Is it ever too early to begin thinking about and planning for what may lie ahead? The future is upon us and the time to plan for it is the here and now. I have always been pretty hit-or-miss when endeavoring at matters involving what might happen on the timeline forward of the present. I do not have a big crystal ball to make wild predictions or foresee who might rise and rate the favor of that fickle dynamic known as fortune. At this point in any election cycle just like before the first game of any sport of any season, all candidates be they challengers or incumbents are winners in a landslide.
I have however been able to see and read the proverbial writing on the wall and in no uncertain terms there is a growing level of dissatisfaction with government at all levels and those who are in control of it. I can almost pinpoint when this wave of disapproval began to swell. It was the Friday after the 2016 General Election and the venue was the Tulsa County Democratic Party Luncheon Club. Luncheon Club is a monthly meeting of local Democratic Party members and in the runup to the election was drawing a little over two dozen attendees on any given second Friday. On that particular Friday though, when all the local and national tabloids were fawning over “President-elect Trump,” there were so many in attendance that it was standing room only. There were well over sixty very concerned persons present, many of whom were new faces but all sporting expressions of consternation at the prospect of living in America under a President Donald Trump and an all-GOP controlled Oklahoma. This seemingly greater interest in politics by so many who were largely not seen or heard before the day after Election Day 2016 has since only increased.
What may define “conservatism” in 2018 may still be a hot topic for discussion and debate on infotainment and opinion talk radio and TV but it is becoming clear with each news cycle that incumbent politicians who call themselves “Conservative” are having to explain why their policies are failing, why they are unable to formulate a basic budget and why anyone and everyone besides them is responsible for failing and broken government in the face of a shutdown when they control the White House and hold majorities in both chambers of Congress. Closer to home, never before in the history of the State of Oklahoma has a Republican governor had to call a Republican-led legislature back for a special session TWICE to produce a basic bare bones budget at a cost to Oklahoma taxpayers of some $32K a day. Their record of non-accomplishment cannot be spun as a positive no matter how hard they may try as they still failed to get it done. So many of these incumbent GOP members can campaign well and talk a really good game on certain points of ideology and dazzle enough voters with their business record but they have and are failing by any reasonable metric to deliver in terms of basic governance. Let the word go out far and wide, there will be no praise or rewards for unsatisfactory results.
I heard more than one Democratic candidate for state legislative office during the 2016 campaign include comments in their stump speech that the pendulum of rightwing conservative ideas in government is ripe for swinging back to the middle if not completely to the left. Due to a wave election and foreign meddling helping the winning Presidential candidate, the prediction of that big pendulum swing appears to have been off by one election cycle. Conservative winners and incumbents who have reaped certain benefits of the outcome of that 2016 wave election have remained largely mute on criticism of their inept leadership, but even they are able to see that writing on the wall and the pending swing of that ideological pendulum back from the far right. In short, the tacit message is that Washington has gotten all the mileage out of conservatism (whatever it may be) and Republicanism for the foreseeable future. With the sweeping Democratic victories in the State of Virginia and special elections in other very unlikely places (like Oklahoma Senate District 37) along with the recent Democratic victory for the open Alabama Senate seat, more than a few Congressional Republicans are opting out of campaigning for another term on Capitol Hill. That list is not yet complete as we are still in January.
Some of you regular readers may recall the video from a post a month or so ago where MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow shows the timeline of declared Congressional candidates the year before midterm elections dating back over a decade. I would like to see the updated numbers as her timeline only goes to 30 September 2017 with 391 Democratic candidates declared for Congressional seats compared to 71 declared Republicans.
Rachel Maddow: Exceptional number of Democratic House Challengers await 2018
The enthusiasm and resolve of so many Democratic candidates, particularly those who are women, is impossible to ignore. Even though Oklahoma ranks near the bottom in women in government, the recent trend of special election results appears encouraging. Given the seeming lack of accountability for failure among the incumbents, particularly those in leadership positions, the Ballot Box will hopefully provide a more definitive result.
The advent of legislative term limits in Oklahoma has eliminated professional politicians from state government. Now, with nearly two decades of that system as reference, we have a state government ran by amateurs and we have results that look like it. Any critic of the Oklahoma Democratic Party or career Democratic politicians, many of whom defined Oklahoma government for so long, can say what they like so long as they understand one basic truth: none of those old career Democrats ever created problems of the sort currently before us. Even though there were some lean and difficult times, the legislature always managed to come up with a serviceable budget that served the citizens of Oklahoma.
The ODP leadership has had a policy for two cycles now that no GOP incumbent will run unopposed. We are now taking applications for new management and a new group of players under that big dome at NE 23rd and Lincoln in OKC. It remains to be seen if any applicant can yield results better than what we have had but one thing is for certain, they certainly cannot deliver any that are much worse! We are seeking to recruit passionate public servants who exude commitment and resolve and can contribute better ideas to creating a better way for Oklahoma and America. Are you who we are looking for? Your community, state and nation is seeking guidance.
Bravo Oklahomans! This past election, we deep-sixed the formerly Republican-controlled Senate here in WA State & now have a Governor and legislature controlled by Democrats! This took place after the Repubs stymied state government by refusing to let a multi-year construction budget get passed… interfering with schools, highways, building & commerce all across the state.
“Throw the bastards out!” should be your watchword in the coming months… it is far past time to get rid of ALL the incompetent right-wing idiots who have been clogging our governments all across the country for so long!