Cowboy State Daily
With Trump Coming to Wyoming – Will This Be
The Biggest Political Crowd in State’s History?
Published
3 years agoon
By
News Release
Here he comes!
Is former President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to Wyoming going to generate the biggest political crowd in the state’s history?
Over 20,000 people are expected. The event will be held outside in the parking area, rather than inside, which has a limited capacity of 10,000. The rally is Saturday, May 28 in Casper at the Ford Center. With that size crowd, it will be the biggest political event in our state’s 132-year history.
Much to Republicans’ chagrin, up to now, the existing records for political turnouts in the state belong to Democrats.
On March 7, 2008, Barack Obama talked to a huge crowd at the Arena Auditorium in Laramie. I tried to find out how many people were there but could not. The place could hold 16,000 people back in those days. Since 2014, the reduced capacity is 11,600.
Incredibly, Obama left Wyoming and spoke to 84,000 people at Mile High Stadium in Denver at his next stop.
Former Sen. Al Simpson, former Gov. Mike Sullivan, and former UW History professor Phil Roberts all had trouble recalling if they had seen a crowd that large before in Wyoming.
The biggest events that I have seen were huge crowd in Casper for Sen. Ted Kennedy promoting Teno Roncalio in 1972. Roncalio was in the fight of his political life against Bill Kidd. Roncalio ultimately won that race.
I attended another huge Casper crowd supporting George W. Bush naming Wyoming’s Dick Cheney as his vice-presidential running mate. Coincidentally, I spent most of the time in the press area chatting with newsman Britt Hume, who loved coming to Wyoming.
Dick Cheney also hosted a big rally early in this century at the Casper Events Center that would have neared the 10,000 mark.
Perhaps the biggest rally up to now was on Sept. 25, 1963 at the fieldhouse in Laramie with President John F. Kennedy. The young president who barely had a month to live, talked about conservation to the crowd of 13,000.
Worland author and historian John Davis attended that Kennedy rally. He recalled how funny it was for Wyomingites to hear JFK tout the benefits of “soderash” to the chuckling crowd.
Jack Speight of Cheyenne was head of the Young Democrats for Kennedy in 1963 when JFK spoke at the old fieldhouse. It was a packed house celebrating Kennedy and Sen. Gale McGee. Speight later was chairman of the state Republican Party in 1973-74.
Jim Hicks of Buffalo was a cub reporter in Casper when he covered that 1958 AFL-CIO event which featured Kennedy. Hicks says he cannot recall how many people were there. “It definitely was a sell-out,” he said.
Prior to that, Hicks also attended a visit by President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s, but said it was a short stop-over.
Former Gov. Mike Sullivan recalled a crowd of about 5,000 that attended an event for President Bill Clinton during his “western swing.” It was at the Cheyenne airport.
“My recollection was Clinton’s appearance was a significant increase from the 40 who showed up when Kathy Karpan and I announced our support for Clinton about 6 months earlier!” Sullivan recalled.
Greybull native Diana Schutte Dowling says Trump’s upcoming visit reminds her of a 1954 event: “Big Horn County Republicans announced Vice-President Richard M. Nixon, would pass through Greybull at 8:45 Saturday morning Oct 23. Nixon would be traveling between appearances in Cody and Worland and had agreed to halt briefly at Greybull’s stoplight and wave to any well-wishers who might gather there. If that political gathering was the biggest in the history of Greybull no one reported it,” she said.
Wyoming Republican Party officials have spoken about this month’s Trump appearance in Wyoming since December, although the details have been slow to emerge. The time and exact venue were announced Monday by the former president. Trump has endorsed the campaign of Republican Harriet Hageman in her GOP primary race against U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat. “It will be a tremendous honor and incredibly exciting to have President Trump visit with us and it will no doubt be the largest political event in Wyoming history,” Hageman said in a prepared statement. “I am grateful for President Trump’s support in my campaign and I look forward to seeing him in Casper. According to an event listing on Trump’s website, people wishing to get tickets for the event may register by cell phone. Only two tickets will be given per cell phone. Doors for the event are scheduled to open at 11 a.m. and the rally is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
Fred Osborn
May 9, 2022 at 9:29 am
Perhaps he can preach to the jack rabbits in Bairoil…a very fitting place.
edward capp
May 9, 2022 at 4:29 pm
Oh Fred, I believe you live in the wrong part of the country. Are you a Wyoming transplant sent here to disrupt our wonderful, high freedom, low-tax, way of life?
Fred Osborn
May 9, 2022 at 5:33 pm
Nah…I’m an ex Whyomginite who saw the light and decided I would rather live than go down with the ship. Nice try though.
edward capp
May 10, 2022 at 8:35 am
Aaahh…yes, just like when a deer sees a headlight. Common sense and independent thought become absent. I understand you now.
CC
May 10, 2022 at 6:23 pm
I believe they are the ones driving the ship aren’t they Edward!? Fred will only see the light at the bottom of the ocean when they finish sinking the ship! 🤣Thank goodness he left Wyoming we don’t want him here!
mike duncan
May 11, 2022 at 8:56 am
Triggered!
Thomas Jones
May 9, 2022 at 9:32 am
Based on his previous events, I would say that this will be a record breaker.
michael McLaughlin
May 9, 2022 at 12:27 pm
just goes to show the power of TRUMP….. Look at how his endorsements are doing (55-0!!) Wyoming is TRUMP country, no doubt the record will be broken. Better get a ticket early…….
Rob Davidson
May 9, 2022 at 10:56 pm
The Wyoming Republican Party has surrendered its choice for its US House seat to Mar-a-Lago and would dispense with a primary if it could. Maybe some smart aleck can can ask the former President how much he knew about Wyoming disaster in oil exploration 2017-2019 while his Saudi friends flooded the market in crude, into the negative dollars per barrel, in a glut to secure their market share and destroy our shale production? Yes, he oversaw a boom in leasing every sagebrush plat at fire sale prices, but the doesn’t move the market to the pump or create jobs. What we are going to hear from him is bleats about his victim hood, outrage at his generals, and unrecognized genius.
Thomas Jones
May 10, 2022 at 9:09 am
At least Trump did not create a ministry of truth or an office for environmental justice. I dont recall him ‘enjoying’ a lunch with hard core segregationists as an elected official either. Your cognitively challenged president is destroying the US economy with his green agenda, and while the ruskies and china become the new super powers, the US will follow the road to Venezuela.
Merdoc mix
May 10, 2022 at 8:00 am
I can see the threat to democracy that trump and most of the republican party is!!
My vote will be for Cheney. thank God someone in the party see there is a problem.
Bob Ahrens
May 10, 2022 at 8:34 am
I’m disheartened by the numbers still drawn to the Trump cult.
Chenythehonestbroker
May 11, 2022 at 4:46 am
Shocking that the greatest liar and con man to ever hold the presidency has swindled so many minds. This man defies the honesty, hard work, get er done attitude that is our Cowboy State Way. Cult leaders have a way of mind control and this creature has mastered it!
sarah krall
May 11, 2022 at 6:21 am
Gick. I hope not. We should shun crooks and connivers. I’m so sorry some will welcome him. I’m dismayed my Wyoming Republican Party can’t see farther on down the road.