Oklahoma's next Governor

[Gaspar]

Keep in mind, it was an alleged affair.  The trooper she supposedly had the affair with denied it.  In all the articles, there was never a photo or phone recording (that I'm aware of) which proved this happened.  This was an allegation which came out during her divorce from her first husband.  How do we know for certain that Askins, Brogdon, and Edmondson have never cheated on their spouse?

I understand your point and Trogdor makes a decent point as well.  I think you'd be extremely hard-pressed to find any candidate who has never engaged in deception in their entire life.

I agree, there has to be some moral standards to hold our politicians up to, but As a nation based largely on Judeo-Christian traditions (trying carefully not to open a new can of worms) at what point though do we start holding others to a higher standard than God does (or ourselves) when it comes to forgiveness for past transgressions? Being a politician, with few rare exceptions, seems to require a certain level of conditional honestly with your constituency.

Point taken.

[RecycleMichael]

Keep in mind, it was an alleged affair.  The trooper she supposedly had the affair with denied it.  In all the articles, there was never a photo or phone recording (that I'm aware of) which proved this happened.  This was an allegation which came out during her divorce from her first husband.  How do we know for certain that Askins, Brogdon, and Edmondson have never cheated on their spouse?

I didn't say I held her affair against her. I wrote that some conservative republicans would not support her after the affair.

I hold marriage as a sacred matter, but understand that others, especially those going through a divorce, are of different mind. I would not hold anyone in a bad marriage and going through a divorce to a standard that would cause them to lose my vote.

But I also saw too much information from too many witnesses to say it was an alleged affair. It is also disturbing that she chose someone who worked for her. Having an affair with a neighbor or friend is different than sleeping with someone who you supervise.

[eDuece]

Last February, the local Tulsa Republican party had a rally attended by about 500 folks. They held a straw poll and Brogdon got 68% to Fallins 23 % of the votes. Unless a lot of rino Republicans check in for the primary, it looks to me like it's going to be Brogdon in a walk come July 27. If he's just as strong in Oklahoma City, where he has even more name recognition, he's probably our next governor.

[SXSW]

Last February, the local Tulsa Republican party had a rally attended by about 500 folks. They held a straw poll and Brogdon got 68% to Fallins 23 % of the votes. Unless a lot of rino Republicans check in for the primary, it looks to me like it's going to be Brogdon in a walk come July 27. If he's just as strong in Oklahoma City, where he has even more name recognition, he's probably our next governor.

I will consider moving to another state if that happens.

[Townsend]

Last February, the local Tulsa Republican party had a rally attended by about 500 folks. They held a straw poll and Brogdon got 68% to Fallins 23 % of the votes. Unless a lot of rino Republicans check in for the primary, it looks to me like it's going to be Brogdon in a walk come July 27. If he's just as strong in Oklahoma City, where he has even more name recognition, he's probably our next governor.

If the race for governor were held today, State Sen. Randy Brogdon would win the GOP primary in Tulsa, according to a straw poll taken at a gathering of staunch Republicans Saturday.

Brogdon, who attended the rally, got 68 percent of the vote, versus U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin, who drew only 23 percent in the straw poll.

He was there...of course he'd pull more votes...they were his minions.

Per Soonerpoll.com (trust it if you want) she leads him among OK GOP 68% to 16% as of last January.

Republican Primary
Poll Source Dates Administered Mary Fallin Randy Brogdon
SoonerPoll.com Jan. 2-5, 2010 68% 16%

[swake]

Last February, the local Tulsa Republican party had a rally attended by about 500 folks. They held a straw poll and Brogdon got 68% to Fallins 23 % of the votes. Unless a lot of rino Republicans check in for the primary, it looks to me like it's going to be Brogdon in a walk come July 27. If he's just as strong in Oklahoma City, where he has even more name recognition, he's probably our next governor.

Why would a state senator from Owasso have better name recognition in Oklahoma City than in Tulsa?

[Conan71]

Why would a state senator from Owasso have better name recognition in Oklahoma City than in Tulsa?

Because it suits his/her paradigm.

[Gaspar]

He was there...of course he'd pull more votes...they were his minions.

Per Soonerpoll.com (trust it if you want) she leads him among OK GOP 68% to 16% as of last January.

Yeah she was already campaigning at that point.  I went to a fundraiser dinner for another candidate and her people were handing out cards and courting support.  The fact that Brogdon got 16% with no wheels turning is pretty huge. 

As a result of the current political climate, a growing majority of Republicans are embracing a more conservative Libertarian agenda, and Brogdon offers a consistent message.  He should not have a difficult time picking up Fallon supporters based on the issues. 

It will come down to how well he gets the message out.  Fallon has s significant lead over him, and the other Democrat candidates according to the polls, but many of the Republicans I know, most of which were Fallon supporters are beginning to give him a good look.

When compared on issues alone, Randy Brogdon boasts a far more Libertarian agenda than any of the other candidates.

I don't think we can rely on poll data this early because the winds stirred up in Washington are really beginning to blow and there are storms in every state. It will certainly be an interesting race.

[shadows]

Governor Susan Salvage. 

[nathanm]

Values really do matter.  If you wish to serve your community, show it first in how your serve your family. 

Values do matter. It's too bad your yard stick isn't straight, or even a yard long.

I've known far too many businesspeople who engaged in such tomfoolery, but who still manage to be some of the most fair dealing people I know to fall for the mistake of presuming someone's personal indiscretions truly reflect their professional character. Religion, religious values, and sleeping around are orthogonal with what you're referring to as character.

[Gaspar]

. . .fair dealing people . . .

That's a good example.  We obviously admire different attributes, and that's fine. 

I don't seek fairness.  I tend to run from that concept. 

I like honest, trustworthy, dependable, reliable, and consistent.  These are the general character descriptors I look for.

Fair, just, equatable, and other descriptors that allude to a "balance" don't thrill me.  When you tell me a candidate is "very fair in his/her dealings" you are already qualifying the poor decisions of that individual and weighting them against the good decisions.

True, we all make mistakes, and should be forgiven for our lapses in judgment, but our track record in personal and public decision making forms the sum of our character and it cannot be ignored.

[nathanm]

That's a good example.  We obviously admire different attributes, and that's fine. 

I don't seek fairness.  I tend to run from that concept. 

I like honest, trustworthy, dependable, reliable, and consistent.  These are the general character descriptors I look for.

Fair, just, equatable, and other descriptors that allude to a "balance" don't thrill me.  When you tell me a candidate is "very fair in his/her dealings" you are already qualifying the poor decisions of that individual and weighting them against the good decisions.

True, we all make mistakes, and should be forgiven for our lapses in judgment, but our track record in personal and public decision making forms the sum of our character and it cannot be ignored.

How can one have honesty without fairness? To me, fairness and trustworthiness are inextricably linked. That you would characterize a fair deal as a poor decision is quite disturbing.

[heironymouspasparagus]

MichaelBates,
You weren't around in the late '50s, '60s, and '70s before they have tried to 'remake' their image.  They have traditionally been aligned as a 'talking head' mouthpiece of the Klan.  They talk about wanting to do the stuff that the Klan was the action group for.

Their's is a family value of hatred, bigotry, and...oh wait...the world already knows that.

[rwarn17588]

Any organization, such as the Birchers, that opposed civil rights legislation during the 1950s and '60s has a big credibility problem. The states' rights argument that it used was the same tack that Southern states used to keep black people under the thumb of whites.

The hands-off approach that the John Birch Society espoused helped the South maintain Jim Crow laws for more than 50 years. Just sitting back and waiting for things to change in that region was utterly futile.

If you had a segment of the population that was systematically violating the constitutional rights of minorities, the federal government had better intervene -- especially when those state and local governments refused to do so.

[YoungTulsan]

Times change.   I don't associate the Democrat party with being pro-segregation in schools.    Are Birchers actively campaigning to repeal the Civil Rights movement?  Is someone thinking to themselves "By gawd I'm gonna join that there Birch society so we can get back our whites-only waterfountains once and fer' all!!"  I severely doubt it.

The Civil Rights movement is a done deal, it is not an issue for debate.  Anyone bigoted enough to actually still be wishing for things to return to the way they were 60 years ago is likely to die of old age in the not too distant future.  The only time the Civil Rights movement is presented as a present day issue to political candidates would be instances like MSNBC trolling Rand Paul because they've figured out they might be able to nail him in a game of "gotcha" due to a principled stance against government intervention in private business that has nothing to do with bigotry or racially motivated reasoning.   Asking such questions today is as nonsensical as asking Mayoral Candidate Bartlett if it is a good idea to annex Red Fork into the City of Tulsa.

People interested in Brogdon are motivated by the desire to take back the powers the Federal Government has usurped, it isn't anything to do with race.  His main focal points are about fighting the overreach of government, stopping the erosion of our sovereignty, and getting back to adhering to the Constitution.  These are things that people who believe in them believe in passionately.  Take special notice that "bringing a return to Jim Crow laws" isn't one of the motivating factors here.

It all boils down to a vicious political trick to make people think the candidate should be ignored, ostracized, etc.