most of the people in Wyoming are more Jeffersonian, or classical, liberal who don't know they are really liberals. Libertarian is the more modern word. Most folks call it "live and let live". There was one state politician who opposed mandatory ultra sounds for women seeking an abortion because "it was big government", which it was. The bill died, and no big issue. She did catch a lot of flack later when she said something homophobic and introduced a bill to legalize horse meat. The latter pissed off everybody.
Since the most Democratic county happens to be where Cheney lives, and a lot of Hollywood types with trophy "ranches", we have hard time working against the guilt by association.
It also has to do with whose ox is getting gored. The BLM takes shit from the ranchers and environmentalists each claiming one the agency is in the pocket of the other depending on the issue. Nothing brings that out like wild horse population control. I live in the heart of that, and have friends and family on both sides.
But they agree on this much: Bundy and his band of mall ninjas are bad news for a number of reasons. First, Bundy wants the land to be privatized or at best state public land. Ranchers know the feds charge less than any of the states, or private land owners for that matter. Most of us think Bundy wants it all to be privatized, as in return to the days of the cattle baron, or make Wyoming and Idaho more like Texas, Maine, Florida, or New York. Obviously campers, bird watchers, hunters, etc. are not down with that idea.
As for return to cattle baron days, many ranchers has a homesteading ancestor who got lynched back in the bad old days.
then there are the various negative stereotypes.
here is a rough idea in words of my fellow Westerners
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