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Wyoming, where Vice President Dick Cheney spoke today, has such a tiny population -- just over 500,000, ranking 50th -- that it's more like a small town, where people seem to know everyone else.
As Cheney spoke today, the speaker of the state house of representatives, Randall Luthi, stood behind him. But they were no strangers. When Cheney was a Wyoming congressman, Luthi was an intern on his Washington, D.C. staff.
When Luthi was first elected to the state legislature, in 1995, recounts showed him in a dead-even tie with his opponent. State law declared that such ties were to be broken by "casting lots." Since no one was quite certain what that meant, the tie was broken by having the two candidates draw straws from the cowboy hat of the governor -- live, on the "Today" show.
The legislature has become much more professional from the body it was when Cheney got his first taste of politics as an intern there. Its wild and woolly days lasted until the mid-1960s, when it acquired a full-time professional staff of lawyers to guide the citizen lawmakers. The days are long gone when legislators would stop the clocks in the house and senate chambers, so that last-minute bills could be passed before a session's time expired. During some of those all-nighters, lawmakers would stand around open punch bowls that were well fortified with strong drink. On at least one occasion, spirited legislators would pick up a stuffed buffalo that stood in the lobby of the state capitol, carry it outside, and take turns trying to "ride" it.
Cheney's speech today brought back memories for me. I spent hundreds of hours in the house chamber where he spoke, at a press table set aside for reporters. Overhead was a picture of my grandfather, Louis A. Williams, who served in the state house in the 1930s. Sitting in that area today was Governor David Freudenthal. I first encountered him on the state high school debate circuit. And Cheney paid tribute today to former U.S. Senator Cliff Hansen of Wyoming, who gave me my first job in Washington 30 years ago.
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End of the week in Torino
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