CHEYENNE - On a final campaign blitz of the state, Mike Enzi could be compared to the cleanup hitter in a baseball game.

At stops along Interstate 25 on Thursday, Enzi followed fellow Republican candidates U.S. Sen. John Barrasso and U.S. House hopeful Cynthia Lummis in the campaign speech lineup.

Enzi, who is seeking his third term in the U.S. Senate, focused more on the qualifications of Barrasso and Lummis than his own on this day.

He pulled their collective message together with emphasis on the importance of their experience in the training ground of the Wyoming Legislature.

"I'm asking you once again to send a team to Washington," he said.

The unflappable Enzi , 64, holds a comfortable lead in the polls over his Democratic challenger, 36-year-old scientist Chris Rothfuss of Laramie.

During a community lunch at Vimbo's, Enzi said the meetings were like old home week to him.

"We get ideas here and take them back to Washington," he said before a friendly crowd of about 30 people.

Mary Ann Wilhelm of Wheatland said she came to see Enzi on her lunch hour.

"He's a great guy," she said.

Kelly Havely, a small business owner whose concern is illegal immigration, said he hadn't had much contact with Enzi before.

"He's been doing a pretty good job," he added.

Randy Stevenson, chairman of the Platte County Republicans, said he appreciates Enzi's philosophy on legislation.

He said Enzi told him he first looks at the issues, right or wrong.

"Then do right and don't worry about the other side, and don't give the opposition traction on an issue they can use later," Stevenson said.

"That's why he's so respected," he added.

Enzi told a small cluster of people at the Wheatland meeting how he got into politics.

Back when he was a Gillette small businessman, Enzi said he gave a speech in Cody on leadership.

U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson came up to him afterward and said he should demonstrate leadership by running for office.

Enzi did. He ran for mayor of Gillette on a planning platform and was elected at age 29.

He went on to serve in the Wyoming Senate and now the U.S. Senate, where he is the only accountant.

Like Simpson, Enzi believes all politics are local.

"I think it's more local in Wyoming," he said. "Anyone who says you can't fight city hall hasn't tried."

Barrasso went to the Senate 16 months ago after Gov. Dave Freudenthal appointed him to fill out the term of Craig Thomas, who died of leukemia.

"Senators told me, 'You stick with Mike Enzi. Mike is a workhorse for the state of Wyoming,'" Barrasso said.

Later Thursday afternoon, the team stopped for a rally at Laramie County Republican Party headquarters in downtown Cheyenne.

The offices were decorated in a Halloween theme with lighted jack-o-lanterns and orange-frosted cookies and cupcakes.

"You are participating in the most important election in the history of the United States," Enzi said to a group of about 50 people including local legislative candidates.

"I said that two years ago, too, because every one is important," he added.

This election is also historic, he noted, because it is the first time both Wyoming U.S. Senate seats and its single U.S. House seat are up for election at the same time.

Enzi and Barrasso both voted against the $700 billion bailout bill.

He and Barrasso received thousands of letters and phone calls commending them for"their "no" votes, Enzi said.

The Wyoming people, he said, did not want to reward the wayward companies that caused the current economic crisis.

"If we had more people who understand finance, we would have had more than 25 votes against it," he said.

He said that when the bill grew to 110 pages, the sponsors took it around the Senate to get votes by adding "pork" amendments.

They were trading votes, which is a felony in the Wyoming Legislature, Enzi said.

He also said Wyoming voters get a good deal with Barrasso and him in the Senate.

Barrasso is a morning person,"while Enzi is a night person.

"We give you coverage in Washington 23 hours a day," Enzi said.

Enzi said he likes to visit small businesses when he is home in Wyoming on weekends. Although the federal definition of a small business is one that employs fewer than 500 people, he said there aren't many that big in Wyoming.

The small business owner in this state "sweeps the floor, cleans the toilet and waits on customers although not in that order," Enzi said.

A bit later, while he was working the room and chatting with the people who came to the rally, a 17-year-old Cheyenne home-schooled student asked if Enzi would answer a question for a paper she was writing on economics.

"How do you think Socialism is affecting the current economy?" asked Ashley Vandeberghe, reading from a slip of paper.

"I see a drift that way that really worries me," Enzi said.

He mentioned the concern of "Joe the Plumber" about Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal to tax people with incomes of $250,000 or more.

He said he isn't concerned with how much money people make but what they do with it.

A businessman who earns more than $250,000 pays taxes on that amount, but must put a chunk of the money back into his or her business.

"I've done the math," he said.

Everybody who pays taxes will have a tax increase when current exemptions, such as the estate tax, expire, he added.

Contact capital bureau reporter Joan Barron at (307) 632-1244 or joan.barron@trib.com