The Committee Woman
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
By Richard Anderson
Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Like an iceberg, 90 percent of the political process in America is hidden from the average voter, submerged in a cold, murky and merciless sea. For most, that’s by choice. Others, like Jackson Hole resident Jan Larimer, dare to dive in and explore - they seek to understand that massive bulk underneath.
Since 1973, Larimer has been involved in Wyoming and national politics, first helping on statewide campaigns – “licking envelopes and stuffing envelopes,” she said – and later as a Republic National Committeewoman. Today she is Vice Chairman of the Western States, which consists of 15 states and several territories.
Larimer was born and raised in Ohio and attended school at Bowling Green. She taught high school in inner-city Cleveland, where she met her husband Jack, at the time a student at Case Western Reserve Medical School, now a retired radiologist, member of the St. John’s Medical Center Board of Trustees and chairman of the Jackson Hole Airport Board.
Larimer said she did not grow up in a politically active household, but only became involved after moving to Casper, where virtually all statewide candidates had their campaign headquarters.
“Coming from Ohio and always living in a bigger state, you didn’t know who your representatives were, your senators, or your governor,” she said. “You never had the chance to meet them. Here in Wyoming, you have a chance to make a difference and you have a chance to actually meet these people. It was hands-on. It was fun.”
She said she didn’t take politics that seriously at first, but in 1978, Wyoming had a gubernatorial election, a U.S. Senate election, which Al Simpson eventually won, and a U.S. House race, which Dick Cheney took.
“It was a very, very good year,” she said, the one when she first got to be friends with Cheney and when she realized that, in Wyoming at least, an average citizen could get to know the candidates, could get involved, could make a difference. Ten years later, she ran for National Committeewoman for the State of Wyoming and became a member of the Republican National Committee.
While many of us are tired of election season rhetoric and mud slinging, Larimer is hip deep in conferences and meetings, gearing up for the Republic National Convention in Minneapolis and dealing with the aftermath of the Wyoming Republican Party’s decision to thwart national committee rules and hold its primary on Jan. 5, a month before Iowa’s caucus and New Hampshire’s primary.
Still, she seemed perfectly relaxed when the Planet met with her Sunday afternoon at her Teton Village home.
•Planet Jackson Hole: I’m not even entirely sure what that means, being on the Republican National Committee.
Jan Larimer: On the Republican National Committee, there are three people from each state. There is the state chairman, the national committeeman and the national committeewoman. And those are representative of the 50 states plus our territories.
PJH: So, what are your responsibilities?
JL: We are the liaison between, in my case, the State of Wyoming and the Republican National Committee. And then I went on from there and I ran for vice chairman of the Republican National Committee. I represent the 15 Western states and territories on the executive committee of the RNC. …
PJH: Are there day-to-day, week-to-week duties, or is it just around political times?
JL: It’s around political times more or less, but, being on the executive committee, that’s where a lot of policy and decisions are made, so it does take some time. And it leads to other things. In 1999, I was asked the chair the site selection committee to chose a site for the Republican National Convention. I chaired that committee – we chose Philadelphia – and then I went on and co-chaired the Republican National Convention. I actually moved to Philadelphia for a good seven to nine months – commuted for a year and a half and then moved there full time to do the convention.
PJH: Can you give a little behind-the-scenes description of, first of all, choosing the site?
JL: We had seven cities that we looked at. Six of them were very serious. We went to all the cities and went back to four. At that time, it was prior to 9/11, and lots of cities were interested. … A National Convention is kind of like the Olympics where, when they’re going on, the whole world is watching. We ended up choosing Philadelphia for a lot of reasons, but part of it was because it was the turn of the century and [Philadelphia] was the birthplace of politics and lots of things for America … and it was a very good match.
It’s probably the most exciting thing I’ve ever done in politics, the most rewarding as well, if you like 18-hour days. And I have said before that the cherry on the frosting on the cake was, when we were in the middle of all of this, Dick Cheney was chosen to be the vice presidential candidate. It doesn’t get much better than that when you live in Jackson and it’s a hometown guy.
PJH: You’ve had a long and enduring relationship with Mr. Cheney, got to see him through quite a few stages in his career – ’78, when he was first elected –
JL: – and when he had his first heart attack … –
PJH: – and then after U.S. Representative, he became George Bush Sr.’s Secretary of Defense.
JL: Yes, and that’s when Craig Thomas [replaced him]. That was the first process I had been through like that, when we chose Craig Thomas. That was the state Republican Party that chose our candidate in the House race – that’s how it works – and we chose Craig Thomas, and he ran in a special election against John Vinich, and obviously he won.
PJH: So this last year’s process with Mr. Barrasso, you’re an old hand at that.
JL: It’s almost politics gone all the way around, because that’s how Craig Thomas was chosen and that’s how we chose Craig Thomas’s successor. So it was very bittersweet. Craig and I were very good friends. He was also from Casper, and we had a great relationship over the years. It was really hard to see it happen that way. But John Barrasso and I are also good friends. I ran his ’96 campaign when he lost in primary for U.S. Senate.
PJH: Tell me more about Sen. Thomas.
JL: He was a great representative for Wyoming. He cared about Wyoming. He was so proud of Wyoming and he worked so hard for Wyoming and he just cared about everything. He grew up in a one-room schoolhouse in Wapiti and never forgot his roots.
He came home every weekend. He always said he worked in Washington and lived in Wyoming, and he lived up to that. Susan and Craig were everywhere, doing everything … I remember one time he was here for some political meetings and he and his wife … decided they were going to climb the Grand, so they came by the house, borrowed some gear, and climbed the Grand. … Susan decided one time when they were here on a political visit that she wanted to do the paragliding off the mountain. So, I’m sitting on my back porch and over she came in a tandem paraglider. …
PJH: How is Susan doing?
JL: I think it’s really tough. Her life revolved around Craig and politics. She was a great partner in that. … I think she misses Craig like crazy. She’s not teaching, she sold the house in Washington and she’s back in Casper. There will be a lot of adjustments, but she still has so much to give and to offer Wyoming. We need to take advantage of that …
PJH: How about Dick Cheney – tell me more about your relationship with him.
JL: We go back to the days that I lived in Casper … . The headquarters for all of those campaigns was always in Casper, so they were around Casper more than they were anywhere else when they were doing their campaigning … . The kids were here, Liz and Mary – it was fun to watch them grow up – and it’s fun to see where Dick has gone, you know, from our Congressman to Secretary of Defense to Vice President. That’s pretty special for Wyoming … . That normally doesn’t happen.
And I think that Lynne has definitely found her niche. Her new book, which is “Blue Skies, No Fences,” was just released, and she launched it Friday and Saturday in Casper, as Casper College, and they did book signings. It’s absolutely delightful, because it’s about her growing up in Casper, and I know all those people and those alleys that she’s talking about, and that’s made it very, very fun for me. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed her research and her studying and learning about her Mormon family that came across as pioneers on a wagon train …
PJH: What’s one thing you can tell people … about [Dick Cheney] that maybe people don’t know about him, that makes him more of a real person?
JL: There are so many politicians that have a Washington persona and a home persona … . He doesn’t have that. He’s never changed. He’s the same person that I met in the ’70s that he is now. I think they’re really looking forward to January ’09 when they can be grandparents and they can be Wyoming citizens again and they can be themselves.
PJH: So, no more of the public life for Cheney?
JL: I don’t think so. I’d be very surprised. …
PJH: I remember reading someplace about how it’s amazing how important a role in national politics Wyoming has played over at least the 20th century, given how small our population is.
JL: I think that’s because we’ve sent some amazing people. They’ve always been in leadership or had leadership roles. They made Wyoming more important … . Al Simpson always said that all politics are local, and that politics are not a spectator sport, and that really sums up Wyoming politics. You can get involved, you can make a difference, and it’s a lot of fun. And between the Republicans and the Democrats, you know, everyone’s a friend in Wyoming, everyone knows everyone. It isn’t like you’re reading a name in a paper, it’s a person that you actually know that you can put with a face. …
Al always said if you wanted to get your head on right you just come back to Wyoming and walk the small streets and sat at a pot-bellied stove at some of these little crossroads, and told you exactly what they thought and it kept you grounded. That’s the beauty of Wyoming: Everybody does have an opinion and they are all willing to give it.
PJH: Going back a bit more to yourself and your position with the RNC … you suggested that it’s not necessarily a 40-hour-a-week, 50-weeks-a-year job, it kind of comes and goes.
JL: It definitely comes and goes, depending on what year and what election cycle it is. We’re embroiled in it right now because Wyoming Republicans have moved our primary up to Jan. 5, and so we will lose half our delegates to the national convention, half our guest passes.
PJH: Did you think that was a wise decision?
JL: It was a decision that was made by the committee. But because of that we are one of five states in the United States that is going to be penalized [along with Florida, South Carolina. Michigan and New Hampshire] … I think that the primary system is definitely broken. We felt that we were being lost in the shuffle and that if we didn’t try to give our voters in Wyoming a chance to meet these candidates, that we weren’t doing our job, and if we had not moved up to Jan. 5, they would not have had the presidential candidates in the state of Wyoming.
PJH: We’ve already seen the results of that, I guess.
JL: Yes, and tonight [Oct. 28] in Cheyenne, Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter are there, so candidates have been coming. They have been mailing, and calling our precinct people and our central committee members, and they are advertising… . I don’t know that we would have had that kind of attention had we not moved up to Jan. 5.
PJH: What really changes, though? We still only have the same three electoral votes.
JL: We are the first state in the West to choose delegates to the national convention. The candidates are interested in Wyoming because they can claim Wyoming as a win, just as they could Iowa or New Hampshire, on a smaller scale. We will be electing 12 delegates on that day – Jackson gets a delegate – and they are going to have to declare for whom they are going to vote. …
PJH: There are so many layers, so many steps we go through between the time we see someone on television saying he or she is running for president and the time they are elected, I think it’s probably very confusing to the average voter … .
JL: I think the other part of it is the cost nowadays. It’s just he who has the most money wins. That’s not what democracy is about. And it’s very difficult for a lot of these candidates that don’t have money to keep their message going until there’s a vote. They may be out of money before the first of January …. That’s all part of what I think is a broken system.
PJH: So, the process continues along on the state level until the national convention when the delegates vote and elect a candidate officially. … What’s your job at that point?
JL: … I am also a member of the Committee on Arrangements … which runs the National Convention. … I will go to Minnesota the first couple days in December and we will bring in the media, which is 4,500 strong, and do a walk-through with them, show them the convention floor, show them where their work space will be, that sort of thing. … It will be their first glimpse of our convention site and what Minneapolis and St. Paul have to offer, and it’s always a very exciting time.
PJH: I guess you have had a much closer and more intimate look at how the national media works than most people have as well.
JL: That’s been fascinating. My office in Philadelphia was right next to Mike Miller, who ran the media part for us, the media operations – and he’s running the media operations again in Minneapolis – and they would call him nonstop, because they wanted to have the best hotel room and they wanted the best this and that. …
PJH: It seems like politics simultaneously brings the best out in people – and in a population – also brings the worst out in them. …
JL: I think a lot of it in Wyoming is because people do have opinions and they’re not afraid to speak up. It gets real rough and raw sometimes, and I think people need to understand that these are public servants, that these are people who have probably given up, in many instances, high-paying jobs and high-paying professions in order to serve.
And they are serving and they’re doing the best they can, and I believe that we need to be looking for the good, not the bad. Democracy is a tough situation. … We do not run dictatorships and we allow people free speech and we just need to be more aware that the free speech ought to positive free speech and not always trying to tear somebody down and bash somebody. …
PJH: Do you ever get down on the system?
JL: Absolutely. You think I don’t want to do this any more – been there, done that, seen it all – and then you turn the corner and something great will happen and you go, “No, I want to do it one more time,” because … there’s an end of the rainbow out there and everybody wants it, and we want better days. I see better days coming for the Untied States, and we all want to be a part of it.
PJH: Do you have to be an optimist to be in politics?
JL: I think it helps. If you’re only going to see the negative side, then I don’t know that you ever see that there’s a bright side. That’s “gotcha” politics, if you’re not going to be an optimist.
PJH: Do people play that “gotcha” game … because they are in it for the wrong reasons or they are just pessimistic about it?
JL: I think it’s a combination of both. I think you do have people in it for the wrong reasons, and I do think if you’re passionate about your candidate sometimes you can get carried away and go overboard. And sometimes you just think it’s a whole rotten system – but it isn’t. Our forefathers were very smart in what they’ve done. We’ve been able to live under the Declaration of Independence and I think that it is the right way to go. … People are coming here because they want to live in America.
PJH: On the National Committee level, do you discuss platforms?
JL: We discuss roles more than anything else. The running of the Republican National Party is set from convention to convention, every four years. We live under the platforms and resolutions and rules that were set in 2004. That’s why Wyoming is in trouble, because we’re breaking the rules. In 2008 at the convention, they’ll be set again. …
But we also have another outlet in Wyoming, and that is we know our Senators, we know our Congresswoman. We can pick up the phone and call them and they talk to us, there’s constant communication with them. I just talked to John Barrasso. On Thursday, he introduced the Wyoming Range Bill. That’s what he’s out there to do. When we chose him, or when the Governor chose him from the three names we passed on … it was to fight for Wyoming, once again, in the Craig Thomas mode.
The Wild and Scenic [bill to protect the headwaters of the Snake River], he said they can’t get out of committee – they’re backed up 63 bills – so he can’t do anything about that until the log jam heals.
Do I personally think Congress is broken right now? Yeah, I do. I don’t see much action going on, much happening. And I think it’s very frustrating to our Senators and our Congressmen … and the rest of Wyoming.
PJH: Not to put you on the spot, but what’s the fix?
JL: As long as the country is almost evenly divided Republican and Democrat it’s going to stay broken. You have to have some kind of a majority that you can work with to get bills passed and to get things through Congress. You might be able to introduce a bill, but there’s enough in the minority side that you can always block a bill. For various political reasons or whatever else, it’s not happening. As long as we stay – I think it’s 51-49 right now, I’m not sure – nothing’s going to change.
PJH: I read recently a quote saying that you believe a Republican can win in the presidential election. … What do you think that’s going to take?
JL: I think it’s all up for grabs. I do not have a candidate that I’m supporting, I think that that has not shaken out yet. I’m hoping that when the process starts in January, Wyoming will have a say in who it will be, but I do not believe that this country is going to go one way or the other right now. Either party can win … . It depends who the candidates are. It depends if people turn out for the right reasons, or in some instances, they’ll turn out for the wrong reasons.
I do believe there will be a backlash if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee, that there will be people who will not vote for her. That might be the best turnout that the Republicans can get. Do I necessarily think that that’s positive? No. …
And do I know if Barbara Cubin is going to run again or not? No, I do not.
PJH: Being involved in politics for almost 35 years … what has changed?
JL: Things are meaner, they are nastier, they’re definitely more negative. Negative advertising has become the mode of how you get elected. And both parties, both sides, do it. With Campaign Finance Reform that was passed, I think it’s a horrible thing. Campaign Finance Reform weakened the Democratic and Republican parties and what you could do for your candidates, but it sprung up all these, I don’t know what they were – 501s, 507s, whatever they are – and very few of them are positive. … It shouldn’t be all about the money and it shouldn’t be all about “gotcha” politics. … They should be able to say what they’re running for, why they are running, how they are going to make a difference, and then that is what we should be voting on.
PJH: Instead of having to waste a lot of time defending themselves.
JL: With rumor and innuendo. And I think that the Internet has definitely contributed to that. It’s real easy to sit there and not be identified and spew forth whatever. …
Everything used to be done … by volunteers. Now it seems be it politics or nonprofits or whatever you have to pay more people to do it because we have less time. They’re more involved. And maybe they’re more knowledgeable about the world because of the Internet, because of the newspapers, because of television.
I don’t think that everything that’s changed is good, I don’t think that everything that has changed is bad, but I think we in politics need to change to keep up with everything, so that we understand better where the citizens not only of Wyoming but of the United States.
I also believe that as the Baby Boomers now get to age of retirement, that’s going to make a huge difference on the politics of the country. The aging population and their needs and wants are definitely going to affect politics in the future.
PJH: Anything closing thoughts?
JL: The reason I do this is because it’s enjoyable and it’s fun. I can’t imagine anyone taking on any project that they didn’t enjoy and they didn’t like. When it ceases to be fun, don’t do it, but it is still interesting and fun and you know you can make a difference. You wonder some days, but in the end you do make a difference. I think our country is still looking at the best days ahead of it.
Photo by DEREK DILUZIOJan LarimerPERMALINK:
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