Dave Freudenthal: Bad Democrat

When we first started this blog a few months back, we spent a good amount of time talking about Wyoming politics, an area I have found intriguing for some time. Today, I wanted to return to Wyoming in order to make an observation on current two-term Governor David Freudenthal.

Freudenthal, or Gov. Dave as he is known back home, is a guy who has really interested me. He scored an incredible victory when he was elected governor in 2002 at a time when George Bush and Dick Cheney were enormously popular nationwide, if to say nothing for in Wyoming, one of the reddest states in America. As we wrote a few months ago, Freudenthal's campaign and the map he used to win provide a great blueprint for future Wyoming Democrats running statewide, particularly Gary Trauner, who lost his 2006 House race by 1,012, and is running in a tight race against this year.

I have to be frank: while I like and respect Gov. Dave, he has done a piss-poor job in supporting Democrats in Wyoming, most notably Trauner. For the most part, during his tenure as governor, the ultra-popular Freudenthal has sat on his hands and barely raised a finger to strengthen the Wyoming Democratic Party.

While this issue remains well under the surface in national politics, it is well known in Wyoming. Indeed, while Freudenthal recently endorsed a small handful of state house candidates, he has yet to endorse Trauner with the election around three weeks away. And sometimes, it bubbles to the surface:

In April the governor endorsed Obama for president on grounds he could end the bitter partisanship in the nation's capital.

So far Freudenthal has not endorsed any Wyoming candidates."Governor Dave has never been terribly political," said Bill Luckett, executive director of the Wyoming Democratic Party.

"He could have helped the Democratic Party more if he wanted to."

To be a little fair, as that section notes, Freudenthal endorsed Senator Obama for President, and this week, he traveled to Pennsylvania to speak as a surrogate for Obama. Honestly, though, that means nothing. Sure, Freudenthal is being a good soldier and acting as a surrogate at a couple of events for Obama. So what? His value as a presidential surrogate in Pennsylvania is worthless. Furthemore, while I repect Freudenthal's motives and integrity, I would venture to guess that his work on behalf of Obama is not entirely selfless. Freudenthal's term ends in 2010, and he is barred from seeking a third term. A former United States Attorney under Bill Clinton, Freudenthal may well retire in 2011, but looking out for his future somewhere in an Obama administration is probably on his mind at least a little bit.

The fact is that yes, the power of a Democratic governor of Wyoming, even a governor who is very popular at home like Freudenthal, is extremely limited. Wyoming remains incredibly red, with both house of the legislature and both U.S. Senate seats very firmly in Republican hands. Even if Gov. Dave wanted to, he could not wave a magic wand and elect Democrats to top positions in Wyoming through just his high approval ratings. That being said, Freudenthal has done a terrible job in bolstering Democrats in Wyoming, both in the short term and in the long term.

In terms of the long term, Wyoming Democrats have remained perpetually frustrated that Freudenthal has been so uninteresting in building the state Democratic Party up. As a popular two-termer, if ever there was an opportunity for Wyoming's chief executive to wield influence and bolster the state party, the last few years have been the time. Yet, Freudenthal has done basically nothing on this score, and as a result, the Wyoming Democratic Party has not exactly grown while Freudenthal has flourished in office. I am no expert on the inner workings of Wyoming politics, but this is a fairly common complaint, as evidenced by the state party's public comment to a newspaper above.

In the short term too, Freudenthal has been most unhelpful. For one, Freudenthal seemingly refused to even consider running for United States Senate. Now, I readily admit that even though he is uber popular, he would have had a tough time getting elected in Wyoming. Wyoming readily elects Democrats to Cheyenne, but Wyomingites do not like to send Dems to Washington to represent the state. Wyoming has not sent a Democratic Senator to the Senate since Gale McGee was re-elected in 1972. Furthermore, Freudenthal simply might not want to live in Washington, D.C. Fair enough. Though, on the flip side, given the national environment, who does not think that Freudenthal would have had a chance in a race against either Mike Enzi or John Barrasso?

When given the choice to pick the late Sen. Craig Thomas' replacement, Freudenthal arguably picked the strongest Republican on the list of three candidates given to him by the state GOP from which Freudenthal was legally bound to pick Thomas' successor. In other words, Freudenthal picked the candidate, current Sen. John Barrasso, who would have been hardest to defeat. Any of the three -- or most any Republican nominee -- would be tough to beat in a Wyoming Senate race, but Freudenthal made it even harder for Chuck Schumer and the state party to recruit a good challenger when he picked the well known and popular Barrasso.

However, what is most galling about Freudenthal's behavior, at least in terms of its impact in the short term, is his treatment of Gary Trauner. In both of Trauner's runs for Congress -- in 2006 and this year -- Freudenthal has done basically nothing to help push Trauner over the top in races that are excruciatingly winnable for Democrats.

In 2006, Freudenthal waited until the very end of the campaign before endorsing Trauner. In the end, Trauner lost by less than one percent, or 1,012 votes. In a year when Freudenthal won an unprecedented 70 percent of the vote as a Democrat statewide, a little more help from the governor could well have pushed Trauner over the top and given Democrats their first Wyoming congressman since Teno Roncalio retired in 1978. This is not to blame Trauner's loss on Freudenthal, just to point out that he could have really helped and instead did very little for Trauner when he himself had no competitive race.

This year is even worse. As noted above, Freudenthal has not yet endorsed Trauner, and has given no indication that he will. And this cycle will be even tougher for Trauner to win: he is not again facing the unpopular Rep. Barbara Cubin who is retiring, but Cynthia Lummis who is a well known former state treasurer. Additionally, Freudenthal is not at the top of the ballot, but John McCain is, as are both U.S. Senate races, and Sens. Enzi and Barrasso will romp to victory over token opposition. All of this puts Trauner in a very, very tough spot to win.

Still, Trauner is the Democrats' best hope to win a House seat in Wyoming for some time. This is no small matter. Winning a seat in one of the very reddest districts in the entire country would be a huge victory for both Wyoming and national Democrats. To paraphrase Ron Burgandy, it would be a big deal. In Wyoming, Democrats have come painfully close to winning huge races, only to fall short. Whether it was Trauner's loss in 2006, or John Vinich's 1,322 vote loss to two-term U.S. Senator Malcolm Wallop in 1988. This race could well turn out very similarly.

And this is a race where Freudenthal, who is still very popular, could make a difference. The latest poll of the race had it tied up at 42-to-42 (though, to be fair, I think R2K undersampled Republicans, and Trauner is probably down a few points right now). This is winning territory for Trauner. That Freudenthal has done nothing to bolster his chances is both a shame and a terrible job by Gov. Dave. What is most puzzling is that Freudenthal has not gotten along with Lummis in the past, so it seemed initially logical that he would do more to bolster Trauner this year than he did in 2006.

A presidential contest may be much more important and sexy than a little House race, but it is Wyoming's at-large contest that is actually close, while Obama will get blown out in the Cowboy State. Freudenthal's surrogate help for Obama is meaningless. Freudenthal would show himself to be a real team player if he got off his duff and tried hard to elect Gary Trauner. Sadly, given that the election is 23 days away, I think it's probably too late.

If politics is a team sport, Dave Freudenthal has wasted his potential and rare capital for a Wyoming Democrat.