Free Republic

Two powerful Oklahoma Republicans endorsed former Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys in the U.S. Senate race Tuesday but denied that their support was intended to anoint a Republican candidate. "I would expect there's going to be a primary on each side," said U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Norman. "There certainly ought to be one on the Democratic side. There certainly ought to be one on the Republican side." Cole and former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Norman, announced their support Tuesday for Humphreys in the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Ponca City. Other prominent Oklahoma Republicans who have endorsed...

House Republicans installed Dallas Rep. Pete Sessions at the helm of their campaign arm (National Republican Congressional Committee) this afternoon, betting he can round up the cash and candidates they’ll need to climb out of a deepening hole in the next elections. That makes a pair of Texans responsible for GOP efforts to boost their ranks in both the House and Senate. On Tuesday, Sen. John Cornyn won the chairmanship of the Senate GOP campaign committee (National Republican Senatorial Committee - FR Thread) a coincidence that reflects Texas’ status as a mother lode of Republican votes and donors, an increasing...

Rep. Pete Sessions (Texas) is promising to bolster House GOP fundraising efforts if he is chosen to replace Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.) as head of the National Republican Congressional Committee. In a letter sent to House members on Monday, Sessions wrote that the NRCC needs improvements in various areas, including fundraising, recruiting, messaging, organizational strength and long-term strategies and tactics. Sessions acknowledged that the NRCC would be again at a disadvantage on fundraising in the 2010 cycle, but is vowing to close the cash gap with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “We may not be able to overcome the other...

All week long, you and I have been blasting the bereft Beltway GOP leadership for their empty sloganeering and Obama-esque change obsession. Now, the NRCC is hearing it directly on its website. Reader Fritz e-mails that the comments section in the NRCC blog post by chairman Tom Cole is sizzling hot with aggravated grass-roots conservative feedback. Go check it out. A sample: This is not the message I am looking to support. The message of the Replican Part should be fundumentally different than the Democrats. We don’t need to “fix” the government. We need the Federal Government to do wnat...

Tom Cole earned a Ph.D. in British history from the University of Oklahoma, intending to become a college professor, but he came to his senses and to a zest for politics and now, in just his third term in the House of Representatives, he is chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. As such, he is charged with recruiting the candidates and honing the tactics that will transform Speaker Nancy Pelosi back to House minority leader. "We are looking," says Cole, speaking unminced words about the Republican Party, "like a beaten down stock." Nevertheless, he is sanguine regarding 2008: "The...

The next Congress will look slightly more like the real America, with more women, Hispanics and blacks, including the first black man to enter the Senate in a quarter century. In addition to senator-elect Barack Obama, D-Ill., only the third black ever to be elected by popular vote to the Senate, newly elected senators Ken Salazar, D-Colo., and Mel Martinez, R-Fla., will become the only Hispanic-Americans in the Senate. The House will see the arrival of Bobby Jindal, R-La., the son of immigrants from India and only the second Indian-American to serve in Congress. There will be 65 women in...

Cole optimistic about long road to recovery in Iraq By James S. Tyree Transcript Staff Writer August 27, 2004U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, returned Wednesday from Afghanistan, Iraq and other Middle Eastern nations with good news and bad news. "I do think we will have to be there for a long time," Cole said of Iraq, "partly helping people in difficult circumstances, but also to make our country secure. We're going to have setbacks, bad days and genuine debates in our country, but that doesn't change the reality. We will be engaged in a long struggle with terror." However,...

Cole Wants John Kerry Vietnam Debate Ended Thursday, August 26, 2004 at 11:42am Oklahoma Republican Congressman Tom Cole says it's time to end the political debate over John Kerry's Vietnam ilitary service and worry about the war going on in Iraq. Fresh from his second visit to Iraq and Afghanistan, Republican U-S Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma says the nation would worry more about American soldiers in those two countries than spending time debating John Kerry's military record in Vietnam. Interviewed by Newsradio 1000 KTOK, Congressman Cole said he also sees progress in the two countries. About the flap over...

<p>Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole said Thursday he did not intend to equate a vote against President Bush to a vote for Adolf Hitler, but stuck by recent comments that a Bush loss would be a win for Osama bin Laden.</p>

Oklahoman Editorial: For Tom Cole (Oklahoma 4th District seat of J.C. Watts, Jr.) 2002-10-28 Seldom has Oklahoma had a chance to send a more ready-made congressman to Washington than Tom Cole. With a wealth of political experience and contacts, Cole would hardly be a neophyte in the House if voters in the 4th Congressional District elect him. We hope they do, not just for the district that encompasses much of south central Oklahoma, but for all of the state. Cole would have an immediate impact in Congress, as a well-respected successor to the retiring Rep. J.C. Watts. Cole's resume is...

Vice president speaks in Midwest City 10/15/02 By Sean Murphy MIDWEST CITY — A bomb attack that killed more than 180 people in Bali, Indonesia, Saturday is likely the work of al-Qaida, which is operating in as many as 60 countries, Vice President Dick Cheney said Tuesday. “(Al-Qaida) will do absolutely anything they can to impose additional casualties on the United States, both here and overseas,” Cheney said in Midwest City. “And that means we’re probably closer to the front end of this conflict than we are to the back end of it.” Cheney visited Oklahoma Tuesday to help raise...

Cheney visits state, calls on Americans to ready for war 2002-10-15 By Carmel Perez Snyder The Oklahoman During a visit to Midwest City Tuesday, Vice President Dick Cheney called on GOP supporters to vote and Americans to ready for war. Cheney said the killing of a U.S. Marine in Kuwait and attacks in Yemen and Bali show that Al-Qaida will stop at nothing to attack Americans at home and abroad. "We're closer to the front end of this conflict than we are the back of it," Cheney said to the crowd of civilians and servicemen and women on a runway...

Remarks by the President at Steve Largent for Governor and James Inhofe for Senate Luncheon Cox Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 29 August 2002 11:25 A.M. CDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. It's nice to be here in Oklahoma. Thanks. I appreciate so very much the invitation to come and throw my support behind a fine United States Senator, and a person this state is surely going to reelect, and that's Jim Inhofe. (Applause.) And I'm also honored to be here with Governor Largent. (Applause.) It's got a nice ring to it. Thanks for inviting me. There's not much that...

Cole Mining Support Inside Beltway By Chris Cillizza August 19, 2002 A who's who of the Republican political consulting world have opened their checkbooks to help fund the House candidacy of former Oklahoma Secretary of State Tom Cole (R), according to new reports filed with the FederalElection Commission. Cole, a longtime Republican operative, received more than $30,000 from a bevy of media consultants, pollsters and direct-mail firms in the past five weeks. The infusion of cash is critical for Cole in his battle against attorney Marc Nuttle in the Aug. 27 GOPprimary. Both candidates are hoping to replace retiring Rep...