151 Band

Friday, October 22, 2010

How To Beat A Democrat: Invoke the "O"-Word

There are some words in the English language that are just wrong.  No matter who says them and in what context they are used, people cringe when they are heard and in this election cycle, no word is more powerful than the "O"-word.  The Big "O", if you will is being invoked across the land and in Oklahoma, it has reached epic proportions and so far, it's working out very well for Republicans.

The word?  Obama.

To use a quote from my favorite Robin Williams film, Dead Poets Society:
No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.
Doesn't matter whether the idea is good, or that the words are in and of themselves meaningful, it's the use of the Big O that is changing the tide for Republicans throughout Oklahoma and dare I say, the rest of the country.  In a story written by the conservative blogger and Oklahoma talk radio legend, Mike McCarville, friend of the 2nd Amendment Jay Paul Gumm may be getting a lashing because of his so-called connection with the Big O - through a polling firm.   It doesn't really matter to some that Gumm really does not support Obama's policies, what matters is that the needle in the haystack has been found and the Republican machine is at work to make sure that the six degrees of separation from the Big O and Gumm is in full effect.

In my home state of Washington - a Democratic stronghold to be sure - the Big O is being invoked across the state with some of the most blistering attacks on incumbent Democrats ever seen in politics.  The "P" word is being used there as well and it is working thus far.

Truth be damned and the heavens fall, for this is the year when the Big O becomes a problem for virtually every Democrat running for office in any state, county or even city.  The Republican apparatus is laser focused on finding any connection to Obama and exploit it through the use of every known form of media.  The Big O is so toxic, that none of us should be surprise if the private sector doesn't start invoking it to increase market share:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From:  Scope


NEW YORK, NY:  President Obama uses Listerine.  Good, patriotic Americans use Scope and if the Founding Fathers were here, they would have used only the constitutionally conservative and remarkably delicious Scope, not the communist, socialist Listerine.

Well, you get the picture.

Words and ideas can change the world and sometimes, these words have meaning and sometimes they don't.  You make the call.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Plan: Talk About A Plan

Some day, I plan to see the Grand Canyon.  Some day, I plan to once again ski Whistler/Blackcomb mountains.  One day, I plan to see my kids head off to college.  We all have plans and apparently, Congresswoman Fallin has a few plans too for when she is elected governor of the great state of Oklahoma, but you'd be hard-pressed to find said plans anywhere in writing, so we're forced to simply take her at her word.

Her new ad claims she is the "only conservative" in the race for Governor and I suppose we're to take that at face value.  She's been endorsed by the NFIB - a small business lobbying group.  And of course, she stood up to Obamacare.  The ad also informs us that she supports the Arizona immigration law - which is horrifyingly ironic because the biggest problem with illegal immigration has been caused by inactivity in Congress...where she has served for the last four years.

She has a plan to:
Lower Taxes
Reduce Government Spending
Bring New Jobs

But we don't know what those plans are, or how she intends to lower taxes, reduce government spending or to bring new jobs to Oklahoma.  Can't find the "plans" on her website.  Can't find her plans for any of the three anywhere.

But that's kind of what we expect in this election cycle, isn't it?  Talk about a plan without really telling what that plan entails.  We have heard over and over again that we need to lower taxes, we need to reduce government spending and we need to bring new jobs to Oklahoma but not a damned one of the Republican or Democratic candidates have shared with us just how in the hell they propose to do just that.  Instead, we're being pumped full of feel-good messages that pollsters have vetted and makes us feel all tingly inside.

Well, here's Mary's new ad.  Enjoy.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Lamb With A Side Of Corn

Ladies and gentlemen, we have one of Oklahoma's very first edible elections in memory and it is being served up piping hot.  Grab a beer to wash this one down...

I have a confession:  I really haven't been paying much attention to the Lt. Governor's race and it appears as though I have missed out on quite the delicacy.  Kenneth Corn apparently went on the attack against Todd Lamb and Lamb responded with fire and vigor, using comments even from Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater.

I have known Kenneth Corn for a while now and though our relationship started out on rocky ground after he was a guest on my former talk show on WKY, he and I got to know each other and he even invited me on a hunt down in his part of the state.  We hunted hogs with dogs and it was an experience I will not soon forget.  He is well known, and very well liked in his part of the state and while there, it was almost like he was a celebrity.

I have also had the opportunity to meet Todd Lamb at a Friends of the National Rifle Association banquet a couple years ago and he seemed engaging, intelligent and though a little polished for my liking, very approachable and friendly.  Lamb has the "look" of someone running for office, someone who will probably run for one office or another for the rest of his life.  More than likely, if he wins, he will bide his time until the Governor's mansion becomes vacant or the opportunity to run for Congress or the U.S. Senate presents itself. 

Both men are really good guys and it is rather disgusting that their campaigns have devolved to this negative garbage.  Yes, people are wickedly sick of negative campaigning but at the end of the day, negative campaigns often work well.  People respond to negative attacks as well as negative robo-calls and I fully suspect calls to be flying within the next couple weeks.

The GOP coffers are emptying on behalf of Lamb and Fallin (which is just plain silly to me) and by the time comes to help out Jones for Auditor or Doak for Insurance Commissioner, there will be little left - other than a compulsory mailer or two that will be sent out using one of the GOP consultant's mailing houses.

Lucky for the GOP, the Democratic party machine needs a tune-up and hasn't been lubricated so well these days.