Cheney withdrawal bad news for Mead

Although Liz Cheney left the senate race long before any meaningful poll could have predicted the outcome of her challenge to Mike Enzi, reactions among Wyoming Republicans to her decision to throw in the towel ranged from glee to relief. The one exception to the celebration may have been the reaction at the Governor’s residence.

Matt Mead did not win the 2010 GOP primary because he was the first choice of Republicans. He wasn’t. He won because several thousand Wyoming Democrats changed their party registration and crossed over to vote for him in order to prevent the nomination of former state representative Ron Micheli who was erroneously perceived as farther right than Mead. Estimates of the number of such crossover-voters range as high as 10,000.

Even so, 71% of those voting in the 2010 Republican primary favored a candidate other than the eventual governor. Though he spent nearly a million of his own dollars, Mead won by a single percentage point over the second place Rita Meyer, the former State Auditor. Mead wouldn’t have won in the absence of so many Democratic votes.

With the prospect of an Enzi-Cheney race for the US Senate, there was a strong likelihood that thousands of Democrats would once again crossover to prevent the spawn of Dick Cheney from being nominated. The opportunity to get some measure of revenge for Dick Cheney’s destructive vice-presidency would have proved too inviting. Undoubtedly Democrats would have relished an opportunity to visit the sins of the father on the daughter and her ill-advised candidacy.

Had Democrats crossed over to vote for Mike Enzi, they could have been expected, as long as they were on that side of the ballot, to also vote against tea party favorite Cindy Hill, thus saving Mead’s hide once again.

Poof! Just like that the motivation is gone. With Cheney off the 2014 ballot and Mead having proved to be no less far-right than the candidate feared by moderates in 2010, Democrats will be significantly more likely to focus on the way in which this governor has cow-towed to the right on Medicaid expansion, his alignment with ALEC, the extent to which he has protected the frackers from the fracked, and his otherwise nonexistent agenda. Democrats will be unlikely to save the GOP from itself this go-around.

The irony was not lost on anyone that Cheney pulled out of the race on the very same day the legislature opened hearings it hopes will persuade the public that all the money they have spent trying to discredit Mead’s opponent was actually worth it. As thin as the evidence appears, it’s easy to argue that this investigation was necessitated not so much by Hill’s wrongdoing as by the fact that she announced so early her intent to run against Mead.

The legislature’s leadership has been uncharacteristically ham-handed with the entire Cindy Hill controversy. They sought a partisan victory over the public interest, happily working for her election over Mike Massie, a far more qualified Democratic candidate. When she proved she wasn’t one of the GOBs (good old boys), the GOP quickly turned on her, accepting no responsibility for her election as they proved incapable of reasoning with her.

To compound the problem, they greatly underestimated Cindy Hill. Say what you will, she is one tough cookie. She has made mistakes. Talk of impeachment was designed to intimidate her. Have no doubt, the threat would have caused most politicians to question themselves and back off. She won’t be intimidated.

Cindy Hill is tougher than those with whom the good old boys are generally accustomed to dealing. She is tougher than those who are now going after her. She will survive to make their life very difficult during this primary campaign.

So in the end, the Wyoming Republican party will go into this campaign badly divided, with the establishment of the party giving good reason to the insurrectionists to work even harder, and with no hope that Democrats will again ride to the rescue.

“Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid.”

Before he became University of Wyoming president, Robert Sternberg wrote a book, the first paragraph of which reads, “The title of his book, ‘Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid,’ assumes smart people at least sometimes do stupid things.”

Sternberg’s book asserted “stupid” is simply “the opposite of smart” suggesting people can be “smart” in some parts of their life, while being “stupid” in other parts. He couldn’t have known as his book was published it would later be used to explain the UW board of trustees’ decision to appoint him president.

The book takes some of the sting from its application to the trustees’ decision saying the paradox is resolved by simply denying that smart people act stupidly if the issue is converted from “why smart people are sometimes stupid” to “why smart people are sometimes foolish.”

That distinction explains the decision legislators and the governor made to allow the trustees to conduct a secret hiring process for UW president. Smart people just acted foolishly.

And there are times when decisions that initially appear correct prove to be foolish. That explains the decision to hire Dr. Sternberg. In hindsight, the decision appears foolish. Had the trustees prolonged the agony, that would have been stupid.

Too often decision-makers have a hard time reversing themselves. Kudos go to the trustees for stepping up and taking responsibility for their mistake. This crisis was growing more and more harmful by the hour and the trustees did what they had to do in the best interests of UW and the state.

Smart people sometimes act foolishly but the smartest eventually get it right.

This wasn’t, as some suggested, a case of UW staff resisting necessary change. Change is inevitable whenever new leadership arrives at the helm of any large institution. An effective leader must have the skills to manage the change without destroying the morale of the institution. 

Complaints about Sternberg went beyond his inability to manage change. It’s understandable that a new leader would recruit his own team but when Sternberg denies firing those he asked to leave, he was dishonest. Dishonesty is intolerable and took the matter beyond whether or not their discharge was necessary.

Regardless, change never justifies creating a hostile work environment.  The trustees took those charges seriously as indeed they should have. Cindy Hill may face impeachment in significant part for allegations she created a hostile work environment.

Other concerns include enormous unbudgeted expenditures that some allege total more than 4 million dollars. Sternberg approved some expenditures. Others were necessitated by his discharge of high-ranking UW officials.

Testament to Dr. Sternberg’s astounding lack of basic social skills was an unfortunate incident during the Homecoming Dinner, which left even his supporters shaking their heads. Dr. Sternberg inexplicably insulted one of Wyoming’s most respected personalities.

Rita Meyer served as state auditor and came 700 votes short of becoming governor. She’s a combat veteran of Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom. Last month she received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University.

During the awards dinner Sternberg offhandedly described Rita as “twerking.” We were all introduced to that term when Miley Cyrus infamously demonstrated the dance, which was previously known only to those who hang out in strip clubs.  According to urbandictionary.com, it is “the act of shaking ones ‘buns’ in an up-and-down, side-to-side motion.”

Sternberg apologized without taking responsibility, claiming he didn’t know what the word meant. But Dr. Sternberg took it like a man. He blamed his speechwriter.

Rita graciously accepted his “apology” while expressing how “deeply embarrassed” she was by the untoward comment “not only for myself but, even more importantly, for the other award recipients, and for the families and friends in attendance at the ceremony.” She pleaded with Sternberg to “step up to the plate and be the president that we all thought the trustees had hired.” He was unable to do so.

Sternberg’s book is a reminder about, “Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid.” This sad episode will make decision-makers smarter.