Tag: OK-Sen

Ala the BURN BUSH campaign that helped raise $$ for Darcy Burner–

Online bloggers in support of Andrew Rice against Jim Inhofe have started the HUNT TERRORISTS, NOT DOVES campaign.

from actblue:

The country and world have turned against President George Bush’s Iraq occupation, but U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) remains one of the occupation’s most ardent supporters.

Inhofe is even holding his annual Oklahoma Dove Hunt at Quartz Mountain Lodge September 7-8 as the gruesome occupation drags on. He, along with his invited guest, the ultra-conservative John Cornyn (R-Texas), will be hunting dove, the international symbol of peace, as more American soldiers and innocent Iraqis die.

We need to send these two Bush lapdogs and Washington insiders into retirement. State Sen. Andrew Rice, a progressive Democratic from Oklahoma City, is running against Inhofe in the 2008 election. Rice, whose brother, David, died in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, believes Inhofe took his “eye off the ball” after the attacks and, instead of going after terrorists, blindly followed Bush into the Iraq debacle.

Inhofe should hunt terrorists, not doves. But while Inhofe is killing doves, you can help send him into retirement. Become a Rice Dove today by contributing to Andrew’s campaign.

give what you can: HUNT TERRORISTS, NOT DOVES

One of the most Republican areas of Oklahoma is the north Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond. State Senator Andrew Rice is making waves in a political climate where people, even Republicans, are wanting a change.

see below

The editorial gets the heart of what makes this race so intruiging:

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, a prominent Oklahoma City attorney, Hugh Rice, received a phone call from his oldest son, David Rice, who was an executive for a company in the World Trade Center in New York City. David advised his Dad that a plane had crashed into the side of the World Trade Center, but it was on the other side of the building from where his office was located, and he did not want his parents to be worried about him.

Shortly after the phone conversation was concluded another plane crashed into the other side of the World Trade Center and David Rice died when the building collapsed. The devastated Rice family came together in Oklahoma City to bury David and attempted to deal with the enormity of their loss.

David’s brother Andrew, an alumnus of Colby College in Maine and Harvard Divinity School, was at that time an independent film producer who recently had completed a film about the effects of AIDS in India. But as Andrew wrestled with his grief, he decided he would memorialize his brother by returning to Oklahoma and enter public life in an effort to improve the lives of the citizenry. In accordance with that goal, Andrew Rice was elected to the Oklahoma State Senate in 2006 from District 46, which is in the mid-city area of Oklahoma City. By all accounts, Rice has proven to be an effective legislator who is willing to work with all of his colleagues to get legislation he believed would benefit his constituents enacted into law.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE:
http://www.edmondsun…

HELP US IN OKLAHOMA KEEP THE SUPPORT COMING FOR SEN. RICE, give what you can on ACTBLUE:
http://www.actblue.c…

And Rice’s campaign site is partially up, and they say it will be done soon
http://www.andrewforoklahoma.com

On Monday, the Run Andrew Run draft blog informed us that Oklahoma Democratic state Senator Andrew Rice was very likely to challenge crumb-bum extraordinaire Jim Inhofe in the state's 2008 U.S. Senate election:

After a few weeks on the road in Oklahoma and a whirlwind of meetings in Washington, D.C., it now seems likely State Senator Andrew Rice will soon be filing papers to challenge U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe in the 2008 election.

Since winning election to the State Senate from a diverse, inner-OKC district, Rice has already proven to be a skilled consensus builder who gets results. He offers a stark contrast to the right-wing curmudgeon, Jim Inhofe.

Rice still says he will make a formal announcement after Labor Day but fundraising prospects have surpassed his expectations and sources close to him say he may be “all in” within the next 10 days. He has received encouragement on this site and in meetings throughout the state. We also hear the DSCC now views Rice as a potential upset challenger in the style of a Jim Webb or a Jon Tester.

Rice lost a brother in the World Trade Center on 9/11 and believes that Bush and Inhofe took their eye off the ball by waging war in Iraq while Al Quaeda rebuilt its global terror network. Inhofe, who once called global warming a “hoax,” boasts of being “one of the last true conservatives left in the Senate”.

Earlier today, DailyKos diarist gypsy shared with us a letter that Rice is apparently distributing to his friends and supporters:

Andrew Rice for U.S. Senate
P.O. Box 1027
Oklahoma City, OK  73102
                                                       August 2, 2007
Dear Friends,

While I have deliberated during these past few months, I have also encouraged other, more widely-known Democrats to take up the challenge.  To date, none has done so.  I have also thoroughly discussed the pros and cons of running with my wife Apple and my family.

Today, I want you to know that I have decided to run and that I intend to win!

I want you to be assured that I will not have to vacate my State Senate seat in order to run and I will continue to make myself accessible and accountable to my constituents in Senate District 46.

I believe Oklahomans deserve a choice for U.S. Senate in 2008.

Washington is paralyzed by partisan bickering, and Jim Inhofe may be one of the most partisan Senators of all.  He even boasts of being the “most conservative” Senator.  In contrast, as a member in the evenly divided Oklahoma Senate, I have proven that I can work with both Republicans and Democrats to get results for our state.

Divisive politics is harming our country.  That’s not my style.  I have already met many Oklahomans from across the state.  They tell me that Washington no longer listens to them.

This will be a tough and expensive race.  In fact, I will need to raise several million dollars just to compete against Inhofe and the National Republicans who will stop at nothing to help him extend his 40-year career in elective politics. […]

Despite having a very lackluster approval rating for a senior senator in his third term (the last time that SUSA polled this race in November, he was at a 46% approval), more prominent names in Oklahoma’s Democratic cycles (and there are a few, including Gov. Brad Henry and four-term Attorney General Drew Edmondson) have not jumped at the chance to challenge Inhofe.  Perhaps the hesitancy stems from watching former Democratic Rep. Brad Carson’s surprisingly wide loss (42%-53%) in the 2004 open seat race against Tom Coburn–a candidate who nicely complements Inhofe’s nuttiness in the Senate.

There’s no doubt that Rice, a young progressive with a compelling biography, will face a tough climb in the state, especially in a Presidential year when Duncan Hunter carries the state by a 30-point margin (kidding).  Still, Inhofe is older, he has a tendency to say stupid shit, and the dynamic of a fresh face versus a doddery loon could be fun to watch, given a reasonable amount of funding in Rice’s campaign coffers.

With Jeff Merkley in Oregon and now Andrew Rice in Oklahoma, 2008’s Senate races are beginning to take more shape as we approach the fall.

On the web: Andrew Rice for Oklahoma (I’m assuming that this will be updated once Rice makes his official announcement)

Jim Inhofe is worried. And he may very well be justified. Accoridng to the Tulsa World, Chuck Schumer and the DSCC are gunning for him and looking hard for a candidate.

Inhofe says the same people who took out Pombo are now gunning for him.

He based that prediction at least partly on recent fundraising letters the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent out using Inhofe as one of the major reasons donors should pony up for the cause.

“One seat. That’s all it would take to flip Senate control back to the GOP in 2008,” one letter states.

“And once again, the Oklahoma Republican Senator James Inhofe — who has called global warming the ‘greatest hoax ever 
perpetrated on the American people’ — would assume the chairmanship of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.”

Unfortunately, our two strongest candidates have said no, for now.

Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry has said no to national Democrats hoping to recruit him for the race.

U.S. Rep. Dan Boren is also taking a pass on the 2008 Senate race….

Although much of what Inhofe said was likley due to paranoia, it does appear that the DSCC is looking at this race. We need to help them out and urge either Henty, Boren or another strong candidate to take up this race!

 

How else am I to read into this quip by Republican Senator Jim Inhofe at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference?

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) got the crowd cheering early in the day. “I have been called — my kids are all aware of this — dumb, crazy man, science abuser, Holocaust denier, villain of the month, hate-filled, warmonger, Neanderthal, Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun,” he announced. “And I can just tell you that I wear some of those titles proudly.”

As an aside, Oklahoma Democrats would be well-advised to run a credible challenger against Inhofe in 2008.  It’d be worth it alone to see what other “laugh lines” Inhofe produces during the scheduled televised debates.

(Hat-tip to the always sharp Senate 2008 Guru.)

Race Tracker: OK-Sen

Alright, let’s keep the ball rolling here.  Every Thursday, the Swing State Project is taking a look at five GOP-held Senate seats that are up for grabs in 2008, and asking you to submit your recruitment suggestions for each of these races.  (The first one was here and last week’s was here.)

Here is this week’s shortlist up for discussion.  Links are to the 2008 Race Tracker wiki for inspiration, and incumbents are in parens:

11) North Carolina (Elizabeth Dole)

12) Nebraska (Chuck Hagel)

13) New Hampshire (John Sununu)

14) New Mexico (Pete Domenici)

15) Oklahoma (James Inhofe)

Like David said the first time:

Don’t limit yourself to politicians. Businesspeople, community leaders, activists – even athletes or celebrities (think Heath Shuler or Al Franken) – are all fair game. Even seemingly outlandish suggestions are welcome. Would you have ever predicted that the guitarist from Orleans would now be a Congressman-elect?

However, as usual, please do limit yourself to the five races listed in this post.  I know everyone is excited to discuss the whole load of upcoming races, but the quality of discussion is enhanced greatly when we stay focused on just a few Senators at a time.  I’ve really enjoyed some of the suggestions that you have submitted so far.

So, whaddya got?