Posted on 04/15/2009 9:29:53 AM PDT by nickcarraway
U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn says he is still definitely undecided about whether he will seek another term in 2010.
“I’m not playing games,” he said Tuesday. “I really haven’t decided.”
The Muskogee Republican attracted large crowds to town hall meetings in Sapulpa on Monday night and Tulsa Tuesday morning, and he heard a good deal of praise for his anti-Washington message. Coburn, though, said politics will not enter into his decision.
“It’s a spiritual thing,” he said.
Coburn, in fact, traded Bible lessons with a constituent in Sapulpa worried about President Barack Obama’s religion. When someone asked why political parties are necessary, Coburn said it is because too many people depend on something other than faith for identity.
But politics are clearly a part of the job of U.S. senator, and Coburn’s politics continue to appeal to Oklahomans.
Nearly 140 people crowded into a room intended to seat 70 at Sapulpa City Hall. At Tulsa Technology Center’s Peoria campus, extra chairs were set out in a large auditorium to a crowd
that appeared to top 200. “People are scared,” he said.
The Sapulpa crowd applauded Coburn loudly on several occasions and turned on one man who ripped into Coburn for hugging Obama on national television and not actively seeking the ouster of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The Tulsa crowd, though larger, appeared less emotional. Its questions dealt mostly with health care, jobs and federal spending.
“It’s not necessarily the taxes, but the out-of-control spending we object to,” one said.
Coburn said the place to begin cutting federal spending is in Congress, and suggested what amounts to merit pay for representatives and senators. He deflected a question about the Obama administration’s proposed changes to the defense budget by attacking the way defense dollars are spent.
“The contracting system is broken,” he said. “Between 2001 and 2006, we paid $8 billion in performance bonuses to contractors who didn’t meet the performance requirements for the bonuses.”
Coburn also tried to divert the most serious criticism of Obama, with whom he is personally friendly despite their political differences.
“You have more problems with the U.S. Congress than any president,” Coburn said when someone pressed the issue of Obama’s birthplace. “At least this guy (Obama), we know where he is. He’s out in the open. He’s hard left.”
At both meetings, Coburn said Obama’s plans for health care would lead to “government-run” medicine, which he predicted would be a financial and operational failure.
Not everyone was happy with what Coburn had to say. He told three women in Sapulpa that he would continue to hold up a bill that includes funding for treating post-partum depression, saying he opposes directed medical research of any kind.
In Tulsa, he said he could not support a loan forgiveness program for specialty doctors.
“I don’t care if I’m re-elected or not,” he said in closing the Tulsa meeting. “Being a doctor is more fun.”
I gotta give the Okies credit, they manage to put some good people in Congress.
Perhaps mulling a run for Prez in 2012?
Coburn and DeMint are my favorites.
I hope Tom stays. We need him.
I don’t think he’ll run again. I think he’s burned out. I was very disappointed with some of his votes this year, including voting to confirm Hillary as Sec of State. Only Vitter had the balls to say “no” to someone who should be behind bars.
Nooo! We need Coburn for minority leader. Its sad that good people leave, while undesirables insist on staying.
Speaking of undesirables, the KY Dems are down to 2 candidates competing for the pleasure of knocking out Bunning - Lt Gov. Dan M. and Jack Conway.
In MO, Roy Blunt is going to have to run against 2 people - Carnahan and Nixon. Jay Nixon is following the Messiah’s lead. He is saying MO’s economic situation is due to the previous administration. Nixon is even saying, “ I inherited these problems.” Roy Blunt is upset at Nixon’s criticism of his son. Part of Roy Blunt’s message may end up being about defending Matt Blunt’s leadership.
“Part of Roy Blunt’s message may end up being about defending Matt Blunt’s leadership.”
Something Matt refused to himself.
“When someone asked why political parties are necessary, Coburn said it is because too many people depend on something other than faith for identity.”
Uh...not really.
Anyway he sure sounds like he’s leaning against running.
Thankfully, Democrats aren’t that strong in Oklahoma. The only two who could win are either Governor Brad Henry, who doesn’t want to live in D.C., and Congressman Dan Boren, who is perhaps the most conservative Democrat in Congress.
Hopefully today’s Tea Parties may inspire him to stay on.
Boren dropped to a paltry 24 last year (ACU rating). He barely scored higher than that right-wing paragon, Peter DeFazio and my liberal Congressman, Jim Cooper. Self-proclaimed “Conservative Democrat” Lincoln Davis, scored a whopping 12. He just took himself out of the running for Governor (right about when he voted for the Porkulus monster).
In fact, the “5” most Conservative (6 since two tied) Dem House members in ‘08 were:
*Nick Lampson (TX) 48 (lifetime of 24) (defeated)
Childers (MS) 41
Matheson (UT) 36
*Cazayoux (LA) 33 (defeated)
McIntyre (NC) 32
Mitchell (AZ) 32
As you can see, none voted above 50%, and Lampson only voted as high as he did (going from 20 in ‘07 to 48 last year) in a last-ditch attempt to hold a GOP district (and Cazayoux got the axe as well after his fluke win. So that leaves Childers (who also is a fluke win) as the most Conservative Dem (and that phony Gene Taylor got that same percent as Boren, a pathetic 24). The Dems probably had the largest-voting and lock-step leftist membership in the history of the party in ‘08 (and sadly, more than a few of the Republicans donned the jackboots to goosestep with their rodent buddies).
McIntyre and Mitchell scored the same as “republicans” Jon Porter and Ileana Ross-Lehtinen.
The fact that Lincoln Davis dropped to a 12 ACU says more about the bills that reached the floor last year and the criteria used by ACU than about Lincoln Davis. I think he’s voted pretty much the same since he got to Congress, but ACU chose a different mix of votes on which to base its ratings.
Lincoln Davis and Gene Taylor are socially conservative (pro-life, pro-gun, pro-marriage) and economically liberal (protectionist, pro-government spending. If the ACU had chosen a vote mix that was 50% social and 50% economic, the two would probably have ACU scores above 60 (which, IIRC, was what they had a few years ago). But the ACU chose a vote mix with few social issues, and they scored in the 10s and 20s.
Naah, Davis really has lurched to the left, even his ever-increasing arrogant attitude. He’s voting like he’s in a moonbat district. He wanted badly to be Governor and realized it wasn’t going to happen, so he dropped out and is now voting more with the far-left “mainstream” of the Democrat party. Bart Gordon is even worse now, and his district is a Republican one. We really could go ahead and redistrict now 2 years ahead of schedule, and there’s been talk of that. We ought to get rid of Davis, Gordon, and Tanner.
If Coburn does decide to retire who could we run? JC Watts? Tom Cole?
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