Why This Man Matters to Me - Part One:

noreply@blogger.com (Cache Creek) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:48:00 +0000

"The People have always been smart enough to understand that no outside force, save that which would literally wipe us from the map with untold megatonnage of nuclear weaponry, can ever undermine the basic fabric of our democracy and our social order. Only we can do that."

United States Senator Robert C. Byrd in his Letter to a New President

I always thought that I understood American politics. Hell, when I was eight years old, my hometown newspaper the Jackson Hole News ran a full page story entitled "Cache Creek for President" documenting my unusual knowledge of past American Presidents. I found that the line of the story reading, "Cache can recite the names of all forty two US Presidents from Washington to Clinton forward and back, a feat that may never be duplicated by any of his peers as long as they live", to be equally effective at momentarily boosting my ego, while at the same time completely damning me in the eyes of my fellow third grade classmates at Jackson Elementary School. This article actually lead to further enhancement of my historical knowledge because now that my former lunch companions viewed me as some sort of Grover Cleveland obsessed pariah, I was now able to spend my meal breaks in the school library reading biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and discussing elements of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society with the school librarians who were no doubt bemused by the tiny blond haired boy who frequently inquired if they were considering purchasing any biographies of James K. Polk.

As I grew older, I learned to balance my taste for history with a more healthy social life, but my interest in politics remained strong. I lived for elections, and I followed them with a passion. Whenever a politician made an appearance in Jackson Hole, I made sure that I was there to see them. Thanks in part to its small size, and the friendly nature of its people, Wyoming is one of the last states in America where you truly feel like you know everyone else and that they know you. By the time I finished high school in 2006, I had managed to meet our United States Senators Mike Enzi and the late Craig Thomas over ten times each. I had met our Governor Dave Freudenthal numerous times, and had even called his office and talked to him for half an hour about what factors I should consider when choosing an institution of higher learning. On Christmas Eve of 2005, I even saw Jackson Hole resident, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, shopping for a baby swing at K-Mart. I knew to look for him there when I saw Secret Service agents wearing brand new fly-fishing jackets standing outside the store's door. Apparently they thought the absurd outfits helped them blend in with the small town environment. I was at K-Mart trying to find some last minute deals on cheap scented candles to use as Christmas presents for my entire family. Why Dick Cheney was there, and why he was in the market for a baby swing still remains well beyond my comprehension. While this all may seem inconceivable to residents of more populated states where the concept of personal interaction with an elected official at a non-fundraising event is laughable, you have to understand that in Wyoming we all feel like we are a part of one big family, and we act like it. For better or worse, everyone knows exactly what everyone else is up to all the time. I appreciate the fact that this small town environment allowed me to experience politics on a first hand basis while at the same time forming some great friendships, but I would be lying if I didn't acknowledge that it is also a major reason why I decided to attend college on the east coast, and a factor in why I write this blog under an assumed name. After eighteen years of living in a town with all the privacy of a YMCA locker room, it is nice to be off on my own.

When I left high school I mistakenly thought that I understood American politics because while I had grown up in a wonderful part of America, I had not experienced all that the United States had to offer. During my time on the east coast, I have come to realize that there really are two Americas. Not two Americas in the John Edwards or Janet Cohen sense of the rich and the poor, or the privileged and the underprivileged. Rather two America’s exist that are so different even in the most miniscule threads of their fabric, that without a proper comprehension of both of them, you simply can’t understand this country, and the politics that shape it. While it sounds cliché to say that my time in college has altered my world view, it has done exactly that. It is not however, in the way that you would necessarily expect. In my upcoming weekly blogs, I will detail how my time studying business at an Ivy League School, and how my time working on Capitol Hill last summer has not only altered my view of life and American politics, but has impressed upon me the importance of the man who I believe is the most important man in American politics today. No, I am not referring to Barack Obama, a man who I believe has the potential to be a great president. The man who matters to me is United States Senator Robert C. Byrd.

Life in Two Americas

Why This Man Matters to Me - Part One: