On Saturday's, among other things, I try to post stuff outdoorsy.
Ideally, try to go do something outdoorsy, but due to one thing or another, I don't always manage that. Anyhow, given that it is a Saturday, this story, which is just breaking, is sort of fitting.
Followers of the Trump Administration who really look at it, not just the superficial top of the news cycle stuff, tend to find that its difficult to reconcile the headlines with actions in any one area, and indeed, the Administration is quite balkanized in regard to anyone topic. Followers of the Supreme Court, for example, have to be impressed by the line of judges appointed by the Trump Administration even if they're in the camp that's shrill about the the appointments for ideological reasons. Indeed, overall the Administration has been amazingly efficient at appointing judges, and quality judges at that.
Businessmen I know have tended to be impressed by the roll back in regulations, something perhaps no other administration has been able to do to the same degree. Followers of Middle East diplomacy have been impressed by matters involving Israel while simultaneously baffled by the US's relationship with Russia and Turkey. Those following the pandemic have tended to be angered by the lack of a seeming theme to the national approach to that, something that the President is likely to pay for in November.
All this stands aside and apart from simply reacting to Trump and his statements, in any form, themselves.
One area in which conservationist could generally take heart is that his appointments in regard to public lands have been good. They've kept the lands in Federal hands, which means keeping them open to the public, something that has gone in opposition to the expressed desires of regional politicians even though it matters enormously to the region's residents.
And then there was the appointment of William Perry Pendley.
Pendley is a University of Wyoming College of Law graduate who has made a career that's been, in at least some instances, hostile to public lands agencies and who has associated with wanting them to be transferred to the states, something strongly opposed by the region's residents. When he was appointed regional residents concerned with this issue gasped.* Pendley insisted that as head of the agency he would represent the views of the Administration, which have not supported such a transfer, but area residents never felt easy about his appointment.
Apparently the Senate didn't either, probably reflecting the views of area residents as well as national views, as they didn't confirm Pendley. He remained in as a temporary head but this lead to a suit by Montana's Governor, Steve Bullock, a Democrat who is currently running for the Senate. Bullock is challenging incumbent Steve Daines. Even though outsiders frequently confuse Montana and Wyoming, their politics are radically different and the Democratic Party has remained viable in Montana, whereas its on life support in Wyoming.
Pendley's appointment was in fact hurting Daines who is struggling to retain his seat against Bullock, who started off the election season attempting to run for the Oval Office. Bullock's effort there fell flat, but it hasn't against Daines.
Montana's politics remain much more centrist than Wyoming's and may be described as center left, something that's been attributed to immigration into the state but which in fact has always characterized its politics. Montana sent Jeanette Ranking to the Senate twice, giving Montana the unique status of having the nation's only Senator to vote "No" to entering World War One and World War Two. Montana's rank and file out in the sticks voters tend to have the same "I don't care what you do as long as you leave me alone" view that Wyoming's native voters do as well, which actually favors the center left if the parties are listening, as long as those candidates are opposed to gun control. They also need to be strongly in favor of public lands. Outsiders describe Montana as "deep Red", but they're wrong.
Daines is in real trouble and has recently been attempting to boost his outdoor creds in legislation, but more than one Montana news outlet isn't buying it. Pendley's presence wasn't helping and back in August President Trump withdrew his nomination in an effort to help Daines get reelected.
And Cory Gardner.
Gardner is a Senator from Colorado who is in huge trouble. The one term Senator is behind former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper in the polls. Colorado hasn't been reliably Republican, in spite of what the press says, for a long time, and while there's a ways to go and the race is close, Gardner is likely to go down in defeat.
The Federal Court ruling last week that Pendley had to go, ousting him, gives Bullock a victory. So the irony is that while Trump moved to replace Pendley to help Gardner and Daines, it likely places Bullock a bit up in a race in which he very well might be part of a Democratic wave that flips the Senate and which Gardner appears likely to lose. Holding on to the public lands, in Federal hands, is a big deal in Montana, like Wyoming, and while Bullock holds center left views on many things, on the regional core issues, like gun control, he's right of center.
The Department of the Interior expressed "outrage" and promised to appeal immediately. Be that as it may, it appears Pendley's days are up and there's no earthly way that an appeals court will handle this by the election. Chances are it'll stay the order, but that can't be guaranteed.
And there's a lesson here even in Wyoming, where there's been no reversal of opinions on the administration. Pendley's appointment caused stress here among public lands users and it can't be said that the nomination was popular. The GOP has been slipping into internecine conflict in a way that's breaking open in the public, and the Democratic Party is fielding, for the first time in years, candidates for the Senate and House which, while they won't win, can't be simply dismissed. The Trump administration dropped the ball on this one by nominating Pendley in the first place as he could only engender animosity and those whose views he championed didn't need a champion in the first place. Indeed, their keeping views a bit quiet would have been a better approach. Failing to pick up that fumbled ball left it in play, and now the Democrats have successfully picked it up.
Not that the Administration can be fully blamed. Wyoming's senior political leadership at the national level has taken a position that's the opposite of the public's wishes here and an active element of the local GOP has as well. When this breaks out in the legislature it provokes massive reaction from locals, but at a national level, that probably wasn't obvious. It probably won't become obvious until local politicians start to pay the price. They already are, in fact, but it's not apparent for some reason. Hard right GOP candidates didn't win the state house in the 2018 Gubernatorial election here and concern over issues like this is part of the reason why. Now Daines and Gardner appear set to pay the price in November. Jason Chaffetz already paid the price in Utah, leaving office without running for election in 2018.
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*Pendley's also another strange example of the Boomers retention of power. He's currently 75 years old
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