Oklahoma Primary Confounds the Pundits

SeaMax News ^ | 12/4/2003 | Fr. Michael Reilly

[Hugenot]

For years, presidential wannabes have braved New Hampshire winters and trips to Iowa in order to establish themselves as serious candidates for their party's nomination.

Political consultants have long since mastered the art of appealing to these influential voters.

Now, the Oklahoma primary is scheduled for only one week after New Hampshire and no one knows how to win this one.

"Anyone who thinks they know how to win here is nuts," said Jay Parmley, chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party told the Boston Globe "Politicians have spent years mastering how to win New Hampshire's primary because it's been important for so long. Now they have to master Oklahoma, but they're learning as they go."

While Oklahoma Democrats outnumber Republicans, President Bush won the state in 2000 with 60% of the vote, but in 2002, Democrats re-captured the Governorship.

With a strong union presence, jobs will always be an issue. Likewise, the Oklahoma City bombing makes national security an important issue for Oklahoma voters.

An early poll commissioned by the Oklahoman revealed that Lieberman leads Democratic contenders with 10%, followed by Dean and Clark tied at 9%, and Gephardt at 8%.

In other words, while no one candidate stands out in the minds of Democratic voters, this primary will still have a major impact on the nomination process.

[Onelifetogive]

...no one candidate stands out in the minds of Democratic voters...

This seems to be a mild understatement...

[newgeezer]

Written by Fr. Michael Reilly?

For some reason, I was under the impression that the Roman Catholic church was facing a crisis of sorts, because too few men are entering the priesthood.

Apparently, the crisis isn't as bad as one might think. Here's one with enough spare time to moonlight as a journalist covering the all-important primary politics beat.

[UCANSEE2]

It always seemed to me that the Iowa primaries were just an attempt to limit the area and people that must be influenced (lied to?) to get your candidate on the Prez ticket.

This means the parties cater to that one area, ignoring everyone else, and then ignore Iowa right after.

I say have it in a different state every time, with the location kept a secret until say a month or so before the event.

[Wright is right!]

A strong union presence? In Oklahoma? What's this guy smokin'?

Michael

[newgeezer]

It seems to me that the reason they start in Iowa -- where the population is very much a representative cross-section of the American electorate -- is to give the "little guy" a chance to get off the ground and establish some viability, without the need to sell himself to special interests and raise a ton of money before a single vote is cast in a larger-scale campaign.

Try doing that in a large state, and no little guy has a snowball's chance against either a well-heeled candidate (such as John F. Heinz-Kerry or Steve Forbes) or one who's already the darling of the special-interest groups (see Little Dickie Gephardt, longtime union waterboy).

If the parties "cater" to Iowa and New Hampshire to start with, so what? Anyone who thinks that's such a boon to IA and NH residents is free to relocate and grab their piece of the supposed pie.

Your idea to move it around and keep it a secret might have some merit. How to keep that entire process from becoming anything short of a rampant corruption-fest is anybody's guess.

[ConservativeMan55]

Trust me. We so have an extremely strong Union Presence. Its irritating at times.

[Rodney King]

With a strong union presence, jobs

Huh? I've never noticed unions here.

[ConservativeMan55]

You live in Oklahoma right?

[Tuba-Dude]

The only union that really sticks out in my mind is the UAW at the Chevy plant in Midwest City. Of course, things could be much different now than they were before I moved....

[ConservativeMan55]

The American Airlines Mechanics Union?

Almost every Grocery store has a Union as well.

There are PLENTY if you look around.

[VOA]

My dad was represented by OCAW (Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers) at the
Conoco plant in Ponca City for over a decade (until he retired).
We weren't unionist...but Dad's unit required membership.

[Rodney King]

yeah