Archive for August, 2012
Rob Wallace Wins Nomination CD2
Author: Tim Reese
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Longtime state and federal prosecutor Rob Wallace has defeated Muskogee seed seller Wayne Herriman for the Democratic Party nomination in Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District.
Wallace will try to keep the seat in Democratic hands this fall against a Republican nominee also selected Tuesday. Congressman Dan Boren announced last year he wouldn’t seek re-election.
The 49-year-old Wallace of Fort Gibson enjoyed endorsements from some of the state’s most popular Democrats, including former Gov. Brad Henry, former Attorney General Drew Edmondson and University of Oklahoma President David Boren, the incumbent’s father.
Former Gov. Charlie Crist Will Speak At Democratic Convention
Author: Tim Reese
Read the NPR Article HERE
Republicans have their former Democratic star at their convention this week in Artur Davis — and now Democrats have their answer in Charlie Crist.
The former governor and former Republican will speak next week at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, the party confirmed this morning.
The new role was somewhat expected after Crist’s op-ed Sunday in the Tampa Bay Times newspaper endorsing President Barack Obama for re-election.
Once a popular Republican governor in Florida, Crist was on the short list for vice president in 2008 but lost that nod to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. In 2009, he had a falling out with Florida conservatives after embracing President Obama’s stimulus program. At the time, Crist had been regarded as the frontrunner for the GOP Senate nomination in 2010, but he was challenged by Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio. Falling behind Rubio in the polls, Crist dropped out of the Republican primary to seek the Senate seat as an independent. Rubio won easily.
The day and time of Crist’s turn at the Charlotte podium is not yet settled. Democrats say Crist’s remarks will illustrate the contrast between the economic visions of Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Republicans say Crist’s remarks are all about Crist and his political ambitions.
Florida political observers speculate that Crist hopes to run for his old job again, this time as a Democrat challenging incumbent Republican Rick Scott in 2014.
Davis was a Democratic congressman from Alabama who endorsed Obama early and spoke for him at the 2008 convention. He left the Democratic Party after losing a primary for governor of Alabama in 2010. He has recently expressed interest in running for Congress as a Republican in Virginia, where he now lives.
Former Gov. Charlie Crist: Here’s why I’m backing Barack Obama
Author: Tim Reese
Fmr. Gov. Charlie Christ
Former Gov. Charlie Crist: Here’s why I’m backing Barack Obama
By Charlie Crist, Special to the Times
Published Sunday, August 26, 2012
I’ve studied, admired and gotten to know a lot of leaders in my life. Across Florida, in Washington and around the country, I’ve watched the failure of those who favor extreme rhetoric over sensible compromise, and I’ve seen how those who never lose sight of solutions sow the greatest successes.
As America prepares to pick our president for the next four years — and as Florida prepares once again to play a decisive role — I’m confident that President Barack Obama is the right leader for our state and the nation. I applaud and share his vision of a future built by a strong and confident middle class in an economy that gives us the opportunity to reap prosperity through hard work and personal responsibility. It is a vision of the future proven right by our history.
We often remind ourselves to learn the lessons of the past, lest we risk repeating its mistakes. Yet nearly as often, our short-term memory fails us. Many have already forgotten how deep and daunting our shared crisis was in the winter of 2009, as President Obama was inaugurated. It was no ordinary challenge, and the president served as the nation’s calm through a historically turbulent storm.
The president’s response was swift, smart and farsighted. He kept his compass pointed due north and relentlessly focused on saving jobs, creating more and helping the many who felt trapped beneath the house of cards that had collapsed upon them.
He knew we had to get people back to work as quickly as possible — but he also knew that the value of a recovery lies in its durability. Short-term healing had to be paired with an economy that would stay healthy over the long run. And he knew that happens best by investing in the right places.
President Obama invested in our children’s schools because he believes a good education is a necessity, not a luxury, if we’re going to create an economy built to last. He supported more than 400,000 K-12 teachers’ jobs, and he is making college more affordable and making student loans, like the ones he took out, easier to pay back.
He invested in our runways, railways and roads. President Obama knows a reliable infrastructure that helps move people to work and helps businesses move goods to market is a foundation of growth.
And the president invested in our retirement security by strengthening Medicare. The $716 billion in savings his opponents decry today extended the life of the program by nearly a decade and are making sure taxpayer dollars aren’t wasted in excessive payments to insurance companies or fraud and abuse. His opponents would end the Medicare guarantee by creating a voucher that would raise seniors’ costs by thousands of dollars and bankrupt the program.
We have more work to do, more investments to make and more waste to cut. But only one candidate in this race has proven a willingness to navigate a realistic path to prosperity.
As Republicans gather in Tampa to nominate Mitt Romney, Americans can expect to hear tales of how President Obama has failed to work with their party or turn the economy around.
But an element of their party has pitched so far to the extreme right on issues important to women, immigrants, seniors and students that they’ve proven incapable of governing for the people. Look no further than the inclusion of the Akin amendment in the Republican Party platform, which bans abortion, even for rape victims.
The truth is that the party has failed to demonstrate the kind of leadership or seriousness voters deserve.
Pundits looking to reduce something as big as a statewide election to a single photograph have blamed the result of my 2010 campaign for U.S. Senate on my greeting of President Obama. I didn’t stand with our president because of what it could mean politically; I did it because uniting to recover from the worst financial crisis of our lifetimes was more important than party affiliation. I stood with our nation’s leader because it was right for my state.
President Obama has a strong record of doing what is best for America and Florida, and he built it by spending more time worrying about what his decisions would mean for the people than for his political fortunes. That’s what makes him the right leader for our times, and that’s why I’m proud to stand with him today.
Charlie Crist is the former Republican governor of Florida and previously was elected as a state senator, education commissioner and attorney general. He currently is registered as no party affiliation. Crist wrote this column exclusively for the Tampa Bay Times.
Guild Grass Roots Continue
Author: Tim Reese
The Guild for Congress Campaign Continues to Make Strides in Its Aggressive, Grassroots Campaign
The Guild for Congress Campaign continues to make strides in its aggressive, grassroots campaign in the area of campaign finance, voter contact, and endorsements.
The campaign has raised approximately $62,000 to date. The vast majority of the donations have come from grassroots, middle class donors, who donate from $5-$100. The Guild Campaign is a modest, respectable middle class campaign, not dependent on wealthy donors, or on political action committee donations. It is a sharp contrast with the million dollar campaign of the fifth district incumbent and his large cache of PAC money and high dollar contributions.
“We have visited 9,000+ households to leave our literature, have made 2,500+ phone calls, have put up 700+ yard signs, and have erected three billboards on supporters’ property. We have 75 volunteers and a dedicated core of 30 volunteers who canvass or call for our campaign weekly,” states Guild.
Guild continues, “We have been endorsed by the Brennan Society, Change Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State American Federation of Teachers, the Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Freedom, the American Federation of Government Employees, the Oklahoma AFL-CIO, and hundreds of individuals in the fifth congressional district.”
“We are proud that we are running a middle class, grassroots financed and powered campaign for Congress. If we are going to take back our government and break the gridlock and dysfunctional congressional paralysis, we are going to have to do it from the grassroots level and not from the top down, as has been the recent common practice, leading to unsatisfactory results for our people,” concluded Tom Guild.
Tom Guild is the Democratic Nominee for the Fifth Congressional District of Oklahoma.
Democrats Mourn Passing of Buddy Hall
Author: Tim Reese
http://www.martinfhok.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=1562262&fh_id=13554
Lynn “Buddy” Hall 11/17/28 – 8/21/2012 A celebration of the life of Lynn “Buddy” Hall will be conducted at the United Methodist Church of Elk City on August 21, 2012 at 10:30 A.M. with Reverend Terry Koehn, Reverend Joe Garkovich and Dr. Thomas Jewel.
Buddy Hall was born on November 17, 1928 southwest of Elk City to Winnie Mae and John W. Hall and passed away on August 17, 2012 at 83 years of age. Buddy left this earth suddenly and unexpectedly while doing what he loved, working on an outdoor project.
Buddy graduated Elk City High School in 1946 and was awarded a basketball scholarship to attend Southwestern Oklahoma State University. In 1948 he married Betty Katherine Duke and transferred to the University of Oklahoma where he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1951. By 1953, he was the youngest superintendent for Master Builder Robert E. McKee of El Paso, Texas, where he supervised construction projects, including a significant project for the United State Air Force at White Sands testing range in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He was the superintendent and job engineer for a high-speed sled test track used to propel the first manned vehicle that broke the sound barrier.
At the conclusion of the project, Buddy had numerous opportunities, but chose to bring his young family back to Elk City in 1958, to be closer to the Hall and Duke families. He then launched a general building construction career that spanned five decades and resulted in several significant projects in western Oklahoma including Elk City Jr. High School and Susan Powell Auditorium, The Clinton Tornado Dome and St. Matthews Catholic Church of Elk City.
Buddy was a quiet leader, and had lifelong passions that he gave to tirelessly and endlessly. His family, his church and his Democratic politics were the priorities of his life. He taught Sunday school at the First Christian Church for over 40 years, and also served as a deacon and elder. He was also a biblical scholar with a special passion for biblical geography loving to share his deep knowledge with others. He was a lifelong passionate leader in the Democratic party and was most proud of being appointed as Chairman of the State Board of Affairs of Oklahoma, overseeing the management of all state properties and construction projects.
Buddy was preceded in death by his parents, his infant brother, Clayton Hall and his sister Phyllis Hogue.
Survivors include his wife, Betty of Elk City, 3 children, Susan Storm and her husband Dan of Elk City, Andy Hall and his wife Kathy Oden-Hall of Oklahoma City and Joe D. Hall and his wife Vickie of Elk City. He was extremely proud of his seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Brandon Storm of Elk City and his three children, Rhiannon, Tempeste and Piper, Joe Storm and wife Jamie of San Antonio, Texas, Van Storm and wife Julie and their daughter, Dori, of Oklahoma City, Drew Hall of Lawrence, Kansas, Allie Hall of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Grace and Hope Hall of Elk City. Buddy also embraced his two step-grandsons, Tuck and Avery Oden, of Oklahoma City.
