THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 215, September 29, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
WYOMING'S DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR RENOUNCES HIS PARTY
By Christopher G. Adamo
CURRENT & RECENT ANTICS AMONG WYOMING DEMOCRATS: A REFLECTION OF THE CHAOS & DIVISION WITHIN THE
DEMOCRATIC PARTY, U.S.A. -- THE TWO FACES THAT DEMOCRATS AROUND THE COUNTRY ATTEMPT TO PORTRAY TO THEIR
CONSTITUENCIES, ONE FACE REPRESENTING MODERATION & THE OTHER REPRESENTING FIRE-BREATHING LIBERALISM -- THE
DEMOCRATIC PARTY ELITES VERSUS THE IDEALISTIC DEMOCRATIC PARTY RADICALS
FULL STORY:
This past weekend, a gathering in Gillette, Wyoming, highlighted the present,
chaotic state of the Democratic Party. As Democrats around the country attempt
to portray two faces to their constituencies, one representing moderation,
and the other representing fire-breathing Liberalism, Wyoming Democratic Governor Dave
Freudenthal essentially renounced the basic philosophies of his party.
More stunning yet was that he did so in the presence of Democratic National
Committee Vice Chairman Mike Honda. Honda then faced the daunting task of
attempting to portray a bridge of commonality between Freudenthal’s
pragmatic candor and the image presented nationally by the Democrats.
In front of an audience of roughly seventy-five Wyoming Democrats,
Freudenthal blatantly distanced himself from Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean,
along with such fundamental party principles as gun control.
Honda, while desperately seeking to portray a facade of unity with the
Governor, was clearly shaken and tried repeatedly to emphasize the Governor’s
stance as being compatible with that of the Democratic Party.
Freudenthal’s words were certainly not the first occasion of such antics
among Democrats in the Cowboy State. Wyomingites still chuckle when
recalling the 1996 Senate Race, in which Democratic Party candidate Kathy Karpan
attempted to establish herself as a staunch protector of the Second
Amendment.
Having been haunted throughout that campaign by a picture of herself, on
stage with Bill and Hillary Clinton at the 1992 Democratic National Convention, Karpan
recognized the need to impress voters that she would support their right to
own firearms. So her campaign ran an ad in which she was portrayed on a duck
hunting expedition, complete with 12-gauge shotgun.
Unfortunately for her, it was quickly discovered that the ad was staged in a
Cheyenne city park where hunting of any kind was certainly prohibited.
Ultimately, Karpan’s deceit proved that she had even more in common with the
Clintons than previously known.
Freudenthal, ever the skilled politician, carefully avoided any similar
snare. Apparently not wanting any record of an alliance with John Kerry, he
invoked the standard excuse of “scheduling conflicts” as reason to forego
last year’s Democratic National Convention.
In Wyoming, a steadfastly “red” state, Freudenthal’s predicament is
glaringly obvious. It is also highly illustrative of the split occurring
nationally among Democrats.
On the one hand, the party’s elites regularly posture to the political Center in order
to win elections. But in recent years, an idealistic and radical element has
asserted itself. Blinded by an arrogant belief of their absolute moral and
intellectual superiority, the members this faction are convinced that they only need to
trumpet their countercultural and anti-American message with sufficient
volume, and the rest of the country will enthusiastically follow.
Though both factions -- the Democratic Party elites and the idealistic Democratic Party
radicals -- ultimately seek to advance the same agenda, they
disagree sharply on strategy. And, all too often, the Democratic Party’s career
politicians are caught in the middle. The September 24 anti-war,
anti-America rally in Washington D.C. provided yet more evidence.
Ostensibly a peace rally, it rapidly degenerated into a forum for every
extreme element of the counterculture. Predictably, “mainstream” Democrats,
such as Hillary Clinton, chose not to attend.
Such blatant exhibitions of Liberalism make it extremely difficult for
Democratic Party leaders to maintain a coherent and sellable message from a party
that increasingly forsakes the character and patriotism of Zell Miller,
replacing it with the rantings of Michael Moore and Howard Dean.
Dismayed though Honda may have been that Freudenthal would publicly disavow
Dean (his statements certainly will not play well at the national level),
the Governor was merely saying what Hillary Clinton and others were thinking as they
offered their own excuses (“scheduling conflicts,” don’t you know...) for
not attending the rally.
Consistently, Freudenthal seeks cover within the political framework of the
Republicans. So intimidated is he by the prospect of publicly opposing them
that, even on a topic in which such opposition would gain enthusiastic
support from Wyoming’s Conservative ranching community, he opts to remain
uninvolved.
In the September 19 issue of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup, Wyoming beef
producer J. Randall Stevenson excoriated Freudenthal for remaining neutral
(or, as Stevenson bluntly expresses it, “neutered”) in response to a United States Department of Agriculture
decision to open the nation’s borders to imported (and possibly tainted)
beef.
Yet despite such posturing, Governor Freudenthal may continue to do well
politically. Ironically, this is due in large part to Wyoming’s RINO
dominated state legislature, which, by its own rampant Liberalism, makes it
infuriatingly easy for Freudenthal to masquerade as a “moderate,” or even a
Conservative. So, he might sail through to reelection next year. Unless, of
course, he faces a challenge from a real Conservative.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics & Political Competition
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
Liberalism Versus Conservatism in American Politics
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, & Other Leftists
-------------------------
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY & POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES:
COMPETING SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
Conservatism
Traditional Conservatism: Questions & Answers
Conservatism: Attitudes, Types, & Present Status
Constitutional Conservatism: American & British
Liberalism
Classical Liberalism: Intellectual Foundations
Classical Liberalism: Conservative Liberalism
Manchester Liberalism & Social Darwinism
Modern Social "Liberalism": Statist "Liberalism"
Radical & Totalitarian Ideologies
Radicalism, Utopianism, & Totalitarianism
Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer who lives in southeastern Wyoming and works in the field of industrial instrumentation.
He is actively involved in Wyoming's political process, serving as a delegate to successive Wyoming State Republican Conventions
and as a member of the Wyoming State Republican Central Committee. He has assisted Republican candidates for local and state
legislatures and for the United States Congress. His articles, which appear regularly in The Progressive Conservative, U.S.A.,
and on a number of other websites, reflect a major concern with the damage being done to Conservatism and Conservative causes by
the Liberal Leftist faction in the Republican Party as well as by the much larger and more powerful Liberal Leftist faction in the
Democratic Party. During the early and middle 1990s, Adamo was Editor of the Wyoming Christian Coalition's official news organ,
The Wyoming Christian.
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