Northern Wyoming Daily News
By Bob Vines, Managing Editor
September 27, 2006
FACE TO FACE CAMPAIGNING: Above, Gov. Dave Freudenthal shakes hands with first-grader Gavin Asay as his mother, Katy, watches. Below, the governor chit-chats with Worland resident Artis Averett. DAILY NEWS photos by Bob Vines
WORLAND — “Don’t eat the governor,” the Worland resident said as she opened her screen door with one hand and held onto her very large dog with the other.
Without hesitation, Governor Dave Freudenthal greeted the resident, and dog, with an introduction and a campaign pamphlet.
A few minutes earlier, Freudenthal’s daughter, Hillary, and campaign volunteer Cheri Shelp quickly put together a policy regarding houses with dogs in the front yard as they stared down a miniature Scottish terrier guarding a front door.
Dog policies are just one of the many items that need to be discussed during the first day of the door knocking portion of a gubernatorial race.
Freudenthal kicked off his door-to-door campaign in Worland Tuesday evening, making his rounds along Crest Way from 15th Street and down Yellowstone Ave before heading off to a reception at the home of his sister, Wanda Shelp.
About half of the residents were home, and most of the rest immediately recognize the governor.
“You look just like you do in your picture,” said one resident.
“That’s not good,” Freudenthal joked.
Some residents took advantage of the meeting to tell the governor that they thought he was doing a good job. Others simply accepted the literature with a smile.
Hillary Freudenthal said that this was the first day of door knocking for the campaign.
While her and her father were moving from door-to-door in Worland, First Lady Nancy Freudenthal and their other daughter, Katie, were doing the same in Rawlins.
This is also Hillary’s second campaign working for her father, “I try to keep him on schedule,” she laughed.
Freudenthal’s day began at 7 a.m. in Cheyenne. After stops in Casper and Lander, he held a town hall meeting at Yellowstone Drug in Shoshoni, where he admittedly talked too long, putting them a little behind schedule.
He said that campaigning as an incumbent is much different than the first campaign four years ago.
“It’s more difficult with the time constraints,” Freudenthal said. “Before, we could come in and spend a few days in Worland.”
He said his responsibilities as Governor makes it more difficult to get out and meet with voters this time around.
But, at least for the time being, he plans to take advantage of any spare half-hour to knock on some unsuspecting residents’ doors.
