MEGAN LEE Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 12:00 am
Republican U.S. House candidate Cynthia Lummis said she regrets the word choice she used in calling Democratic opponent Gary Trauner, a native New Yorker who has lived in Wyoming for 18 years, an out-of-touch Easterner.
"I had made the point that the Democrat tax policy is geared toward cities and the Republican tax policy is geared toward Wyoming and rural areas," Lummis said. "Unfortunately, I made a broad statement in summation that does not reflect my views."
Shortly after winning the GOP primary last week, Lummis told The Associated Press that Trauner couldn't possibly identify with rural Wyomingites because of his upbringing in New York.
"It's very difficult for someone who was raised on the coasts, in dense urban areas, to transplant to a rural state and really have those rural values integrated fully into their psyche, into their soul," Lummis said on Election Night.
But in an interview with the Star-Tribune during an appearance in Casper over the weekend, Lummis backed away from the statement.
"The overly broad statement that I made that does not reflect my views unfortunately received high profile, whereas the more specific statements that I made and was trying to make did not," Lummis said. "I will be enormously more mindful of that as this campaign goes on."
Lummis' mother was born in Colorado, she said, and John Wold of Casper, who formerly served in Wyoming's U.S. House seat, was born in New York. U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, who stood alongside Lummis during the Republican "unity" speech Saturday in Casper, is from Reading, Pa.
Trauner had scoffed at his opponent's earlier remarks, saying, "That's what people talk about when they don't have anything positive to say. Talking about where you were born doesn't solve the pressing issues of today."
Amid speculation that the general election race between Lummis and Trauner may be particularly nasty, both candidates said they plan to focus on issues rather than negative campaigning.
"I think you just have to go back to the last race and look at how I conducted the last race and how my opponent did. The simple truth is we wouldn't go there," Trauner said of his 2006 race against Rep. Barbara Cubin. "We talked about issues. We're trying to do something different. I'm trying to convince people that it doesn't have to be the same old way. I believe the way people campaign is the way they're going to govern."
"I see this as an issue-oriented campaign," Lummis said. "I see this as an opportunity to flesh out the Republican values I have - of low taxes. Of balanced budgets. Of listening to our military leaders on the ground. Of securing our borders. Of defending our Second Amendment rights."
Lummis said she also hopes to defend the country's 10th Amendment rights, allowing state issues "that were never meant to be federal issues" to be decided by states.
In a phone interview, Trauner said he will concentrate on the nation's pressing issues, including the economic crisis and energy issues, which he called "Wyoming-specific."
"We're ground zero for not just current energy development, but future energy development as well," he said.
If elected, he will work to balance energy development with environmental issues, he said.
Contact reporter Megan Lee at (307) 266-0589 or megan.lee@trib.com.