The Peasants Have Caught On
A terrible thing has happened in Wyoming politics. The peasants have become politically aware. They are asking questions, reading bills, showing up to vote, and, most offensive of all, refusing to let the Wyoming gentry manage the state in peace. Naturally, Gail Symons is concerned.
In her latest civics sermon disguised as commentary, Gail seems deeply troubled that grassroots Republicans have been winning elections and upsetting the delicate ecosystem long maintained by Wyoming’s respectable class of insiders, appointees, board members, nonprofit darlings, chamber types, donor whisperers, and polished Republicans who always seem to think the public’s role is to clap politely and then go home.
But now the peasants are restless. And worse, they have noticed that many of the people lecturing them about conservatism are the very same people who helped build Wyoming’s current mess. That is awkward.
Gail’s Real Tell
For years, the Wyoming gentry sold themselves as the adults in the room - the practical ones, the serious ones, the ones who knew how government worked. And somehow, under their wise and civilized management, Wyoming ended up with the same tired insider networks, the same recycled power circles, and the same people protecting each other while telling the public to trust the process.
Then voters started firing some of them. And that, apparently, was very uncouth. Gail’s real tell comes when she gets to the part about voter registration and reminds people that unless they are strong Democrats in Teton or Albany County, registering Republican gives them the best chance to influence who governs Wyoming.
She calls it math. Sure, it is math, but what the peasants have become is not stupid enough to miss the hustle. It is also the political equivalent of the manor house realizing the servants have started voting incorrectly and suggesting it may be time to import a few new villagers.
The message is not subtle: if Republican voters keep nominating the wrong Republicans, perhaps more non-Republicans should help correct the problem.
How very democratic.
How very civic-minded.
How very gentry.
Picture It
“Milord, the peasants are no longer buying the lectures.”
“God help us.”
“They seem to have noticed the same people always end up on the boards, in the nonprofits, around the donors, and near the levers of power.”
“Fetch Gail. Tell her to explain democracy again.”
That is what this really is: Not a defense of conservatism, not a lesson in civic virtue, and not a concern for the health of the republic. It is establishment panic with a panache for bending the rules.
The Manor Is Shaking
What seems to bother the Wyoming gentry is not that grassroots Republicans are too loud or too sharp-edged. It is that they are getting close enough to power to start pulling back the curtains. And once the peasants start peeking around the manor, they may begin to notice how much of Wyoming has been run like a private dinner party where the guest list never changes.
That is why the lectures keep coming from Gail and her ilk. The gentry are not upset because they were misunderstood, they are upset because the help has stopped being helpful. And now the peasants are not just storming the gate; they are running in the primary.
The Wyoming gentry had no problem with the system when it kept their people in charge, their friends on the boards, their allies in the nonprofits, and their preferred Republicans at the front of the line. Now the peasants have figured out the game, and suddenly Gail wants to call it civics. Sorry, Gail.
The voters see the hustle now, and the people the gentry used to look down on are fixing to take Wyoming back.