Energy-rich Wyoming friendly for GOP

MIDWEST, Wyo. -- When delegates to the Republican National Convention broke into chants of "drill, baby, drill," they could have found no more receptive audience than here in Wyoming's oil patch, where workers have been doing just that for 100 years.

"I was cheering right along with them," says oil service worker Tyson DeVeny, 26.

Like most of his colleagues, DeVeny says he will vote for Republican John McCain for president over Democrat Barack Obama, in large part because the Republican ticket is viewed as friendlier to the oil business.

"Being in the oil and gas industry, it pretty much makes my decision," says Zeb Lyon, 29, a hand at the big Salt Creek oil field here.

"This is our life: oil and gas and guns," says Curt Chapman, 36, a third-generation oil worker who says he doesn't know anyone who will vote for Obama.

With a population smaller than that of Washington, D.C., and three electoral votes, Wyoming is hardly a battleground in this presidential election. One of the reddest of states, it is a major energy producer and the home state of Vice President Cheney.

Yet 45 miles away in Casper, Wyoming's largest city and one of its most Republican areas, there are some who are disappointed with the Bush administration and unenthusiastic about McCain.

"McCain will win, but it will be a lot closer than people think," says Phil Roberts, history professor at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. "My suspicion is a lot of Wyoming Republicans will sit it out. There's not a lot of enthusiasm for voting for McCain."

Roberts says he sees Wyoming Republicans as mostly business-oriented rather than driven by ideology, social issues or other reasons. He calls them Romney-style Republicans, referring to former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Emily King, a curriculum administrator with the Natrona County schools, reflects that view. A life-long Republican, she voted twice for President Bush but says she regrets it.

"I am totally fed up with the Republicans right now," she says, taking a morning break at a Casper coffee shop. She cites her opposition to the war in Iraq and bewilderment at the financial crisis and Bush's proposals to deal with it.