The elections yesterday were a disaster nationally and in Oklahoma. Nationally the GOP took control of the U.S. Senate, making Mitch McConnell Majority Leader. The only up side to this is that Mitch McConnell now becomes the face of the GOP nationally. He and John Boehner are now the two faces of a monstrous agenda. That will wear thin within a very short period of time (Boehner already has an extremely low favorability rating). Democrats will still have the stroke to stop the worst of the GOP agenda in the Senate and with the presidency and the veto power. In Oklahoma, two bright spots were the 44.2% that John Cox received in the state superintendents race and the 41% that Joe Dorman received in the governors race. The Oklahoma GOP political leadership will continue to dismember public education, and some Oklahomans are starting to notice (finally). Cox could have slowed the destruction, but it now continues apace. Dorman exploited what the Oklahoma Observer called Fallin Fatigue and got the lions share of the anti-Fallin vote. Fallin Fatigue is deep and wide and will continue to grow. She is an elitist and is arrogant and may never run for public office again (unless she goes for Inhofes seat should he decide to retire). She will continue her let them eat cake Marie Antoinette routine and will be the unpleasant face of the Oklahoma GOP. Better times are ahead. The Democrats in Oklahoma have an identity problem. Some claim that we are a progressive party and that they are progressives, but we have extremely conservative nominees running at the same time we have extremely liberal nominees in the general election. We have folks calling themselves progressives who oppose womens reproductive rights, civil rights for gay people, immigrant rights, reasonable restrictions on purchasing guns etc. If that makes one a progressive, a lot of Oklahoma Republicans could claim to be progressives, too. Voters are bound to be confused. The Raymond Gary/David Boren eras are over (unless Boren runs as a Democrat after he quits the OU presidency...unlikely but possible). The future of the party is supporting womens reproductive rights, reasonable restrictions on owning a gun (universal background checks), support for civil and human rights, support for those who are economically disadvantaged and the working and middle classes, rescuing public education, support for workers rights (including raising the minimum wage), and campaign finance reform. If you take a look at the election results, it is crystal clear that we cant go back to the good old days when Little Dixie and the rural areas carried the partys candidates to victory. We need to start to work on these things now if we want to have any chance to rebound in 2016 and beyond. Mary Fallin and the elected Republican leadership will help us get there by their arrogance and hard heartedness, but the rest is up to us. Lets get to work!
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 15:29:31 +0000
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