7.2: doing my civic duty

Why I am voting today despite having spent the previous two months in Europe, completely oblivious to American politics: Barbara Cubin.

It goes without saying that she is conservative and known especially for her rabid opposition to abortion of any kind -- this is WYOMING we're talking about, what do you expect? -- but she is also known to do very strange things:

While serving in the Wyoming legislature, Cubin distributed Penis-Shaped Cookies(but did not, she insisted to Roll Call, bake) to several male colleagues.

If it weren't for everything else she's done, I might be able to forgive this. Sure, it sounds awful and sexist and always offends my feminist sensibilities, but maybe it was an inside joke between a few old friends? I have at least one friend who would gleefully do something along these lines, and if she did I know we would all be hilariously amused. But for an elected official it's pretty dodgy behaviour. The truly appalling part is that Wyomingites would keep reelecting a woman who is infamous statewide for penis cookies.

As if that weren't bad enough, she has made potentially racist comments, dissected here by Slate. Not that anyone in Wyoming seems to know about this. I hadn't heard of it until today, and I live in the one Democratic community, where all of my parents' friends love to hate B. Cubin. But it's bad, and it makes the penis cookies even worse, not to mention the slut comments, spanking threats, and claims that Republicans are "bending over and taking it from the Democrats" (from Wikipedia again).

Excitingly, this year it looks like there might actually be a chance that she'll lose the election. Apparently, her popularity in the state has dropped considerably ever since she told her opponent that only the fact that he is wheelchair-bound kept her from "slapping him across his face" (source).

I know that Wyoming's one seat in the House hardly makes a difference in the grand scheme, but I hate that our state is defined by Cubin, Cheney, and Matthew Shepard. Can't people at least remember that we've got Yellowstone National Park? And wild horses? And, um ... okay, I'm out of good Wyoming features, but the point still stands! She has been in office for most of my sentient life and I so want to see her gone before I move for good to the Bay Area or New York City or Berlin.