It's debatable

A date and time has finally been set for a debate at the Bear Trap Cafe and Bar in Riverside by owner Margaret Weber. Since originally being announced on Facebook and on page 5 of the May 23, 2018 edition of the Saratoga Sun (“Talk at the Trap”), the nature and format of the debate has changed, however.

“The focus is no longer like a head-to-head debate. It’s more of a ‘Hey, let’s get the word out to who these candidates are,’” said Weber.

Part of this can be chalked up to Weber’s inability to get in contact with Representative Liz Cheney (R - Wyoming) after countless emails. It wasn’t until recently that Weber had heard anything from Cheney’s office in regards to the debate.

“We (Weber and Republican candidate Rod Miller) finally set a date because we were running out of time. I reached out one more time. Within 20 minutes I got a response. My email was very pointed,” said Weber.

In the one and only reply Weber received from Cheney’s office, she was informed that Cheney would be unable to make the event due to being in session on July 10, the scheduled date for the debate.

“I fired an email right back saying ‘Ok, when is session over and when will she be available. I will change the date.’ I’ve not heard a peep since,” Weber said.

With Cheney unable to make it and providing no further response to the invite, Weber made the decision to expand the idea of the debate from one between Miller, Cheney and Democratic candidate Travis Helm to one that involved both national, state and local candidates.

“Every time I go to the ballots, I look at these names and I don’t know anything about any of these candidates unless they’ve been there before or they’ve been in the news,” said Weber. “It shouldn’t be picking who’s going to representing your town or your state the same way you pick your March Madness bracket. That’s not how you should pick the politicians.”

The first candidate Weber was in contact with, via a friend in Cody, was former state representative James Byrd who is running for Wyoming Secretary of State. Byrd, according to Weber, was very interested in the forum and signed on right away. After Byrd, the rest of the candidates currently slated to appear fell into line, according to Weber.

Those candidates include the already scheduled appearances of Miller and Helm as well as Byrd, but now include Democratic representative candidate Greg Hunter, District 47 representative Jerry Paxton (R - Encampment), District 47 representative candidate Julie McCallister, District 11 senator Larry Hicks and District 11 senate candidate Lee Ann Stephenson.

Invites are still out to one national senate candidate, and two gubernatorial candidates. Weber also encouraged area students to attend the event and engage in the civics process.

“I think it boils down to, especially in a state like ours, every vote does count. The more informed you are as a voter, the better off we are as a whole,” Weber said. “So coming to see something like this, and to see the interaction between the Republicans and the Democrats and the Independents and the citizens. Seeing that interaction will bring the realization of ‘Yeah, that person’s really right-wing and that person’s really left-wing, but they’re asking the same questions and they want to hear the same answers.’”

The forum begins at 5:30 p.m. on July 10 with a meet-and-greet of the candidates. The debate itself will begin at 6:30 p.m. The debate will also be live streamed on the Saratoga Sun Facebook page. If people do not want to ask questions in person or will not be able to attend the event, but still want to ask the question, those questions can be sent to [email protected] with the subject “Bear Trap Debate.”

“I think it will be a good time. I think it will be informative, I think it will be entertaining if nothing else,” said Weber.