OCPAC e-mail

[charlie...@peoplepc.com]

Members and friends of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)

We meet for lunch every Wednesday, 12 noon at Italiano’s, 4801 North
Lincoln in OKC. Over the next 2 weeks we will invite the Republican
Senate Candidates who will take on a Democrat in the November
elections. Invited this week will be Patrick Miller, a Republican from
Snow Oklahoma who is running for the seat currently held by Senator
Jerry Ellis. Invited from Tecumseh will be Donald Rominger who is
challenging Senator Charlie Laster of Shawnee. Also invited will be
Gary Casey of Tulsa who is taking on Senator Tom Adelson, also of
Tulsa.

– OCPAC NOW HAS A BLOG SITE!
– AL GORE DESERVES AWARD, BOONE PICKENS’ IDEAS DESERVE ATTENTION.
– NEW NAME FOR THE SONICS NBA TEAM MISSES THE MARK
– HAS SENATOR COBURN BECOME A HYPOCRITE?
– WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT OCPAC

– OCPAC NOW HAS A BLOG SITE!
Anyone that knows me well understands that bringing me into the world
of technology is like dragging me up a sidewalk with two black heal
marks all the way behind me. However, this past Wednesday I met with
Randy and Sherri Allsbury so they could share some of their innovative
ideas with me. Among other things, springing out of the meeting, the
Allsburys have created a blog for OCPAC with the main purpose being to
make the OCPAC e-mail available to a much wider group of people than
currently receive the weekly e-mail.

We have a domain name which is www.ocpac.info and there is also
another address which is http://ocpacnews.blogspot.com. I am amazed at
how quickly they have put this together and developed links to other
organizations as well as web-sites for the candidates OCPAC has
endorsed. Also, we will have a poll question each week, so log on and
register your vote on the poll question. This week’s poll question is
about the primary direction we should take in the development of
energy to produce electricity. Should it be coal, natural gas, wind,
solar or nuclear?

– AL GORE DESERVES AWARD, BOONE PICKENS’ IDEAS DESERVE ATTENTION.
A few days ago Al Gore, exalted leader of the “earth in the lurch
crowd,” threw down the gauntlet and challenged America to switch to
alternative energy sources (primarily wind and solar) in 10 years and
to get completely off hydrocarbons for the production of electricity.
For that suggestion, I believe he deserves another Nobel Peace Prize
or perhaps the IDIOT OF THE YEAR AWARD. I consider both awards to be
much the same, the only difference is the Nobel Peace Prize comes with
some serious money. More on Gore’s lunatic idea in a minute.

On the other hand, if you have watched much TV or listened to radio
this past week you have probably been informed of some of the ideas
Boone Pickens has about an energy policy and the need to become
independent of imported foreign oil. He was also featured on a segment
of ABC’s Night Line program this past week. The basic gist of his
ideas are to generate our electricity from wind and then use natural
gas to power our vehicles.

I found the Night Line portrayal of a chummy relationship between
Boone Pickens and the head of the ultra liberal Sierra Club to be
unconvincing that somehow Pickens is now a dedicated and concerned
environmentalist. According to Night Line, Pickens owns one of the
world’s largest natural gas companies and he is currently building the
largest wind generation facility in the U.S. Looks like big money for
Pickens under the guise of environmentalism?

Somebody needs to tell the Sierra Club fellow that Pickens will still
have to “drill” to get the gas out of the ground. Truth is Pickens
stands to make tons of money off of gas and wind. I don’t have a
problem with that as he is going to be producing vitally needed power
from 2 different sources. However, there is one major problem with his
suggestion and that is the need for adequate “base load” generation
capacity. When the wind doesn’t blow, electricity can’t be produced.

Therefore, the utilities must have enough generation capacity to
produce sufficient electricity during peak demand from “RELIABLE”
power sources such as coal, gas or nuclear. I agree with Pickens that
rather than producing electricity with natural gas, that commodity
should be used to powers our vehicles which would then reduce the
demand for oil. That would only leave coal and nuclear as options for
electrical generation. While I favor both, the cost to build clean
burning coal fired facilities is much less up front money and those
generation plants can be built much quicker than a nuclear facility.

Picken’s ideas have some merit, Al Gore’s idea that we could
completely switch from hydro-carbons to wind generation comes from
someone who has a brain the size of a pin head. As I have said before,
the CO2 produced from burning hydro-carbons is actually good for plant
life and thus the environment. CO2 is not harmful and it is not a
cause of global warming, which doesn’t exist, which is also why Al
Gore is such a fraud.

– NEW NAME FOR THE SONICS NBA TEAM MISSES THE MARK
It appears the new name for the Sonics will be The Oklahoma City
THUNDER! While it will have a great ring in the arena, I just believe
it really misses the mark when it comes to representing the team.
During the recent euphoria over the deal reached by the owners of the
Sonics and the City of Seattle, it was stated that the owners were
looking at massive losses for the team to stay in Seattle but there
was a belief they could be profitable in OKC.

Therefore one must ask, how can you be profitable in a small market
city which will have some $10 seats in the nose bleed sections of the
Ford Center for “poor folks” and not be profitable in a city with 4
times the population base and a much higher average salary for its
residents who could well afford to pay more for tickets? I believe the
only answer is the super sweetheart deal the owners will get from the
city of OKC as well as state taxpayers.

I am speculating that the millionaire and billionaire owners went to
mayor Mick and the leadership in the legislature and told them what
they wanted in the form of subsidies to make their bringing the team
here such a sweetheart deal that they could make a profit off of their
hobby. While we still don’t know all the details about such a deal at
this time, another detail was unveiled this past week.

The Ford Center will be enlarged and re-modeled, at taxpayer expense,
partly to provide permanent corporate office space inside the facility
itself. An arrangement I believe to be quite unusual in and of itself.
However, since those offices won’t be ready for perhaps a couple of
years, the team owners are looking for top of the line office space in
downtown OKC to serve as temporary corporate headquarters. Nothing
unusual there, until we found out this past week that the city will
pay the rent for the temporary office space until the permanent space
is available. That’s right, the taxpayers will be paying for the first
class temporary office space rather than the owners.

Add that to the $20 million dollar practice facility that the city
will provide for the owners who, out of the goodness of their hearts,
are willing to pay $100,000 per year for using (at that low lease
rate, it will take OKC 200 years to recoup their investment) and you
begin to see the definition of a sweetheart deal.

On top of that, at the state level, all of the players, coaches and
office personal will pay income taxes into state coffers, just like
everyone else who pays Oklahoma state income taxes. However, the state
will then rebate back to the OWNERS 5.5% of their total payroll to
help out with their profit margin. Estimated to be about $4 million
per year at current salary levels. In addition, they will get that
corporate welfare (tax credit) for the next 15 years.

Put it all together and the name should be the Oklahoma City
SUBSIDIES, or the SWEETHEART DEALERS, or perhaps the OKC PROFITEERS.
The last one almost sounds like it would represent a bunch of
conniving, manipulating and thieving pirates. As time goes on I
believe we will find out more that adds up to an even greater
sweetheart deal. Don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to the team
coming to the city, for moral reasons I am opposed to all corporate
welfare, because by its very nature, it is nothing more than a re-
distribution of wealth scheme, a degree of socialist capitalism or in
other words, legalized plunder. Hey, another idea, the OKC
PLUNDERERS.

– HAS SENATOR COBURN BECOME A HYPOCRITE?
One can only imagine how disappointed I was to find out that Senator
Coburn voted to spend $50 billion American taxpayer dollars around the
world in a “global war on AIDS.” According to an editorial in today’s
(7.21.08) Oklahoman titled, Making a difference - Global AIDS program
is money well spent, the paper quoted Coburn as saying: “This is by
far the only true foreign policy program that’s working.”

What I want to know is, since when did the effectiveness of a global
welfare program become the validation for our involvement? Where is
all of his rhetoric about deficit spending and saddling our kids with
an unbearable debt load? Where do you get the constitutional authority
to spend that money all over the world Senator Coburn? What is the
difference in this and the earmarks (some of which are for proper
government functions) you are always telling everyone you are so
concerned about? Too bad he didn’t read or couldn’t understand the
little book we gave him about Davy Crockett, when Congressman Crockett
came to a realization that the taxpayer dollars he voted to spend in
situations such as this, really was not his money to give away in the
first place.

After the most recent change in congressional districts, I attended
the first town hall meeting in Guthrie held by Frank Lucas since Logan
County is now in his district. I had an opportunity to ask 2 questions
of the large audience before I asked the first question of Congressman
Lucas. First question to the audience: how many of you would like to
see your taxes raised so our government could send (then $15 billion)
to Africa to fight AIDS? Not a single hand went up. I then asked, how
many of you want to see the federal government borrow $15 billion and
saddle your children and grand children with more debt so we can send
$15 billion to Africa to fight AIDS? Again, not a hand went up. Of
course my final question was to Congressman Lucas as to why he had
voted to send $15 billion to Africa to fight AIDS, especially since
his constituents didn’t want him to do so?

At this point Congressman Lucas’ answer is irrelevant, but similar
questions should be directed to Senator Coburn like I have suggested
above. The Oklahoman, with its ever more liberal editorial page
suggested, “Bush deserves credit for a visionary idea, one where the
WEALTH OF AMERICA could be brought to bear on a global crisis.” Has
the editorial page at the Oklahoman gone nuts? Tell me what is
visionary about spending other peoples money?

And what do they mean by the Wealth of America? Someone needs to
inform them that with our nation debt now exceeding $9 TRILLION
dollars, we really aren’t wealthy any more. We just have a lot of
inflated paper currency floating around. The financial condition of
America is similar to a corporation that has filed for a chapter 11 re-
organization bankruptcy. The only difference is, in the corporate
world they only get to do that one time. With the federal government,
we just keep filing for a re-organization every time we raise the debt
ceiling and the debt load just keeps getting heavier and heavier.

If there is anyone out there who wants to have your taxes raised or
money borrowed to send $50 billion around the world for a so called
“effective program,” please send me an e-mail and let me know who you
are. But be warned, I will ask you how much of your own money you have
already or are willing to send on your own. I have already sent money
on my own to a ministry and I darn sure DO NOT want my tax dollars
going there, probably to be spent through some UN program.

– WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT OCPAC
With so many people on the OCPAC e-mail list I end up on a fair number
of e-mail forwarding lists. I was recently surprised and humbled to
have this e-mail forwarded to me. It says:

If you think who runs the state is important, and are looking for a
genuinely CONSERVATIVE organization, who are true stewards of any
contributions they receive, then you will want to support Candidates
through OCPAC.

They support only those candidates who actually VOTE the way they
campaign. Smaller government, no money to abortion providers, no
government facilities to abortion providers, a TRUE balanced budget
(unlike what was just passed in the OK legislature) Support 1804.

We have a great opportunity to replace “term limited” RINOs with the
real thing and Charlie Meadows is faithful to follow their daily
activities and hold them accountable. Freedom isn’t free, and it is
important that we give where our gift will give us LIBERTY - we feel
we get the most for our money by contributing and belonging to OCPAC.
Hope you will join us! Roland and B.J. Benbow (these folks are
from Tulsa)

Their opinions of OCPAC are at least our goals and what we strive to
accomplish. It is also my desire to earn that kind of respect from all
the folks who read the OCPAC e-mails. I would like to urge others who
have not joined as yet to do so now by becoming a member. The
instructions to join follow my sign off.

I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.

Charlie Meadows
charlie...@peoplepc.com


To join OCPAC fill out the following and send your check to:

OCPAC
P.O. Box 2021
Edmond, Ok 73083

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monthly
support, simply contact me and we will stop the withdrawal.

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[charlie...@peoplepc.com]

Charlie’s Picks - Republican Primary Election, 2008

Due to my political involvement over the years, many people have asked
my opinions about candidates or issues. As time went on the number of
people contacting me grew to such an extent that time no longer
permitted personal conversations. Therefore I created “Charlie’s
Picks” which are simply my opinions and not necessarily those of
OCPAC. I am often asked if these can be forwarded, by all means feel
free to do so.

Many of the candidates I have heard multiple times or perhaps I have
had conversations with them. If they have been interviewed by the
members of OCPAC, it will be the toughest, most intense grilling they
will undergo. I am looking for candidates based on some of the
following qualities. Do they appear to be articulate, passionate,
honest, do they believe moral absolutes still exist or do they believe
in situational ethics? Do they care about moral perspectives regarding
issues? Do they understand the philosophy of a republican form of
government, are they willing to adequately fund the proper functions
of government and get government out of the things the private sector
should be doing? As they do so, are they willing to reduce or
eliminate those taxes which hinder a vibrant economic atmosphere where
people have an equal opportunity to succeed?

Most candidates have some of these inclinations in varying degrees.
However, very few are rock solid on all issues. Some of the readers
may have done their own research, know things of which I am unaware
and disagree with me. That is fine, I simply hope this is helpful to
those who have not. If you would like to receive the weekly OCPAC e-
mail on a regular basis with my conservative commentary and insider
information about Oklahoma politics, government and the culture war,
please e-mail me at charlie...@peoplepc.com with your request.

U.S. Senate - Jim Inhofe: Though Senator Inhofe is not perfect he is
one of the best in all of Washington. None of the other 3 candidates
are viable and probably would lose to the Democrat, Andrew Rice in the
November election.

Corporation Commission - Dana Murhpy: By training and professional
experience at the commission, Dana is better qualified to serve in
this capacity. I believe Dana has a passion to serve and does not see
being elected to the commission as a stepping stone to higher office
as so many seem to try and do. I am not so sure about this when it
comes to Rob Johnson. One final issue, I believe Dana will not be
controlled by the people she will regulate, whether or not they
contribute to her. I think she has the character to stay independent
and be an advocate for the people like Bob Anthony, while still
wanting to see businesses prosper.

Tulsa County dist 2 Commission - Sally Bell: Bell is a die hard
conservative running to unseat a the liberal Republican Randy Miller.
The Bells as well as the citizens of Tulsa have suffered by Millers
vote to force their amusement park to close. The city of Tulsa has
also lost badly needed revenue as a result of such a poor decision.

Ok County dist 2 Commission - Brent Rinehart: This is a tough decision
for me as I usually shy away from a candidate with such a cloud of
legal problems surrounding them. However, I believe his political
enemies, (he has many) have exaggerated most of his problems and you
will never convince me the allegations against him (a small amount of
contributions of which he returned, much like Attorney General
Edmondson returned questionable contributions) have not been delayed
for over 4 years to harm him politically. Bottom line, besides the
power struggle over the budget board, Rinehart had done a good job
taking care of the needs and improving his district. I also believe it
is valuable to have at least one person in office who will not just go
along to get along. Someone to ask the tough questions. Based on his
performance as mayor of Bethany, J.D. Johnston should never hold
elected office again. I believe Brian Maughn sees this as his
opportunity to win an election. I like Brian, but I am concerned he
will try so hard to go along to get along, he may become a part of the
“court house maffia”. If you just cant vote for Rinehart, vote for
Maughn, not Johnston.

Canadian Co dist 2 Commission - Richard Engle: Besides being the loyal
and reliable Vice Chairman of OCPAC, since its beginning, Richard is
highly intelligent, hard working, and conservative. Several years ago
he was the conservative leader on the Bethany city counsel, where he
turned out to be the get it done without a tax increase man as well as
the watch dog for the citizens money. Canadian County is the fastest
growing county in Oklahoma. They really need an “out of the box” type
conservative leader on the Commission.

Ok County Clerk - Stan Inman: Stan was actually an excellent County
Commissioner, adept at administrative skills and he has great
instincts when it comes finding the truth of a matter, especially
beyond the superficial. Stan is another person who will not go along
to get along. The Court House gang (Maffia) has gathered around the
very liberal Carolynn Caudill to try and convince everyone she is a
“conservative.” Perhaps the most humorous is the 12 year old picture
and quote from former Governor, Frank Keating, the Republican spend,
borrow and spend some more Governor. Carolynn could really be in
trouble with Keating’s endorsement. By the time his 8 years in office
were up, Oklahomans so suffered from “Keating fatigue” that they have
elected John Sullivan over Kathy Keating, elected Brad Henry over
Steve Largent, elected Howard Barnett over his twin brother Dan
Keating and David Dank over his son Chip Keating. Caudell is such a
fine Republican that she has a Jim Roth (the liberal Democrat
homosexual) campaign sign in her yard.

State Senate # 27 - Your Choice: This is Owen Laughlin’s term-limited
seat which covers the panhandle down to Woodward. Neither Bryce
Marlatt or Kevin Evans showed up for the OCPAC interview process.
Sources tell me Marlatt is the choice of the establishment, so look
for him to win.

State Senate #35 - Jeff Applecamp: This Tulsa area seat belonged to
Jim Williams who is term-limited. Jeff’s survey and performance during
the OCPAC interview were very good. Many of the conservatives in Tulsa
including Senator Williamson are backing Gary Stanislawski. I believe
Gary has the right instincts, he just needs to fully develop his
conservative ideology. Most believe it is a 2 way race between
Stanislawski and the very liberal Cason Carter. If you can’t bring
yourself to voting for Applecamp, then by all means vote for
Stanislawski as Carter would rival Harry Coates for the RINO
(Republican In Name Only) award each year.

State Senate #37 - Dan Newberry: This Tulsa, Sand Springs area seat
currently held by the turn-coat Nancy Riley is one of the most
important senate races in the state. Dan is a serious Christian who
has been working toward this effort for well over a year. I have had a
couple of conversations with him and believe he has the ability to
take Riley out. If he wins he has been invited to appear next week at
our meeting, where our members can get to know him much better.

State Senate #45 - Kyle Loveless: This is the Southwest OKC to Mustang
seat held by the term-limited Kathleen Wilcoxson. Kyle won the
endorsement of OCPAC with a good appearance as a solid conservative.
He has been working for over a year and a recent voter ID poll has him
ahead of the former OKC Councilman Jerry Foshee by 4 points and he is
15 points ahead of Steve Russell. Unless something changes, it will be
a run-off between Kyle Loveless and Foshee.

State House #36 - Your Choice: This Pawhuska, Wynona, Hominy area seat
was open 2 years ago and the Republican nominee, Eddie Fields almost
won the general election. He came to the OCPAC interview but, like so
many rural Republicans, really lacked conservative instincts. However,
he would be far better than the incumbent Scott Bighorse, who is the
next to the most liberal Democrat in the House. Only the homosexual
Democrat Al McAffrey is more liberal.

State House #41 - Your Choice: John Enns is the incumbent in this seat
that reaches from Yukon to Enid. Enns has a 2 year average of a 70
which is acceptable. I don’t know anything about the candidates from
Kingfisher or Yukon, but this district voted very provincial 2 years
ago with the majority of people in the Enid area so look for Enns to
win again.

State House #45 - Aaron Stiles: This is the East Norman seat currently
held but the very liberal Democrat Wallace Collins. Stiles and Les
White are the 2 conservatives in the race and the city councilman
Hopper, and the former mayor Henderson are the 2 liberals in the race.
I think the world of Les White, but he got into the race late with
Styles way ahead of him in door knocking. Look for a run-off between
Stiles and Henderson.

State House #47 - John Paul Jordan: This is the seat formerly held by
Susan Winchester and runs from Chickasha up to Mustang. Mr. Jordan
received our endorsement over Jane McNeff, though he is fairly green.
The establishment candidate, Leslie Osborn didn’t attend so I don’t
know how conservative she is. Osborn may win this one without a run-
off.

State House #48 - Matt Cunningham: This is the Ardmore seat formerly
held by Greg Piatt. Sources tell me Mr. Cunningham is the conservative
in this race though I have not been able to make contact with either
of them. Ownbey is the establishment candidate. This will be a seat
that will be difficult to hold for the Republicans.

State House #53 - Randy Terrill: This South Moore and part of Norman
race is one of the top 5 most important primaries in the state.
Powerful special interest forces are spending huge sums of money to
defeat Terrill, mainly because he is so effective when it comes to the
illegal alien issue.

State House #54 - Paul Wesselhoft: This is the North Moore area.
Though Wesselhoft drives me crazy with some of his legislation (such
as extending the school year), when it comes to fiscal issues he is a
rock solid conservative. He has the second highest lifetime
conservative index score and is ranked 3rd most conservative out of 57
Republicans for this year’s rating.

State House #57 - Your Choice: This is the Weatherford - Clinton area
seat formerly held by Representative Covey. The eventual winner will
be eligible to appear before OCPAC.

State House #59 - Your Choice: This Kingfisher, through Hennessey seat
formerly held by Rob Johnson has 3 Republicans in the race. I just
don’t know anything about any of them.

State House #68 - Your Choice: This is the Tulsa area seat held by
Speaker Benge. While Benge is a social conservative, he is not a
fiscal policy conservative. If the young challenger Brian Jackson is
conservative on all issues, then by all means vote for him. There is
no Democrat in this race.

State House #74 - Robert Jerome: This is the Owasso area seat
currently held by David Derby. I like Derby, but his votes on the
subsidies for the Sonics, the bond issue and his lack of opposition to
the Tulsa River Tax have given valid issues to the more conservative
Jerome to take issue with the incumbent. Jerome was also endorsed by
the Tulsa area Republican Assembly.

State House #80 - Dr. Mike Ritze: This is the Broken Arrow seat
formerly held by Ron Peterson. Dr. Ritze is one of the most prepared
and conservative candidates we have ever seen at an OCPAC interview.
It is one of the top 5 most important primary races in the state with
Dr. Ritze being a bonafide conservative and his opponent being the
establishment’s last minute moderate candidate.

State House #87 - Andrew Winningham: This seat, formerly held by
Trebor Worthen, is centered around May, Portland and 50th street in
Northwest OKC. It is one of the 5 most important primary races in the
state. Winningham, while young, is a bonafide conservative. Mr. Nelson
may be a nice fellow but he perfectly fits the profile of a
“Republican Groupie.” Defined as someone interested in politics at an
early age but never develops a conservative ideology. Therefore, he
gets stars in his eyes when around Republican office holders and
powerful people. He is willing to labor to serve them but without a
conservative ideology he serves the moderate and liberal Republicans
such as Frank Keating, Bob Dole and Krik Humphreys, all the while
thinking they are conservative! Then he becomes a lobbyist for the
millionaire-billionaire owners of the Sonics to twist the arms of
lawmakers to give the team owners a $60 to $100 million subsidy over
the next 15 years. Now he wants to hold office, and surprise, Nelson
has received money from Sonics owner Clay Bennett. Maybe the thinking
is, if you can get your “puppet on a string” elected you won’t need to
spend so much on lobbyists in the future. In addition, Nelson has
received $2,500 from Tulsa’s liberal Republican Howard Barnett who,
until recently was on the board of directors of Planned Parenthood. He
has even received money from the lobbyist, Pat Hall, former head of
the Democrat party. The choice is clear, vote for Andrew Winningham,
not Jason Nelson

State House #91 - Mike Reynolds: This race in Southwest OKC is the
most important primary in the State. Mike Reynolds has done more to
clean up corruption and expose the powerful elites who try to control
and use government for their personal benefit than anyone else in the
state. Some of these powerful forces are behind Mr. Echols. I have had
several conversations with Mr. Echols and believe he is a bonafide
conservative. However, as I have expressed to him, can he be
independent of those powerful forces? The voters would be foolish to
take a chance on this race. Why replace the best lawmaker in the House
(voted 3 times as lawmaker of the year by OCPAC members) by a young
man that should run 6 years from now after Reynolds is term limited.

State House #96 - Mike Idleman: This was Lance Cargil’s seat which
runs from East Edmond through Harrah and parts of Choctaw. OCPAC
endorsed Idleman by the slim margin of 2 votes. Both of these
candidates need to develop their conservatism.

State House #98 - John Newhouse: This Broken Arrow seat is currently
held by John Trebilcock, who was arrested on a DUI within the past 2
years. Trebilcock is a moderate Republican who is problematic when it
comes to education reform. Newhouse is a conservative running for all
the right reasons.

While these opinions are mine and not necessarily those of OCPAC, if
you would like to receive the weekly OCPAC e-mail, notify me at
charlie...@peoplepc.com.

Charlie Meadows

[charlie...@peoplepc.com]

Members and friends of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)

We meet for lunch every Wednesday, 12 noon at Italiano’s, 4801 North

Lincoln in OKC. Invited to appear before OCPAC this Wednesday are the
3 remaining Republican candidates for the state senate who will face
off against Democrats in November. They are former OSU President James
Halligan who is running for the term limited seat of Mike Morgan.
Running for the seat currently held buy Richard Lerblance (D-
Hartshorne) is Kenny Sherrill of McAlister. Of all the Republicans
running against Democrat incumbents, this could be the sleeper race.
Mr. Sherrill is well known in the area and Lerblance is very liberal
and easily offends people. The final invitee will be the winner of the
Senate District 37 primary race in the Tulsa-Sand Springs area which
will probably be Dan Newberry. This is the seat currently held by
Nancy Riley, formerly a Republican who got her feeling hurt 2 years
ago because Republicans didn’t nominate her for their Lt. Governor
candidate. She got back at Republicans by switching parties. This seat
is priority number 1 for the Republican Senators in the State of
Oklahoma.

– A COUPLE OF POINTS ON THE OCPAC BLOG
– TUESDAY’S ELECTION, WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION?

– A COUPLE OF POINTS ON THE OCPAC BLOG
Log on to the OCPAC Blog, www.ocpac.info and find the link to the
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. They have a story on their e-mail
blast which is written by Dr. Walter E. Williams, the famed black
economist from George Mason University and frequent guest host for the
Rush Limbaugh show. Dr. Williams has written an article called,
OKLAHOMA REBELLION, featuring State Representative Charles Key (R-
Bethany-West OKC). This is a must read article about HJR 1089 authored
by Key and passed by the House this past session. Unfortunately it
languished in the Senate. Of course, if you are a subscriber to the
Tulsa Beacon, Oklahoma’s conservative weekly newspaper, you could read
it there as it is featured in the current edition.

The other item on the blog is the question of the week. What name
would you pick for the new NBA team coming to OKC? I have listed two
that were ideas of mine and two of those under serious consideration
by the team. Of the latter two, I don’t care for Thunder, but I think
Barons might just be reflective of the team’s owners. In Great Britain
the meaning of the word was a title or degree of nobility; or a lord
according to Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary. Of course if you have a
different idea, just go to the comment page and express yourself.

– TUESDAY’S ELECTION, WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION?
Often times the most important election is actually the primary
elections. One reason is that some legislative seats are considered
to be “SAFE” for the Republican party because of the registration
numbers and past voting habits of the residents in a district. In
those districts it would be very unlikely for a Democrat to have much
chance of winning. In addition, many times the safe seats don’t even
have a Democrat file for office. Therefore the selection of a
particular Republican in the primary race is very important as to what
kind of a lawmaker will serve in the legislature.

In addition, if the Republican primary voters select a liberal
Republican like Dr. Doug Cox (R-Grove) or Shane Jett (R-Tecumseh) then
the November election comes down to the lesser of two liberals. With
the 2 mentioned above, a conservative Democrat may well govern better
than either of these Republicans. In that case, what good is it to
elect a Republican if you have a strong numerical majority in the
legislature?

So how does a voter determine who is the more conservative candidate
in a primary race? I would suggest it is not the positive “pink, puff
and piffle” found in most campaign literature and political
commercials? It is not the warm, fuzzy pictures of the kids, the over
used “faith and family values” slogans, or the biggest campaign abuse
of all is the use of the word “conservative.” Often times that word is
used by candidates who don’t even know the meaning of the word.

In reality the most important information to evaluate a candidate is
what is commonly called “negative campaigning” or “mud slinging.” In
reality, the purpose of a political campaign is to understand the
distinctions between the candidates. Unless it is pre-emptive,
candidates will not tell anyone the information about themselves they
don’t want the voters to know. That is the job of their opponents. Of
course that goes both ways.

Here is where is gets touchy. What is the difference between important
information that really defines the difference between candidates
verses the lies, old information which no longer represents the
position of a candidate, or irrelevant information which is
meaningless to the person or how they will govern? That information is
not always easy to distinguish and is why only well informed voters
can do a good job of sifting through all the verbage to make a quality
decision.

For instance, in house district 96, Lance Cargill’s old seat,
opponents of Mike Idleman are making the case that Mike is or was a
member of the NEA-OEA in an attempt to paint him in a negative light
as most conservatives have little regard for either of these two
organizations. It is true that Idleman was a member of both while
teaching at an Edmond high school almost 10 years ago. However,
Idleman got so fed up with those uniions that he resigned both of them
while still teaching and suffered a great deal of pressure because of
his decision. Today he can’t stand either of these two organizations,
so is his past membership relevant? No, and in fact it might be good,
kind of like an ex-smoker is often the person with the most zeal
against smoking.

Another example is the race between Andrew Winningham and Jason Nelson
in their effort to replace Trebor Worthen in the house district 87
race. Winningham has been exposing Nelson as a lobbyist who may not be
able to win in what is expected to be a close race against the
Democrat in Novermber. He has exposed Nelson as being a big advocate
of corporate welfare, (he was a lobbyist for the owners of the Sonics)
which is nothing more than socialistic re-distribution of wealth.

Winningham has also exposed many of the financial backers behind
Nelson, such as Clay Bennent, Howard Barnett and even Pat Hall,
former head of the Democrat party. Is that relevant information?
Absolutely, as it may have a bearing on weather or not Nelson will be
a puppet for these powerful people who often want tax dollars for
their pet projects. Nelson has also been a lobbyist for and received
contributions from at least one of the Indian tribes. Is that
important? Absolutely, as it appears the tribes are on a quest to gain
every more wealth as well as political control over the state of
Oklahoma. Because of the sovereignty issue, tribally owned businesses
have major advantages over businesses owned by the general population
and you can bet those tribes don’t want any changes in the law that
might weaken their growing power.

Of course Nelson, with plenty of money, has fired back exposing
Winningham as a recent convert to the Republican party. Is that
important? It could be if Winningham was little more than a political
opportunist. However, after listening to him speak, it appears to me
he has had a real conversion from liberal leanings to become a hard
core conservative. In addition, he actually understands the definition
of a conservative. Kind of like David Horowitz (former Communist, now
public enemy number 1 of liberals on college campuses) or our good
friend Russ Reinhardt who describes himself as a recovering liberal.
Russ was a fan of Horowitz when they were both liberals and now a fan
as they have both become conservatives.

In trying to wound Winningham, Nelson has fired back declaring,
Winningham supported a presidential candidate who opposed an amendment
to the Constitution to declare marriage as between one man and one
woman. Is that relevant? It could be, though in this case it is not as
Winningham is not for homosexual marriages but simply supported a
candidate who believed in American Federalism, or in other words, it
should be a state’s rights issue rather than a federal government
issue. That was and is the position of both Ron Paul and John McCain,
neither of them favoring homosexual marriages but both believe the
issue should be handled at the state level. That way each state
opposed to homosexual marriage would not be forced by the federal
government or liberal judges to recognize the marriage of homosexuals
in a state which did allow such. While I personally favor the
constitutional amendment banning such marriages as an easy fix, I also
understand the principle of federalism and know that the position is
also correct.

Another example would be the pathetic radio commercials made by former
lawmaker Leonard Sullivan, (former RINO nominee) who is standing by
and supporting the liberal and incompetent Oklahoma County Clerk,
Carolynn Caudill in her re-election bid. Sullivan, leader of the court
house gang (Oklahoma County mafia) sounds like a little child,
bringing up the old information about Stan Inman paying too much for a
chair and that he and Brent Rinehart “CONSPIRED” to do all kinds of
bad things to the county. Has Sullivan become a “black helicopter
conspiracy theorist” or does he have some information he has been
holding back, as any conspiring between Inman and Rinehart would have
been a violation of the open meetings laws?

A big ata-boy to Mark Shannon, afternoon talk show host from 4 to 7
p.m. on KTOK 1000 AM. In the Shannons monologues, when it comes to
what is going on with what he calls the court house gang of five, Mark
really gets it. Shannon understands the power struggle that ensued
when Rinehart and Inman tried to wrestle control of county government
from the courthouse gang. They had the voting power on the budget
board to cover for themselves from any performance audits that might
uncover waste, fraud or corruption, especially centered around the
sheriff’s office. A former popular talk show host never understand it
regarding the struggle at the court house. He repeatedly called for
them to all just get along and joked about calling for the Super-Nanny
to come and teach everybody how to behave.

I could go on and on about these skirmishes in the political battles
but suffice it to say, it takes a lot of work and effort to search for
the TRUTH in these matters. Sometimes you are only dealing with half
truths or irrelevant information. To be certain, it is not always easy
to find out what is truth and what is not. Therefore the voters have a
real challenge before them. As always, elections are first and most
about the character and quality of the voters. Good voters elect good
candidates, uninformed or misinformed voters are likely to fall for
the meaningless pink, puff and piffle.

I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday

Charlie Meadows
charlie...@peoplepc.com