Tired of Joe the Plumber? Meet Bill the Rancher

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.

Comments

[Woodman72]

I was working on the ranch during the time that Bill Vance was working on the ranch. There is much more to the story than Bill posted in his letter. I have also worked for Ed Tinsley for over 20 years and I have always found him to be very fair and as hard a worker as anyone on the ranch. When a political writer gets the basic story, the facts are shaped in a way to give the point of view the political writer wants the story to read. I know Bill Vance to be a good man but in this case he was sucked in to the partisan politics that seems the norm today.

[Stoyver]

So your calling the cowboy a liar? And what of the pilot, a liar also?

[John Neffinger - Huffpost Blogger]

Woodman72,
You are right that I claim no special knowledge of the situation, and there are at least two sides to every story. That said, there is no question Bill stood fully behind every word in that letter. His feelings clearly predated this election, whatever political winds may be blowing.
I would also note that you apparently just recently created your "Woodman72" account, presumably to write this entry standing up for Ed. You are welcome to do that, of course. But unlike Bill, who put his name out there for anyone to contact him to talk about this, you chose to be known only as Woodman72. If you really want to engage him more credibly, you might want to take that same step, in some forum. Otherwise, readers may be left to suppose that you did not actually work with Bill as you say, and that you might actually just be Ed Tinsley typing away in his pajamas in his gated mansion outside the district he aims to represent.
Cheers.

[dadw5boys]

No Workmans Comp means he could have taken part of the ranch if he had wanted too.

[carrieanna]

The more I have been reading about some of these terrible politicians it makes me realize how much damage voter apathy can do. I hope more voters will start using online research to choose such important representatives. Interestingly enough, Wikipedia has been a good way to *begin* research for a simple breakdown on key issues for me this election.

I loved Wikipedia and Youtube before the election but I'm finding they are the path to a better democracy in the future. My local tv and newspaper have barely devoted any time to the elections and what little they do cover is only opinion, not a clear descriptive review of the candidates. And they wonder why viewership/readership is waning...

[ohioan73]

I once heard a quote in a late 90s teen movie: "...the cruel politics of high school...". Ironically, the name of the fictional high school was Ronald Reagan High.

I like this quote too:

"Whatever you do unto the least of My brothers and sisters, you do unto Me." Matthew 25:40

[demfriend]

It takes guts to stand up againest someone who you know for a fact will do damage to many instead of just the one, Bill. Bill is an example of a good and decent man who deserves so much better than he got from Ed Tinsley. My dad was a worker like Bill who got injured at work three days before my mother died. we had less than two weeks to clear out the house. So if you know anyone in Tinsley's district talk to them or write the papers in the area.

[elephty]

Ed Tinsley said,

“’I am not for Mount Taylor becoming a Traditional Cultural Property because it will tie up a lot of land, some of it private, and curtail a lot of good things from happening. We need to protect private property rights, not impair them.’”

The Navajo are only asking for an environmental impact study on underground drinking water supplies, groundwater withdrawals, and exploratory wells. The last time uranium mining took place on their land companies abandoned their responsibility to clean up over 1000 mines leaving the Navajo to suffer from the contamination of their land.

[elephty]

Ed Tinsley is another republican elitist who believes in a two-tier legal system. In a two-tier legal system there are the aristocrats and then everyone else. All the laws on the books apply to "everyone else," but the laws that the aristocrats respond to are arbitrarily chosen as long as they remain loyal to the Party. The last thing New Mexico needs is to send someone to Congress. who wants to be able to play the same games as his brethren in D.C.

How does a person with both a law degree and a degree in accounting forget to pay payroll taxes for seven quarters? Why did it take him so long to respond to the IRS? Why did he have to pay $65,000 in fines and penalties if he was completely innocent as he claims? He said that it was his manager at one of his K-Bob restaurants that was responsible. Well, if that was the case why isn't the manger in jail for tax fraud and why hasn't the manager been penalized and fined by the IRS?

Here is a man who lives on a 15,000 acre ranch who hates the idea of having to provide a living wage to employees. What is wrong with this picture? He seems as if he would be right at home with the other corrupt elected officials in D.C. Tinsley is the type of politician America needs to rid itself of, not reward with votes.

[pmprescott]

Since I'm in a different congressional district (and have already voted) all I can do is wish Teague well with the election. Southern NM is very heavy Republican and I hope this letter has good effect.

[cheeriogirl]

Does anyone have a link on how we can help out Harry Teague? Seems to me like Ed's campaign days should be numbered.

[elephty]

http://www.harryforcongress.com/

To help Harry Teague you can contribute, volunteer, write a letter to the editor, tell a friend. It may not seem like much, but it all helps when citizens want change. People have had it "up to here"
with this type of politician.

[elbzee]

Good for Bill.

[izAriver]

"[If this guy was a republican you would be saying "how do we know that this is the truth?"]"

Damn right. I live in New Mexico. Don't ever trust a republican.

[vegas9999]

If this guy was a republican you would be saying "how do we know that this is the truth?"

[BannedFromCommenting]

If who was a republican? The cowboy in the white hat? As I can clearly see he never gave his political affiliation.
He didnt like Ed the MAN, as he was a friend of his for years.

[nammy50]

Thanks for sharing Bill's story. It is both touching and telling.

Ed Tinsley sounds like he is cut from the same cloth as George W Bush.

[RumiSouth]

Who does not tip.