SCOTT SIMON, host;
In Wyoming, many people seem to anticipate Inauguration Day with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. Only 33 percent of the voters in that state voted for Barack Obama. No state voted less Democratic. But many people in Wyoming say they will give the new president the respect any president of the United States deserves. Wyoming Public Radio's Addie Goss reports.
Mr. DIETER STURM (Gun Shop Owner): Gentleman, can I help you?
ADDIE GOSS: Just days before the inauguration, the cash register is ringing at this gun shop in Laramie. Owner Dieter Sturm says sales are up 50 to 100 percent. People worry, he says, that Obama will ban certain semiautomatic weapons. Those are going especially fast.
Mr. STURM: He's been one of the best guns salesmen. Actually, he's been better than the Clintons were, and they were damn good.
GOSS: Sturm didn't vote for Obama. He questions the president-elect's patriotism and his stance on Iraq. But for now, Sturm says, the threat of a Democratic president is good for business. The picture is less cheery 50 miles down the road in Cheyenne, where the Wyoming legislature began work this week. Lawmakers here mingle in suits, boots and bolo ties. Many, like Republican Senator Curt Meier, are anxious about Obama.
Senator CURT MEIER (Republican, Wyoming): We know that we are going to get change. We just don't know what the change is going to be. And I think that brings both a sense of excitement, and both a sense of fear. Because the man is very capable in some areas, but I think that he's awfully green in the gills.
GOSS: Many lawmakers agree Wyoming has a lot at stake. The state's mineral royalties have already taken a hit with the economic downturn. Meier says Obama's push for alternative energy could be even more painful. But other Wyoming residents are eager for change, especially in Laramie, home of the University of Wyoming. At a coffee shop downtown, many people's eyes light up when they talk about Barack Obama.
Mr. MICHAEL YAKE (University of Wyoming): I feel very optimistic.
GOSS: That's university employee Michael Yake.
Mr. YAKE: I think he's got some really good environmental policies. Hopefully, that'll hold up, that won't - he won't get a lot of opposition from the Republicans in this state who want to drill and drill, and keep on drilling.
GOSS: Others are worried about Obama's stance on the environment. Across the interstate in West Laramie, four ranchers sit around the table at McDonald's. One of them is Tom Page, a dark-haired man with a silk handkerchief knotted around his neck.
Mr. TOM PAGE (Rancher): My wife had the comment. She said that Obama is going to be like Clinton on steroids. And the farming and ranching industry had a lot of trouble with Clinton.
GOSS: Page says his first concern is about endangered species protections. To liberals in Washington, he says, endangered species are an abstract, feel-good issue. But he says to Wyoming ranchers, some of those species, like gray wolves, are a real threat to their cattle and to their livelihoods.
Mr. PAGE: You know, if we would turn that wolf loose in Central Park or down there around the Lincoln Monument in Washington, D.C., they'd be screaming bloody murder about it real sudden.
GOSS: Across the table, rancher Scott Sims says he worries the Obama administration will raise the estate tax. He says that could make it tough or impossible for ranchers to pass their land down to their children.
Mr. SCOTT SIMS (Rancher): We don't need more government. We need less government. We don't need more taxes. We don't need the redistribution of wealth.
GOSS: The other men nod in agreement. University of Wyoming history professor Pete Simpson has seen the tides of Democratic and Republican administrations come and go. He says there's a mix of emotions in Wyoming when it's the Democrats' turn.
Professor PETE SIMPSON (History, University of Wyoming): Some anxiety, some hopefulness, some historical ennui. We're not too great on change in this state.
GOSS: Regardless, change is coming on January 20. And many here say, come Tuesday, they'll stand behind their new president. That's just the Wyoming way. For NPR News, I'm Addie Goss.