Electoral storm clouds on the horizon

Much is happening this election year along this, the most conservative stretch of Old Route 66.  I myself am resigned to the reality that Presidential politics matters little to us here in Oklahoma.  We Sooner State voters with our seven electoral votes have never been a deciding factor in electing a U.S. President in our history and I am entirely okay with that.  We after all have more important and pressing issues much closer to home.  We have a state with derelict leadership that is not only failing but doing so in grand fashion.  The situation is such that we are one major crisis away from federal intervention, but I digress.

As I have stated before on this blog, results of governing matter and they matter a lot.  It is very apparent that the results of five years of GOP governance at NE 23rd and Lincoln Blvd and at the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma City has gotten the attention of enough people to make for a very expensive election cycle for every incumbent legislator and state official who is up for reelection.  Election 2016 will be a far cry from that of 2014 when over 30 GOP candidates ran unopposed.  The Chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, Mark Hammons, has issued a directive that no Republican is to run without facing a Democratic opponent.  This past week Chairman Hammons got most of what he was looking for.  There has not been filing activity at the state capitol this heavy since 2004.  Last week 417 candidates filed for elective office.  Democrats are contesting 83 out of 101 State House seats and 23 out of 25 State Senate seats.  I don’t know if that is a record but it is a marked change given the level of apparent voter apathy over the past few election cycles.

I am not going to predict great things as in sweeping Democratic victories given the election is over six and a half months away which is an eternity in politics.  However, I will say that the incumbent majority’s flailing efforts are on full display for all Oklahomans, all Americans and all the World to examine.  The budget crisis is only getting worse such that those suffering the most, public education and Medicaid recipients in particular, are rapidly deteriorating.  Some public school districts are shortening their academic week to four days and the minimum salary for teachers has been suspended.  I know social workers working for organizations which contract with the state who have not been paid in weeks.  We are still having earthquakes, (“freedom tremors” as they are known to fracking proponents) caused by injection wells which are increasing in frequency and intensity.  Make no mistake about it, this election is going to be a referendum on failed government.  I expect the GOP incumbents to pull out the stops to take the focus off their failure.  It remains to be seen if the Oklahoma Misery Index will be high enough to cost them their respective majorities.  More on that is coming.  Right now storm clouds are forming on the horizon and they are headed our way.  This should be a ride of the wildest order for those involved in partisan politics.