James Lankford (R OK-5) to run for Tom Coburn's Senate Seat

[Indy Texas]

A ginger Bible camp counselor is exactly what the US Senate needs.

[Indy Texas]

Why doesn't Bushie (or Reginald, or Mechaman) run for the dem. nomination? I'm sure only perennial candidates will, and they'd certainly be able to beat them in the primary

Omigod please, PLEASE make this happen. Can we all chip in to pay Bushie's filing fee and set up a PAC in his honor?

[Indy Texas]

OKC Democrat Expected to Run

State Sen. Constance Johnson

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/04/02/4035586/okla-city-democrat-expected-to.html

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For those who think she's familiar, Johnson was the Oklahoma State Senator who drafted a bill to ban male masturbation as a sarcastic response to a bill that would define embryos as people.


Obviously she gets my full support, but I don't think Bushie will like her very much


Also; should T.W. Shannon get the nomination, this will be the 2nd black-on-black Senate race this year (Tim Scott vs. Joyce Dickerson will be the other). Funny that Republicans will win both.

I keep forgetting that they have black people in Oklahoma.

[Indy Texas]

Lankford's been branded as establishment.

I"m sorry but, seriously, WTF?

The guy was elected in 2010 and has never held a public office apart from that.

T.W. Shannon and Randy Brogdon have longer political histories than Lankford does.

At this point, does Establishment just mean not crazy enough?

[Indy Texas]

Guys, you could never hold elected office in your life and still be part of the "Establishment." It's all about who you're cozy with. The point (and I'm not agreeing or disagreeing because I know next to nothing about Lankford) is that he's been close to the House leaders who are generally regarded as Establishment forces.

Thank you. It's really not that hard to see.

Yes, someone had to say it.

And why is that a bad thing? Why is it not okay to be close to House leaders for sake of actually, I don't know, getting $#!@ done, but it's perfectly okay to be close to the leaders of the Tea Party-Industrial Complex that exercises far more influence over Republican policymaking than anything that spineless chump Boehner does?

Is T.W. Shannon some lone wolf with no connections to anyone? Do you think he doesn't have his own closed-door meetings with people he owes favors to and will owe more favors to once the election's over and the checks have been cashed?

Please tell me just what far away planet you live on where that kind of "Establishment" is perfectly acceptable to you but James Lankford's isn't.

[Indy Texas]

Guys, you could never hold elected office in your life and still be part of the "Establishment." It's all about who you're cozy with. The point (and I'm not agreeing or disagreeing because I know next to nothing about Lankford) is that he's been close to the House leaders who are generally regarded as Establishment forces.

Thank you. It's really not that hard to see.

Yes, someone had to say it.

And why is that a bad thing? Why is it not okay to be close to House leaders for sake of actually, I don't know, getting $#!@ done, but it's perfectly okay to be close to the leaders of the Tea Party-Industrial Complex that exercises far more influence over Republican policymaking than anything that spineless chump Boehner does?

Is T.W. Shannon some lone wolf with no connections to anyone? Do you think he doesn't have his own closed-door meetings with people he owes favors to and will owe more favors to once the election's over and the checks have been cashed?

Please tell me just what far away planet you live on where that kind of "Establishment" is perfectly acceptable to you but James Lankford's isn't.

Lankford panders to the interests of the Congressional Republican leadership. Shannon panders to the interests of the Oklahoma Republican establishment, thus making him the outside voice....technically.

The same logic that prevailed when "outsider" incumbent governor Rick Perry ran against incumbent US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison who had not held elected office for as long as Rick Perry had and had a far more substantive career outside of politics than he did.

[Indy Texas]

Oh boy!

As a Tulsa voter, I am totally undecided between Shannon and Brogdon. Lankford has been an Religious Righter and affiliated with Republican leadership, and that's unacceptable to me. Not that Shannon isn't, but Lankford has certainly embraced those values and said no to Fiscal Conservatism by comparison to other Oklahoma Republicans.

What has he done, other than have the nerve to keep the federal government funded and in existence, to make you say that?

[Indy Texas]

To me, it does condemn it in Leviticus 18:22 - "Thou shall not lie with mankind as with womankind."

Leviticus?  Oh dear.  The same book that also condemns eating shellfish, mixing fabrics, and tattoos?

Well we know Bushie has no trouble exercising discretion in what he shovels down his mouth.