EDMOND —
Tuesday’s GOP primary election capped several weeks of intense Republican-on-Republican bashing. Voter fatigue from the confusing myriad of claims clearly showed in the low 16 percent voter turnout.
For what probably will turn out to be the most expensive state Senate race to date, all of that outside, PAC-fueled cash failed to turn out the vote with only 7,600 casting ballots in Senate District 41. While Sen. Clark Jolley won and stays in the ring until the Nov. 6 general election against Edmond Independent Richard Prawdzienski, the primary was a grueling race that did no one any favors.
While Jolley’s race against Paul Blair was notable for its expensive nature and its high amount of angst, it certainly was not an isolated negative campaign. What Oklahomans might have seen in primary races statewide are the true seeds of a third party brewing. Some conservatives might argue that the primaries were about returning the state GOP to its true, conservative roots and making more honest men and women of our legislators. We’re not sure if that message really made itself heard above the din of accusations.
A lot of the campaigning seen by Oklahomans this summer boiled down to conservatives and ultra-conservatives trying to out-conservative one another. They were talking about many of the same issues, but didn’t necessarily agree on how one arrives at the solutions.
We doubt that Senate District 41 voters disagree about a desire for smaller, less expensive government in Oklahoma. But it does matter how we get there in the end. It does matter that we elect people who can remember how to disagree while remaining civil and elect those who can bring all the parties to the table to negotiate the best solutions to our state’s problems.
And that’s why a true third party might be what’s best for all involved. Helping eliminate some of those internal Republican fights would clear the deck for better campaigning and hopefully more thorough dialogue about real issues that impact Oklahomans’ lives. It also might help candidates stay true to themselves and the promises they make in trying to get elected. The GOP’s tent has grown large and restless, much like the left and far left have chosen to part ways on some issues.
There’s no reason to attack another candidate on personal issues. Oklahoma has enough problems that need real attention without all the distractions of personal campaign rhetoric. It’s especially unnecessary for outside PACs who are not beholden to any candidate to drum up their own negative attacks that ultimately add nothing to the debate.
And maybe those who disagree so fundamentally with how their party is governing should take the next step and move their aims forward in a new way.
Opinion
OUR VIEW: Primary leaves much to think about in state
- Opinion
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It takes a dad as well as a mom
Orlando Shaw earned his 15 minutes of fame with a dubious distinction: fathering 22 children with 14 women. The Nashville man’s story made news when the mothers of his children sued for child support.
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Excuses for data sweep sound hollow
Perhaps 2013 will go down as the year privacy and civil liberties became too inconvenient for government. Listening to assorted officials defend massive programs that scoop up vast amounts of data certainly gives that impression.
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I pay property taxes ... please fix my road
Imagine paying thousands of dollars every year in property taxes and at the same time watching your roads literally crumble under the strain of increasing traffic. Unfortunately, some won’t have to imagine this because I’ve just described your reality.
Maybe you have even asked your County Commissioner why property tax money isn’t being used to maintain your road. He probably responded, “Almost all of your property tax money goes to public schools. Only about 15 percent goes to the county and most of that is not for roads.” -
Vision 2020 conference loaded with speakers
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer — playing in the water, grilling, enjoying time with family; maybe preparing for vacation. But for Oklahoma educators, I hope your plans include a trip to Oklahoma City, July 9-11 to attend the State Department of Education’s Vision 2020 professional development conference.
The conference is free to all Oklahoma educators. -
The Oklahoma Standard
The “Oklahoma Standard” was a term coined during our state’s response to the tragedy of April 19, 1995. The connotation has many layers: the standard of trained first responders, the standard of non-trained first responders (neighbors helping neighbors), the standard of our faith community, the standard of welcoming out of state relief workers that arrived to help. In short, meeting the need and answering the call without reservation or inhibition.
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The Mankato, Minn., Free Press: Stop gridlock on farm bill
The Mankato, Minn., Free Press: Stop gridlock
on farm bill
With a hopeful sound of gridlock cracking, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Wednesday that he will vote for the House farm bill even though he has “concerns.” He reasons that “doing nothing means we get no changes in the nutrition programs.”
He may be merely pragmatic but we’ll take it. Rural Republicans are tired of the delays and want the five-year subsidy measure enacted. -
Crazy Kim and the Tippy Twos
Kim Jong Un certainly seems crazy. But sound mind isn’t a requirement for predictable action. Tyrants often mask steady goals with wild behavior. One need only think of world pests like Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein to realize entire regions can be thrust into unwanted global crises.
Like Castro and Saddam, Kim Jong Un has made clear he’s dedicated to expanding his ability to harm America and her allies. The difference is, he has a nuclear capability, not a borrowed or boasted one. North Korea has a proven record of long-range missile development that could ultimately hit the American mainland. -
Don’t blame the President; it’s us
June 17 marks the 41st anniversary of the second Watergate break-in. This is a good time to take a look back and reflect on what can happen when a corrupt administration throws a protective cloak around the misbehavior of a gang of unscrupulous cheats, liars and crooks.
On the morning of June 18, 1972, millions of us were unaware of the festering corruption that would ultimately rot our confidence in the president. We did not know that his administration was using the FBI as a tool to wiretap telephones of reporters regarded as unfriendly to the White House. We were oblivious to the fact the administration encouraged the IRS to audit media representatives whose reporting criticized the president. -
2 bills aid Oklahoma students
I recently attended two ceremonial bill signings at the State Capitol to celebrate legislation I feel is of vital importance to Oklahomans.
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Time to roll back the Patriot Act
It’s time. It’s time for President Obama to live up to his own words. It’s time for Congress to do its job. It’s time to contract the ever-expanding national security state. And it’s time to roll back the Patriot Act. In Washington, elected officials are circling the wagons. The Obama administration claims that its Internet and telephone surveillance programs are legal; the ones we know about, indeed, are. But just because something is legal and can be done does that mean that it should remain so and continue to be done? No. Laws are made and unmade all the time. And the argument that vast, dragnet-style surveillance has stopped terrorists at the lamentable expense of privacy is exactly the same argument that the Bush administration made about torture: Better to sacrifice our principles and a few people in the hope of saving many.
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It takes a dad as well as a mom
