Is it my imagination or is there really a growing number of people seeking to better the World and their own lot in it? That query may perhaps be purely rhetorical but from my vantage point I can validate that it is not my imagination. I may not be able to speak for the entire World but at least in Oklahoma I can say categorically that the halcyon days of the state’s Republican Party running 30 or 40 legislative seats unopposed are, for the foreseeable future, OVER. During the last legislative session there was a tipping point reached where enough constituents who were not being served by the elected individuals and those who “won” their elections uncontested stood up, spoke out and let them know in no uncertain terms that they were on notice. The misgoverned masses, by means of physical numbers in protest, let those taking up space at the State Capitol know that if they wish to keep their job as elected representatives that they were going to have to exert some effort to do so from now on. The one silver lining to the otherwise very dark cloud moving in after the last election was the number of people who suddenly seemed to care a lot more about the World than they did the week before. I can personally verify that the local Democratic Party’s Luncheon Club was drawing a couple of dozen attendees in the runup to the 2016 General Election. The Friday after the election of the 45th *President, attendance grew to a standing-room-only crowd. That was a three-fold increase of what the draw was previous, all members of the community who were obviously concerned about the consequences of the events earlier in the week. You might give two spits about your World if you were one of those in that or any other SRO crowd at your local Democratic Party luncheon club the Friday after the last General Election.
You might give two spits about your World if you were disgusted enough by an election where the Electoral College winner lost the popular vote by a count of over three million and wanted to help organize a resistance to what you knew was coming. You might give two spits about your world if you are neither pleased nor enamored by the tyranny of the minority and are willing to push back against it.
You might give two spits about your World if you are tired of an election system where incumbent politicians are able to choose their voters instead of vice versa and you possess a genuine desire to try to change those rules governing redistricting.
If you have felt a sense of helplessness living in Oklahoma over the past eight years as results of conservative Republican policies have impacted the quality of life of those below the upper income tax brackets, do not despair. You are in ample and sympathetic company. You might give two spits about your state if the budget cuts to public education and abusive denigration of public school educators by those in power struck you as being over the line and motivated you to walk over a hundred miles to the let the country club types at the State Capitol know that their policies and public malignment are unacceptable.
You might give two spits about your state if you have been shaken to your core by all the “freedom tremors” spawned by poorly regulated waste water injection wells, are appalled by Oklahoma’s #1 ranking of “Earthquake Capitol of the World” and are ready to demand something be done to stop this insanity.
If you experienced a combination of surprise, exasperation and quiet shame when it was reported earlier this year that the State of Oklahoma incarcerates more of its citizens per capita than any other jurisdiction ON THE PLANET, you are again in familiar and plentiful company. You might give two spits about your state if that knowledge elevated your desire to the level of a demand that criminal justice reform be addressed at the executive level and in the legislature.
If you stand amazed at fiscal policies implemented by a legislature that is top-heavy with individuals who sold themselves to the voters as “fiscally conservative proven business leaders” whose results have produced repeated revenue failures and subsequent repeated budget crises that have substantially undercut core services, you find yourself again in an agreeable and growing number of like-minded company. You might give two spits about your state if you think you might not be able to do any better than those incumbents pulling those vote levers under that big dome at NE 23rd and Lincoln in Oklahoma City but know beyond all certainty that you couldn’t do much worse and have dedicated yourself to unseating one of them.
If you were one of the 57% who turned out on Primary Election Day a few weeks ago to vote for a primary candidate and mark “YES” next to State Question 788, you might have had your suspicions validated that your are in fact a member of the majority on Election Night in spite of numerous reported instances of voter obstruction. You might give two spits about your state and a significant number of people in it if you signed the petition to put recreational cannabis on referendum ballot.
If your life has not evolved consistent with the vision you had for it on the day you graduated high school and would like it to be improved, rest assured that you are likely in a burgeoning segment of the population. You might actually give two spits about your community, state and World if you have made a personal commitment to become the change agent needed to confront the issues we face at this time. If you have declared candidacy as a Democrat for any office be it dogcatcher, city councilor, county clerk, state representative, state senator, any state officer, governor, congressional representative, U.S. senator or even President in 2020, you obviously give two spits about your World, especially if you are committed to dropping the requisite amount of sweat by walking your district in 90+ degree F heat! That goes for all your campaign volunteers as well.
Circumstances of extraordinary times have a way of leading ordinary people to unusual places and to doing things they had never dreamed of just a few years ago. We now find ourselves in one of those unique times and places. Here’s to being the agents of change we all ever hoped we would be. Oklahoma Democratic candidates of 2018, I salute you!
Excellent article