Call to Action

I was asked to give a short talk at the Wyoming Democrats Summer Picnic and State Central Committee Meeting on July 31st. My call to action was the following:

Hi! I am Ted Hanlon, a Precinct Committee Man in Laramie County. This evening, I will introduce myself, tell you why I am here, and talk about how we make a difference. I was born in Cheyenne and graduated Cheyenne East High School (go T-Birds!). My family still has a small working ranch about 45 miles south of where we are sitting now, on Six Mile Creek. My little sister still runs that little place, proving that she is both tougher and more romantic than me. So, after high school I got a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wyoming. I lived on the Willwood Road between Powell and Cody while I was working in the oil patch. Then, I went to work for a chemical plant outside of Cheyenne. I worked with UW to try to establish a cashmere goat industry in Wyoming. I installed small solar and wind power systems, and during that adventure, I wrote the net metering bill for Wyoming and convinced Representative McGraw to introduce it. It was so well received at the time that Rick Kaysen, who was with Cheyenne Light Fuel and Power then, testified for passage. So, you can imagine that I take it a bit personally when the legislature tries to overturn the law every session.
For the last fifteen years I have been an engineering and technical training consultant based in Cheyenne. So, you might wonder why an old dude who has been around so long has not been involved in Democratic politics before now. After all, my daughter, the indefatigable Lindsey Hanlon, was immersed in the cause long before me. You needed me in 2015, hell, you needed me in 1983 and I wasn’t there. So why now? Well, the answer to that query is rooted in that little ranch on Six Mile Creek: My mom and dad were bouncing down a little two-track checking on fences. I was three, so I don’t remember this, but I was standing on the seat between them. Car seats were a future innovation. Someone had left a gate open, and sixty head of Big Creek steers were munching on the un-grazed grass. The grass would have been devastated by morning. Mom, dad, and I got out of the truck and started to haze the steers toward the gate. They suddenly spooked and started running directly at me! Now, I don’t know what the generally accepted way to protect your toddler would be, but dad’s solution was to yell, “Turn ‘em Ted, turn ‘em!” So (I am told) I jumped up and down waving my little red cowboy hat and, by darn, I turned ‘em. The steers went back through the gate, and I wasn’t trampled like a bug! Then I grew up and got busy with life and forgot that it was my responsibility to take care of the pasture. And a bunch of mean-spirited and small-minded politicians have stampeded through for years to destroy our little state of Wyoming. Dad is looking down hollerin’, “Turn ‘em Ted, turn ‘em!” So here I am.
But what good will that do? Republicans outnumber us by at least 4 to 1. What are the odds that I can help you make a difference? What are the odds that we can do anything to save Wyoming? I don’t know. But I am pretty sure they are better than the odds a three-year-old would have against sixty head of steers! Therefore, I think it is worth considering a couple of factors that tipped the odds in the three-year-old’s favor: Confidence and Urgency. My dad always had absolute confidence in me, which made me able to stare down the steers. The circumstances were clearly urgent. There were only two outcomes: I would turn the steers, or I would end up a grease spot on the prairie! Let’s talk about confidence, first. Unfortunately, Dad isn’t here to stand behind us. We are on our own to improve our confidence before we get thoroughly run over. “Fake it until ya make it” has been proven to work: If you conduct yourself as if you are confident, your confidence improves. I would also like to mention that time spent outdoors, exercise, and trying things that make you uncomfortable have all been proven to improve self-confidence. That sounds like an endorsement of door-to-door canvassing as a recipe for improving self-confidence, to me! When faced with a daunting new challenge like that, take the advice of my most perceptive and visionary advisor, Freddie Cabot: Just knock on one door tonight. It will get easier after that! Training is another proven way to improve self-confidence. Since training is the foundation of my consultancy, I have witnessed the improvement in confidence and competence that comes with good training. Training is a key for a small and shorthanded group like ours, because training is a force multiplier. The National Democratic Training Committee has put together on-line and Zoom-based training programs for precinct committee people, candidates, and those working on campaigns. The more we understand the nuts and bolts of reaching our goals, the more confident we will be. I have confidence in you. I know we can meet the challenges we face. I am sure you see, as I do, how urgent bringing a change to Wyoming politics is: The Republicans cannot fund state government. They take actions in every legislative session to accelerate climate change. Schools in small towns close every year and they may never be opened again. The gender pay gap in Wyoming is almost the worst in the country (thank goodness for Louisiana, or it would be the worst!) They have created a state that our children can’t live in, so our grandchildren are destined to grow up far away. If all of that isn’t enough urgency, more than 20,000 of our friends and neighbors don’t have health insurance because Republicans can’t even expand Medicaid. Turning the Republican stampede is absolutely a matter of life and death for them. So, we are working on our confidence, and we know it is urgent. Let’s make a plan to train and start knocking on doors as soon as we get home. As my friend Javier Arellano would say, “Start small, but start today!”