"A lot of the grassroots that I heard on the phone were Baptists from SE OK -- several were ministers."
That's great to hear. Baptist ministers will be key to our efforts to counter the RAT whispering campaigns about Istook's "un-Christian religious rituals" and such (and believe me, the RATs will come out shooting---you should look into the kind of tripe that Ted Kennedy has said about Mitt Romney, a lifelong Mormon). If Baptist ministers tend to their flock, those attacks against Istook will fall on deaf ears.
"Did I mention Richardson was Gov Keating's former law partner and a lot of folks thought he ran against Largent as an Indy because Largent didn't endorse Keating's wife for Congress."
I didn't know that. Mrs. Largent lost that primary fair and square, and a friend of hers seeking vengeance upon Largent was completely uncalled for, especially since it resulted in 4 years of a RAT in the governorship.
When Cathy Keating lost the primary, they blamed it on Largent. Lost a lot of respect for the Keatings over that one. Keating tried to get Largent to leave earlier then he did as well. It got really nasty and Keating was not very visible during the Governor's race either.