Come on Oklahomans

[HoneySuckle]

Don't be so negative.

Obama sign thefts called racism


By WORLD CAPITOL BUREAU
10/4/2008


OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Democratic Party Chairman Ivan Holmes said Friday that racism is a factor in the theft of signs for presidential candidate Barack Obama.

In yards displaying signs for Obama, Democratic Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Rice, only the Obama signs have been taken, he said.

During a press conference at party headquarters, Holmes held up an Obama sign that had been burned.

"I have not witnessed a lot of burned signs," he said.

The majority of Oklahomans do not condone racism, Holmes said, but "there is no question" it is the motivation for some to steal Obama signs.

He said the signs are being removed in all of the state's 77 counties.

Holmes said he is asking those displaying Obama signs to take them in at night in an effort to reduce the thefts.

Various groups have given out about 45,000 Obama signs, Holmes said.

Obama supporters are picking them up faster than they can be ordered, Holmes said. A significant number of those are replacing signs that have been taken, he said.

"I look for this to get worse as Obama continues to do well nationally," Holmes said.

[iplaw]

Are the signs black?  Are they in the shape of crosses?

[cannon_fodder]

Why is Obama wasting money in Oklahoma?

Is McCain waisting this much money in Massachusetts's?  

Not that I care, but it would see Oklahoma is a lost cause.

[HoneySuckle]

Why shouldn't we have signs in Tulsa?  Whether he loses here or not is irrelevant.  We ought to be taking part too!

[USRufnex]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

Why is Obama wasting money in Oklahoma?

Is McCain waisting this much money in Massachusetts's?  

Not that I care, but it would see Oklahoma is a lost cause.

I think this is all about supporting grassroots Obama supporters in Oklahoma and not necessarily the Obama campaign strategy.

http://ocolly.com/2008/09/26/presidential-campaigns-overlook-oklahoma/

Jed Green, state Democratic Party director for Obama, has a different perspective on the McCain campaign.

"McCain's camp isn't doing anything," he said.

He said the Democratic Party's primary goal is to work with existing volunteers to register voters. Green said Democrats "have not given up hope but [they] have an uphill climb."

"Obama is working a 50-state strategy," Green said. "The fact that we have an office here says something."

Green also said that his budget for the Obama campaign is comparable to a "well-funded state house race," but would not reveal the amount. Green said the party will use the money to provide literature and yard signs.  

----So, there's nothing substantial in the works for Oklahoma, other than the opening of the Obama office on the People's Republic of Cherry Street....

FYI, I've received emails encouraging me to volunteer to drive to Missouri and Indiana to help the Obama campaign.... here's one....

quote:Dear USRufnex (name changed to protect the innocent) [] --

Drive for Change to Missouri With less than 50 days to go before November 4th, Oklahomans have a major role to play as we gear up for Election Day.

Just last week, over 1,000 Obama supporters gathered at our new Tulsa office to kick off our general election campaign in Oklahoma.

But to win this November, we must continue building our organization across Oklahoma and keep bringing folks into our grassroots movement -- not just here, but all over the country.

That's why we need your help. As an Obama supporter in Oklahoma, you can have a huge impact by traveling to Missouri to talk with voters about why Barack Obama and Joe Biden will bring the change we need.

Our neighbors in Missouri are in an extremely tight and hard-fought race, and help from fired up Oklahomans could make the difference on Election day.

We are organizing special trips for Oklahomans to Missouri to grow our movement there. Will you join us on an upcoming weekend and take a short trip to Missouri to make a big difference for Barack?

John McCain has made it clear that he intends to continue George W. Bush's failed policies. Earlier this week, he repeated his belief that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong."

Here in Oklahoma, you have an important opportunity to persuade undecided voters -- not just at home, but in neighboring states like Missouri -- that Barack and Joe's plans will deliver the real change that our country desperately needs.

That's why we're going to be counting on supporters like you to take a leadership role and travel to Missouri to spread Barack's message of change.

Face-to-face contact with undecided voters is the single most effective way to grow this movement. No experience is required, and we will give you all the resources you need.

Sign up for a Drive for Change to Missouri, and make a short trip to make a big difference:

http://ok.barackobama.com/CometoMO

Thanks,

Jed

Jed Green
Oklahoma State Director
Obama for America

P.S. -- If you can't join us on to volunteer out-of-state, there is important work you can do to grow our movement in Oklahoma and help Barack succeed in November.

There are lots of donors to Obama in Oklahoma, including a certain "bundler" named George Kaiser who has expressed a keen interest in early childhood education.

[pmcalk]

The point of campaigning in Oklahoma is not to win OK--I am sure he won't win here.  But there are pockets that have strong democratic vote--like Tulsa.  By creating a strong organization in certain areas, Obama is helping out lower level candidates.

I have to say that the sign theft this time around is worse than I have ever seen.  And it is just Obama signs--not Rice, Oliver, etc....  People burning signs, tearing them into bits, spray painting over them.  Maybe it isn't racism, but I don't remember this happening with Kerry (though, I have to admit, I don't remember too many people having Kerry signs).

[USRufnex]

Well, I guess it ain't racism unless the signs "are black" or "in the shape of crosses."  [B)]  

I drove up to Chicago last week and the AM radio in southeast Missouri (like much of the country) is the domain of either evangelical religion, country music or Rush Limbaugh, who was doing his dead level best to instigate rightwing domestic terrorism by linking Barack Obama to Bill Ayers... he also decided to call longtime Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell a "wuss wimp columnist" and a "racist nutball."



When will the Daily Oklahoman or Tulsa World coverage include voices like Mary Mitchell's to go with their usual stable of conservatives?!?...

http://www.suntimes.com/news/mitchell/1213415,CST-NWS-mitch10.article

When you step on a pig's tail, it squeals. Rush Limbaugh is a squealer.

Because John McCain and Sarah Palin are losing ground in a contest that they thought was theirs.

And they are losing it to a black man.

Of course, Limbaugh won't say that. Instead, on Thursday he spent his time berating me for saying Palin needs to apologize for inciting crowds that hurled racial epithets at black members of the press.

I'm a "wuss, wimp columnist," Limbaugh says.

So why would a multimillion-dollar squealer use his air time on a "wuss and a wimp?"

The reason Limbaugh is squealing like the pig he is, is because he's the epitome of white privilege.

------------------------------------------------

He can't wrap his small mind around the fact that Barack Obama is kicking McCain's butt in the polls.

To make matters worse, how dare a black woman ask a white woman who is on the GOP ticket to apologize for the inappropriate behavior of her supporters?

------------------------------------------------

But just in case you don't recall who Limbaugh is, he's the fat guy who got hooked on painkillers and had to go to rehab -- sort of like my girl, Amy Winehouse.

As I noted in a column I wrote in 2003 (the real source of the squeals I'm now hearing, since Limbaugh didn't address a single issue I raised in the column he attacked), despite Limbaugh's drug addiction, he was still allowed to return to his popular radio show.

That, my friends, is white privilege.

Limbaugh likes to rant about the "liberal media." What does he call me, a "drive-by journalist?"

Well, maybe I should have driven by his studio in 2003 when he was using his hired help like a common drug mule, and broken that story.

Like most people who get drunk on white privilege, Limbaugh likes to project his bigotry on others.

So now I'm the racist, and he wants me to lose my job. Well, stand in line.

There are people ahead of you who can't stomach the idea that I can say Sarah Palin makes me sick.

She does.

The potential elevation of Palin into the second-highest position in the country shows that we have finally sunk as low as we can go.

------------------------------------------------

While conservatives like the squealer can't get enough of ridiculing black youth for honoring bling bling over intellect, what did they think McCain was doing when he tapped Palin for VP?

It didn't matter that she is probably the most inarticulate politician ever to step up to the microphone. She had the right amount of quirkiness and naughtiness to draw in the "American Idol" and reality TV crowd.

I get it.

But I have a voice, too. And all of Limbaugh's bluster and all the calls of his rabid followers won't be enough to silence me when bigoted bullies are running amuck.

Besides, I'm not running for VP. Limbaugh's sorry-donkey Palin is.

If Limbaugh wants to spend his time trying to bully me, as they say in my neighborhood, bring it.

[waterboy]

I like that Mary Mitchell!

Look, for anyone who thinks this race is no different than the rest, I have been planting Democrat's signs in my yard in Maple Ridge for 28 years. This year for the first time, signs in this area have been spray painted with Swastikas, stolen and ripped up. But the McCain signs seem undisturbed. His base is responding and its ugly.

Time for the Republican party to reform itself into something that doesn't resemble hooligans, fringers and Birchers.

[cannon_fodder]

/obligatory

[TheArtist]

I noticed some Obama signs were spray painted in my neighborhood too. Not going to say its racist, because I dont know, but its not right regardless.

[rwarn17588]

All the Obama signs I've seen in Red Fork have remained undisturbed. And I've seen more of them than McCain signs.

Of course, there is a tacit understanding in Red Fork that you run the risk of getting beaten up or worse if you try any tomfoolery on a person's private property.

[carltonplace]

Obama signs all over my neighborhood were torn up this weekend. [V]

[Hometown]

My Obama sign was stolen.  I'm putting the new ones in the windows.

[Conan71]

None of the Obama signs I've stolen or burned were spray-painted.

[mrburns918]

Bill Clinton stole my neighbor's Obama sign. He didn't touch my Bob Barr sign.

Mr. Burns