Last month, Simpson unveiled a brand new Web site, www.simpsonforwyoming.com.
Other than the lack of the word 'governor' (it refers only to his title as Speaker of the House), it looks like nothing short of a snazzy gubernatorial campaign page. It's complete with a page to accept campaign contributions.
Further, when I signed up for email updates on Simpson's site a few weeks back, I got this seemingly unambiguous, automated message in return:
Thank you for joining my campaign to serve as a jobs-creating Governor for all Wyomingites.Doesn't sound like there's much left for Simpson to do other than make his bid official.
You can stay involved with my campaign on a daily basis by following me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/simpson4wyoming), and becoming a fan on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SimpsonForWyoming).
With your help, we will bring new jobs and opportunities to the Cowboy State
On Wednesday, the Associated Press noted that Simpson's gubernatorial exploratory committee was running no-new-tax ads on the conservative news site, The Drudge Report. (An example is
pictured at right.)On Thursday, Simpson sent out a press release re-stating his commitment to wait until "the conclusion of the upcoming Legislative Session" before announcing his intentions. (He's got 15 or so days to go.) In the release, Simpson stated that he takes his position as Speaker of the House "very seriously" and needs to put his focus there.
"I hired on for this job and I am committed to carrying out my responsibilities to Wyoming and its people," Simpson said.
In waiting to make his campaign official, he joins the announced GOP candidates who apparently decided to run well before they made the formal announcement.
Though former state agriculture director Ron Micheli didn't officially declare his candidacy until Jan. 26, his Web site, www.micheliforgovernor.com, launched early last summer. The domain name was registered back in March.
It looks like former U.S. Attorney Matt Mead (who declared on Jan. 22) started seriously mulling a run long before that. His campaign domain, www.meadforgovernor.com, was registered way back in December 2008.
State Auditor Rita Meyer's site, www.ritameyer.com, predates them all, having been registered in 2005. However, as her deputy campaign manager told me, that's because Meyer used the generic domain for her run for auditor in 2006 and simply re-tooled it for her run for the governorship.
Unsurprisingly, www.govcohee.com and www.three-denthal.com have yet to be registered.
Betting on whether Colin will run this year is mostly a no brainer. Only a family tragedy or massive scandal could derail that.
ReplyDeleteFor one thing, Colin has retained the same East Coast political PR-advertising firm that managed Republican Virginia Governor Bob MacDonnell's campaign last autumn . MacDonnell regained the Virginia throne for the GOP in something of an upset victory , largely due to his " image". Colin certainly has his work cut out for him with three other GOP brand name candidates squaring off. But this is not necessarily a Wyoming-only race. Regarding Colin's worthy opponents, none of THEM have the publicity powerhouse behind their campaign that Colin has for his ( non)campaign. Earnest money has already been applied. The Republican leadership REALLY wants this Governor's seat back, because the state lej is already fully co-opted and the GOP agenda will be well greased with a GOP governorship answering its dictums. . The national GOP shadow machine is therefore largely behind Colin's election--- He's been " blessed" ( annointed? ). On that basis alone, Colin is far and away the leader in the race before the starting gate even opens. The 3M's---Mead, Michali, and Meyer--- should be so lucky.