THE DEMISE OF THE OKLAHOMA GOP

 

By the Watchman   Rarely in one's lifetime does a person get to see the implosion of a political party? We feel we saw such an implosion of the Oklahoma Republican Party this last weekend. What makes this an even sadder case is the leadership of the party and our elected officials led the way. The Republican Party of Oklahoma is no longer the Party of smaller government, fewer regulations and fewer taxes. They have become the Democratic Party on steroids.

  The statement of one of the attendees quoted here "One of the first things I noticed this morning was the exceptionally low attendance at the OKGOP State Convention. One year ago at the state convention to elect a new chairman we had over 1400 (the incumbent only got around 20%of the vote)… This year, a presidential election year, we had 850.This shows a true lack of confidence in the OKGOP. We should have had close to 2500 or more. Then after watching the majority of the OKGOP pose restrictions on our second amendment rights and be more pro-money than pro-life, it's no wonder. It was a sad day in Oklahoma, but not a real shocker."  Tales similar to this were told by many of the party faithful who had been betrayed by the party they had stood by all their lives.

  Then there was the GOP Chairwoman Pam Pollard. She was correct in getting the convention off to a good start with Senator Jim Inhofe addressing the convention after receiving our highest award, the Ronald Reagan Leadership Award. She went downhill from there.

  She went on to say "We are very proud of our Oklahoma delegation in Washington, DC." We can't help but wonder if she's talking about the same delegation in Washington, DC that we have currently sitting in office. The only two sitting officials that would be considered true Conservatives are Senator Inhofe and Representative Bridenstine. Senator Lankford and Representatives Cole, Lucas, Mullin and Russell are all as liberal as can be. Anyone who has the ability to use a computer can look up there voting record and see that. You might ask yourself too, why it took a Congressman with as many years in office as Frank Lucas has, over three years to get a new farm deal. Why in that farm deal that actually raised the budget overall, he considered a cut of $8 million dollars a year to the food stamp program a cut in the budget. We the People are tired of those games. Those do not represent Oklahoma values and neither does the current party leadership.

  The first item of interest we found was this Republican Party of Oklahoma - Ballotpedia. We find this article to be extremely interesting and historical in nature. This is an important link for you to open. In here you'll find that the Oklahoma State GOP was founded in 1906, but never did any active organizing until the 1960's. In essence the Oklahoma State GOP as a statewide functioning organization has only existed for a little over sixty (60) years.

  In here you'll also find the Party Platform. You know those pesky items that our representatives are supposed to push for in legislation. Things like our natural rights, State Sovereignty, Sanctity of Life, Economic Freedom, Low Taxes and Parental rights. All of these items they have abandoned once they got into office, yet we keep re-electing the same tired faces time and time again. These same old tired politicians will come home and campaign as a Conservative each and every time, and the good citizens of Oklahoma always seem to let them have one more chance. If the Republican Party is to survive, this has got to stop.

  The next item of interest we found was this Presidential election in Oklahoma, 2016 - Ballotpedia. We included this article because it does contain some interesting facts about the 2016 Presidential Primary held back in March for both parties.

  The next article of interest we found was this Frontloading HQ: 2016 Republican Delegate Allocation: OKLAHOMA. We realize the title sounds like it's up to no good, but this is an explanation of how the delegates are broken down after the primary elections. It should be understood that before a candidate is eligible to obtain a delegate in the state wide primary voting system they must receive at least fifteen percent (15%) of the popular vote. It should be noted that the changes made between 2012 and 2016 exceeded what was required by the RNC.

  The next article of interest we found was this OK - Oklahoma Republican Party & State Leadership Leadership | GOP. This document contains the phone numbers, twitter accounts, if they have one, and facebook account address's for the entire upper echelon of the Oklahoma GOP Party. We are talking from the state chairwoman and national committee persons on through the governor and every single representative and senator in Washington, DC. We would recommend you use them as soon as possible. I can see changes being made to their accounts due to increased traffic volume.

  The next item of interest we found was this Oklahoma Republican Party - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Now if you'll remember we cited a document earlier in this report that indicated that the Oklahoma Republican Party was founded in 1906. We all know that Wikipedia can be edited by just about anyone. We would like to find out the identity of the person who wrote this entry as it indicates that the Oklahoma Republican Party wasn't founded until 1907.

  Perhaps the most telling of all the articles we found was this OKGOP Moves Back to Phone Booth for Meetings – Oklahoma Grassroots. The Oklahoma Republican Party owes its rise to prominence to the various Grass Roots organizations out there. They are the ones that put the feet on the ground for the candidates to help get them elected. They are the ones that made the phone calls to help candidates. They are also the ones that got out there in all kinds of weather and put yards signs up for candidates. They didn't always win, but they made progress. At times they even backed someone who claimed to be Conservative, but wasn't. That candidate did not get their support the next time around. So what did the party do for those activist that got them into office, they spat in their faces. This time we're spitting back.

  Fair warning to all elected officials in the state. The voters of Oklahoma have rejected Medicaid expansion by a vast margin. Changing the name doesn't make it a rose. We will seek a statewide ballot initiative to give the Citizens of Oklahoma the right to recall any and all elected officials should you pass it this year. You seem perfectly willing to tax the people who can least afford it. Why don't you get more than $185 million dollars back from your donors this time? The People of the State of Oklahoma need it more than they do.