Tired of Joe the Plumber? Meet Bill the Rancher

Bill the Rancher came back to Hobbs just for the night to share this letter.
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Last night I went to a junior college auditorium in Hobbs, New Mexico to watch the debate between the Congressional candidates here, Democrat Harry Teague and Republican Ed Tinsley. In the back of the hall stood a solitary figure, a stout man in cowboy boots and jeans and a white 10-gallon hat. He didn't say much, but he held a stack of letters and ambled around handing one to each person as they walked to their seats.

This is what his letter said:

Dear Editor,

Some people say that you find out who your true friends are during a time of misfortune. There was a man who I thought was a friend. I thought very highly of this man; my family and I even spent Thanksgiving with him and his family. I worked for this man for a number of years, managing his ranches.

But when I faced a serious injury that made me unable to work any longer at my full capacity, Ed Tinsley, who is now asking for your vote so he can go to Congress, showed me his true self.

Part of my compensation was living at a house at Tinsley's ranch in Capitan. Over the years I worked for him, I can say I got to know Ed really well.

In 2003, while working on his ranch, I suffered a back injury that required surgery. My surgery didn't go so well. The doctor told me that it would take more time to get to good health.

It was during this time that Ed Tinsley gave me the notice giving me 30 days to get off his property. This was my home, and when I was down on my luck after injuring myself while working for Ed, I hoped he would do what any decent person would do: show a little bit of compassion. But I guess that was just too much to ask from Ed Tinsley, you see he had done that before when his airplane pilot was killed in a car accident he kicked that guy's family off the ranch shortly after the funeral.

Ed Tinsley didn't have workers compensation available for those of us working at the ranch. The healthcare I had under Tinsley was one that I had to pay for.

Now this man is asking for our votes, so he can go to Congress and represent us. But the Ed Tinsley I got to know showed himself to be a deceitful person. He's been showing that same deceitful person to all of you and I bet you don't even know it.

He says he lives at the ranch in Capitan, but that house was built as a vacation house. I should know, because I helped build it.

I've never been one for politics, and Ed Tinsley is the only politician I've known on a personal level. Sometimes I think that if he treated me this way, how would he treat the rest of us in Southern New Mexico?

Based on what I know about the man, he'll pretend to be your friend as a candidate, and turn his back on you as a Congressman.

Bill Vance
Eunice, NM

Sometimes I wonder what kind of people these Republicans are. Not everyday Republican voters, who don't trust Democrats with national security, or feel strongly that abortion is murder. I'm talking about the ones who go to Washington and work hard every day to keep Americans from coming together and making our country better. Do they think they're doing the right thing, or do they just not care? I know many do think they're doing the right thing, standing up for their idea of American values. But some of them, I'm not so sure.

As it happens, Bill the Rancher is doing alright -- word is he moved away to Eunice, where he helps out in a welding shop and his wife runs a cafe. He hadn't seen Ed Tinsley in years, he came back to Hobbs just for the night to share his letter. Bill never sued Ed, never wanted a penny. He just wanted people to know what kind of man Ed was.

When the debate ended, Bill got up without a word and ambled out the back door. I watched him go, his big white hat fading into the night.

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