bit of time, so since they’re new, maybe they haven’t developed the level of skill to amend bills to work through the way a more senior legislator would.”
We are sure that the voters who elected Trump and all of us conservatives to office will be comforted to know that Nethercott is there to condescendingly pump the brakes. Her comment was another way of patting us on the head and cooing, “Well, bless your hearts.”
But she hasn’t insulted only us — given the process we followed and the input we got from Wyoming voters, she has insulted everyone who voted for us. She is insulting you.
Several of us may be new to the Legislature, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been paying attention. Our five bills were sensibly considered and carefully based on voter input. That said, we are only one-third of the equation. We know perfectly well that, starting with the Senate, there is a lot to do before our voter-driven agenda becomes law.
We all know that the Senate can derail our efforts. They can “put it in the drawer” and not even give our bills a hearing. They can water them down to the point that they accomplish little or nothing. This is all in the playbook of those who run as conservatives and somehow get political amnesia when it comes time to legislate. You know, they become “the people who know better.”
And that is where voters re-enter the picture. Every voter who supported our election to the House also has a senator. Every one of those senators has an email address and a phone number, as does the governor. We have done what we said we would do, now it is time for the people of Wyoming to step up and make themselves heard.
Sincerely, Representatives Nina Webber (HD 24), Joel Guggenmos (HD 55), Darin McCann (HD 48), Marlene Brady (HD 60), and Joe Webb (HD 19).
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