Meet candidates at rally in City Park
A few weeks ago, we lamented what has often felt like an inertia in the political space – all bluff and bluster, but nothing material. It should come as no surprise that the youth of Park County – despite being the least likely demographic to read this paper or these editorials – saw fit to correct that by organizing this weekend’s gathering through Cody High School’s Youth for Justice group.
As billed, the day should offer voters the opportunity to have meaningful interactions with candidates running for a number of offices, from those who want to make a difference in our local community to statewide competitors on up to the federal level.
As of Wednesday at press time, we know that Eric Barlow, Sam Mead, Jimmy Skovgard, Brent Bien, Megan Degenfelder, Steve Harshman, Robert Short, Hans Odde, Anne Lawler, Terry Call, Barb Poley, Scott Steward, Tim Lasseter, Karin Richard, Lloyd Thiel, Duncan Bonine, R.J. Kost, Quintin Blair, Allen Hogg, Carrie Satterhite, Cathy Roes, Bryan McCarty, Kevin Christiensen and Lisa Kinney are all confirmed as attending or sending surrogates in their stead due to scheduling conflicts. We know, too, that Protect Wyoming and WY Vote will be there to talk to potential voters.
What a great achievement on the part of our local students to have done the hard work of reaching out to all these candidates to bring them to their community for not just a 30-minute photo op, but for multiple hours in one place. The time and effort that this took are commendable and our hats are off to the students and their advisor, Deb White, for supporting their vision.
We know, too, that there are candidates who did not respond to the invitation that Youth For Justice said they extended and it is disappointing to see that so many of them are our own local representatives, further perpetuating a pattern that voters themselves have said they’ve noticed during town halls and other events.
Politics is a service-oriented role. Choosing to ignore voters and their desire to converse time and time again goes against the very core of what a politician’s role can and should be. Perhaps, in a situation such as this, there is a lesson to be learned from the students.