Why I am a Republican?

When a person contemplates running for political office, the biggest and most obvious question is what political party should that person run as.

My entire time in Wyoming (32 years) has been spent as a journalist who tried his best at being "apolitical" - that is, being an observer of the process, not a "participant."Thus, if someone wanted to examine my political career they would find little evidence of political participation. I have never ran for or held any political office or served on any kind of political committees.

Even my voter registration has been confusing, in that, I have been registered as Republican, Independent and Democrat. My recollection is that I needed to be a registered Democrat in order to be appointed to the Wyoming Travel Commission back in the late 1980s.I was even a registered Democrat as recently as last year - but I was never active in that party in any way.

So why am I NOW a Republican?

First of all, I am a big supporter of George W. Bush and our own Wyoming Vice President Dick Cheney.
Bush set an incredible positive tone while governor of Texas that can serve as a model for all states, including Wyoming.

Both Bush and I agree on the need to focus on the education of our children as our best chance for producing good citizens in the future.

Bush believes in bipartisanship - reaching across the aisle and developing consensus as a way to solve problems. He rarely presented himself as the man with all the answers. Instead, he hired smart people (from all backgrounds) and targeted problems and then worked for solutions. That is an identical approach to my way of handling business problems all these years. I would do the same thing in state government.

What I admire most about George W. Bush is that he works very hard at "identifying the target." Once problems are identified, he works with other people in trying to find solutions.

It's a great system! It is called a business approach.

There also is a four-part litmus test that usually applies to most Wyoming political candidates and I came down on the GOP side when all four were applied. Here they are:

1. Business. If you are a Democrat politician in Wyoming, you are expected to be opposed to the right to work philosophy. As a longtime employer and businessman in Wyoming, I am totally against the repeal of the right to work law.

2. Environment. Under former President Bill Clinton and his Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbit, the extreme wing of the environmental movement took over the national Democratic Party. I could never support these extreme approaches to how the environment is treated. My record speaks for itself. I support multiple use.

3. Smaller government. Generally speaking, the national Democrat philosophy seems to always call for more government regulation rather than less. As a longtime businessman, I resent that and am very comfortable with putting restraints on government so that business can do its work.

4. Pro life. My wife Nancy and I have been long-time members of the board of Catholic Social Services, the most prominent adoption agency in Wyoming. We are pro life. We believe in the slogan "Life - what a beautiful choice."

Sure, there are other big issues that separate Republicans and Democrats and Independents, but the most important four are the ones listed above. When I took that test, it was obvious, that at my core - I am a Republican. And I should run for political office as a Republican.

As a Wyoming businessperson, I resent government intrusion into business and I totally support as much local control over peoples' lives as possible.

As a longtime Wyoming editor, my record shows that I often endorsed more Republicans than Democrats during my long career in editorial writing.

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Authorized by William C. Sniffin
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Bill Sniffin for Governor - P.O. Box 900 ­ Lander, WY 82520 (307) 332-3111, ext. 17