Oklahoma.....

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

What exactly makes this state so incredibly, ultra, mega, super, uber-Republican?

Obama couldn't crack 46% in any county in this state... Counties of several thousand voters approached 90% for McCain in a losing national effort. 

What happened?  I mean, I know it's always been GOP-friendly.. but it's become insane in recent years.

[Alcon]

All kinds of sub-plots to the narrative, here.

Ancestral voting break-down

Democratic loss among working-class cultural conservatives

Urban vs. rural identity politics (a subtle theme during '08 but there nonetheless)

Essentially, Oklahoma has all of the patterns that make for a GOP trend over the last few election, save for working-class ethnics.  And one could make an argument that the Okies behave more than a little like working-class ethnics, even if calling them "ethnic" is true only in a certain sense.

[Lunar]

It's like Texas but without blacks, Hispanics, and cities

[Padfoot]

It's like Texas but without blacks, Hispanics, and cities

so funny and yet so true.

[RIP Robert H Bork]

It's like Texas but without blacks, Hispanics, and big cities

so funny and yet so true.

[Joe Biden 2020]

It's like Texas but without blacks, Hispanics, and cities

so funny and yet so true.

Actually, we do have a sizeable population of African Americans and Hispanics.  Not as much as Texas, but we do have a good number.  Also, I disagree that Oklahoma has no big cities.  Oklahoma City is a big city, we have 550,000 people in the city alone, plus we're the biggest land-area city in the nation outside of Juneau, Alaska.  Its our metro area thats not really big, we only have just shy of 1.5 million in the Oklahoma City metro.  Plus, Tulsa is a large mid size city with about 375,000.  Now, I agree none of those figures are as big as the top 10 in the country with over 1 million in the city alone, but 550,000 is nothing to sneeze at.

As far as why we are so Republican-friendly, its kind of a catch 22.  We're not going to become more Democratic friendly on the federal level unless Democratic politicians visit us and Democratic politicians won't visit us until we become more Democratic friendly.  On the state level, though, our Democratic Party is alive and well and thriving.  We've got a majority of the downballot offices and only lost a couple of them due to corruption.  We've had the Governors mansion for 8 years (up through January 2011) and are in an excellent position to keep it at least for another 4 (through January 2015) with Jari Askins.  We've lost the State Legislature, but I believe that's only short term.

[Landslide Lyndon]

As far as why we are so Republican-friendly, its kind of a catch 22.  We're not going to become more Democratic friendly on the federal level unless Democratic politicians visit us and Democratic politicians won't visit us until we become more Democratic friendly.  On the state level, though, our Democratic Party is alive and well and thriving.  We've got a majority of the downballot offices and only lost a couple of them due to corruption.  We've had the Governors mansion for 8 years (up through January 2011) and are in an excellent position to keep it at least for another 4 (through January 2015) with Jari Askins.  We've lost the State Legislature, but I believe that's only short term.

But states like Indiana, Montana, and North Carolina started moving towards the Democrats before they started making any particular effort.

Oklahoma on the other hand, the more the Republican brand sinked, the more it's allegiance hardened. If Bush's failures didn't have any effect on Oklahomans political loyalties, then I doubt that a few rallies and commercials would have that much effect. The Democrats will continue to spend their resources on voters which can actually be persuaded.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Urban vs. rural identity politics (a subtle theme during '08 but there nonetheless)

If a lump hammer is subtle, then I guess that theme was subtle.

[Sam Spade]

It's like Texas but without blacks, Hispanics, and cities

You missed Germans.

[WalterMitty]

It's like Texas but without blacks, Hispanics, and cities

there are pockets of blacks in 'little dixie' and along the red river.

also okc has a black population.

[justfollowingtheelections]

According to the CNN exit polls:

82% of the voters are White and they voted for McCain 71-29
7% African-American
3% Latino
8% Other (Native American I assume)
0% Asian

Also
21% live in an urban area
35% Suburban
43% rural

For Texas the numbers were:
Race:
White 63%
African-American 13%
Latino 20%
Other 2%
Asian 2%

Area:
Urban 43%
Suburban 41%
Rural 16%

[Alcon]

Urban vs. rural identity politics (a subtle theme during '08 but there nonetheless)

If a lump hammer is subtle, then I guess that theme was subtle.

I'd say it was subtle relative to 2004, despite the best (and horribly misguided) attempts of the McCain campaign.

[Verily]

Urban vs. rural identity politics (a subtle theme during '08 but there nonetheless)

If a lump hammer is subtle, then I guess that theme was subtle.

I'd say it was subtle relative to 2004, despite the best (and horribly misguided) attempts of the McCain campaign.

Subtle in terms of campaign strategy, perhaps. Stronger in terms of voting patterns.

[Linus Van Pelt]

Gonna have to side with the Alderman here. Sarah Palin's entire campaign was basically rural identity politics.

[nclib]

Also, I disagree that Oklahoma has no big cities.  Oklahoma City is a big city, we have 550,000 people in the city alone, plus we're the biggest land-area city in the nation outside of Juneau, Alaska.  Its our metro area thats not really big, we only have just shy of 1.5 million in the Oklahoma City metro.  Plus, Tulsa is a large mid size city with about 375,000.  Now, I agree none of those figures are as big as the top 10 in the country with over 1 million in the city alone, but 550,000 is nothing to sneeze at.

I don't think the fact that OKC has a huge land area gives support to it being a big city, in terms of politics and culture. On the contrary, it shows the population density is much lower than cities with similar populations and even less dense than many cities with significantly smaller populations, especially those in the Northeast.

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I think OK is among the highest in percentage of Native Americans, and is concentrated in its eastern counties. Yet as said earlier, Obama couldn't crack 46% in any county. Are the Natives not solidly Democratic, have low turnout, and/or are simply outvoted by solidly Republican whites?

Also, OK might have the highest percentage of evangelicals, with only the Deep South being comparable. Even though whites in Mississippi and Alabama are even more Republican, it doesn't show up in swings because whites in MS and AL have always been solidly Republican, and they have higher black populations and increased black turnout in 2008.

[Alcon]

I agree on voting patterns vs. campaign strategy.  We very rarely see an election where urban areas swing pronouncedly more Democratic than rural areas.  This was one.

Pure Native turnout sucks.  They also tend to be diluted, culturally and racially.  In Oklahoma, everyone is 1/16th Cherokee.  Enough people are 1/8th or 1/4th that some areas have very high self-IDs as AmerIndian.  A lot of them are really "white" in every relevant sense.

God I'm too tired to be writing anything coherent, Al finish up

[Joe Biden 2020]

Also, I disagree that Oklahoma has no big cities.  Oklahoma City is a big city, we have 550,000 people in the city alone, plus we're the biggest land-area city in the nation outside of Juneau, Alaska.  Its our metro area thats not really big, we only have just shy of 1.5 million in the Oklahoma City metro.  Plus, Tulsa is a large mid size city with about 375,000.  Now, I agree none of those figures are as big as the top 10 in the country with over 1 million in the city alone, but 550,000 is nothing to sneeze at.

I don't think the fact that OKC has a huge land area gives support to it being a big city, in terms of politics and culture. On the contrary, it shows the population density is much lower than cities with similar populations and even less dense than many cities with significantly smaller populations, especially those in the Northeast.

I think the fact that we have 550,000 people qualifies us as a big city.  I am simply stating our land area as a matter-of-fact.  If you don't consider us a big city (the city by itself), then you have to exclude Seattle, Denver, El Paso, Ft Worth, Miami, Atlanta, Kansas City, St Louis, Washington D.C. and even Boston from the list of big cities.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I think OK is among the highest in percentage of Native Americans, and is concentrated in its eastern counties. Yet as said earlier, Obama couldn't crack 46% in any county. Are the Natives not solidly Democratic, have low turnout, and/or are simply outvoted by solidly Republican whites?

Also, OK might have the highest percentage of evangelicals, with only the Deep South being comparable. Even though whites in Mississippi and Alabama are even more Republican, it doesn't show up in swings because whites in MS and AL have always been solidly Republican, and they have higher black populations and increased black turnout in 2008.
[/quote]

Oklahoma has the second highest Native American population in the country, second only to Alaska.  Myself, personally, am 1/32nd Potawatomi Indian, from my mother's side and 1/64th Cherokee from my father's side.  On my mother's side, my great-great grandfather was full blood Potawatomi and may get a newly constructed bridge named after him in the northeast Choctaw/southeast Jones/southwest Luther/northwest Harrah, Oklahoma area (east-north-east of Oklahoma City proper)

[nclib]

Also, I disagree that Oklahoma has no big cities.  Oklahoma City is a big city, we have 550,000 people in the city alone, plus we're the biggest land-area city in the nation outside of Juneau, Alaska.  Its our metro area thats not really big, we only have just shy of 1.5 million in the Oklahoma City metro.  Plus, Tulsa is a large mid size city with about 375,000.  Now, I agree none of those figures are as big as the top 10 in the country with over 1 million in the city alone, but 550,000 is nothing to sneeze at.

I don't think the fact that OKC has a huge land area gives support to it being a big city, in terms of politics and culture. On the contrary, it shows the population density is much lower than cities with similar populations and even less dense than many cities with significantly smaller populations, especially those in the Northeast.

I think the fact that we have 550,000 people qualifies us as a big city.  I am simply stating our land area as a matter-of-fact.  If you don't consider us a big city (the city by itself), then you have to exclude Seattle, Denver, El Paso, Ft Worth, Miami, Atlanta, Kansas City, St Louis, Washington D.C. and even Boston from the list of big cities.

If you're talking strictly about population, fine. I said in terms of politics and culture, as this thread is about the politics and culture of Oklahoma and how it votes the way it does.

[Husker]

Oklahoma is pretty much the perfect state for republicans. There are a ton of evangelicals, a fair number of people in oil, a large number of wheat farmers and ranchers. All of these subgroups tend to vote republican, even if they aren't die hard conservatives. Plus I think there is just a unique combination of western and midwestern fiscal conservatism and southern social conservatism. It really is like Texas in many respects but I think democrats will start seeing more success in OKC as it grows and becomes more cosmopolitan.

[Alcon]

I think the fact that we have 550,000 people qualifies us as a big city.  I am simply stating our land area as a matter-of-fact.  If you don't consider us a big city (the city by itself), then you have to exclude Seattle, Denver, El Paso, Ft Worth, Miami, Atlanta, Kansas City, St Louis, Washington D.C. and even Boston from the list of big cities.

If New York City was split into 15,000 municipalities, would it suddenly cease to be a large city?

Is the biggest city in the U.S. in Alaska?

Raw population and land size are not the only considerations, or even the most significant ones.

[Smash255]

I think the fact that we have 550,000 people qualifies us as a big city.  I am simply stating our land area as a matter-of-fact.  If you don't consider us a big city (the city by itself), then you have to exclude Seattle, Denver, El Paso, Ft Worth, Miami, Atlanta, Kansas City, St Louis, Washington D.C. and even Boston from the list of big cities.

If New York City was split into 15,000 municipalities, would it suddenly cease to be a large city?

Is the biggest city in the U.S. in Alaska?

Raw population and land size are not the only considerations, or even the most significant ones.

Hell, Nassau County which is about 2/5 of the size as Oklahoma City area wise, has 2.5 times the population of OKC, and has a population density which is more than 5 times OKC.

[Joe Biden 2020]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I think the fact that we have 550,000 people qualifies us as a big city.  I am simply stating our land area as a matter-of-fact.  If you don't consider us a big city (the city by itself), then you have to exclude Seattle, Denver, El Paso, Ft Worth, Miami, Atlanta, Kansas City, St Louis, Washington D.C. and even Boston from the list of big cities.

If you're talking strictly about population, fine. I said in terms of politics and culture, as this thread is about the politics and culture of Oklahoma and how it votes the way it does.

My bad.  I've always associated the size of a city with population and land area, but I can see now that there is a lot more to the equation.  In terms of political importance, Oklahoma City is not a big city, more like a large mid-size city.  In terms of culture, though, we are quickly transforming ourselves into a big city.  For instance, we now have a professional sports team that is seeing some remarkable improvement over the start of the season.  We have a bustling Bricktown area just on the east side of Downtown OKC.  Really good fine dining and entertainment.  We have a boat ride down the Oklahoma River modeled after the same in San Antonio, Texas.  We have two amusement parks, who are the former owners of the Six Flags theme parks in various parts of the country.  Our collegiate athletics are collectively among the best in the nation with two outstanding universities in athletics, but more importantly, academics.  In fact, for the meteorology profession, the University of Oklahoma in Norman is the best school to go to because of our rapidly changing weather and it is no coincidence that the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center is located in Norman.  They put out all the watches and warnings for the entire nation.  We're not a huge city, culturally, but we are still a big city, nonetheless, and the nice thing is we are still rapidly growing.

[HAnnA MArin County]

My opinion: It's because Oklahoma is full of "values voters", you know, the ones who turned out in massive force in 2004 to vote for George W. Bush because we couldn't let those sick homosexuals destroy the sanctity of marriage and let those left-wing liberals kill babies!

It's true, though. Here's a good story I found to explain why Oklahoma voted the way it did in 2008:

"Every Oklahoma County Voted for John McCain"
By Scott Cooper
OKGazette.com

If Oklahoma is now the reddest of the red states, it is not because Oklahoma is the most conservative place in the country.

That, at least, is the belief of Barack Obama's Oklahoma City Campaign Coordinator Jeff Bezdek.

"This state is no different than any other state," Bezdek said. "It just needed investment in it."

But pollster Bill Shappard of TVpoll.com disagrees with that assessment.

"Here in Oklahoma we are values voters," Shappard said. "And Oklahoma's values are conservative, even for many Democrats."

When election night 2008 ended, there was a clear advantage for the Democrats on the national stage. Their party now controls the White House and expanded their leads in Congress. Several states that had been Republican strongholds in past elections turned, or began trending, donkey blue—except Oklahoma.

Consider the numbers:

    *GOP presidential nominee John McCain had his biggest win here.
    *Republicans took control of the State Senate for the first time.
    *An incumbent Democrat was upset in a statewide race.
    *Oklahoma was the only state where McCain won every county.

But Bezdek doesn't credit the Republican Party for their Sooner State dominance.

"I think it's entirely due to party disorganization," Bezdek said. "(The Oklahoma) Democratic Party did not embrace the movement early on. They did not develop the infrastructure to capture and stimulate greater voter registration."

Bezdek said the Oklahoma Democratic Party was late in showing its support for the Obama campaign because it had basically written off Obama winning the state. An Associated Press story back in August wrote party officials conceded McCain would beat Obama.

"The worst mistake, and I lay total blame on the Democratic Party for this, is writing off the election months ago," Bezdek said. "If you proclaim that you are not going to win, then you're not going to win. This local Democratic Party needs to have an intervention and reassess its priorities in how it deals with messaging and communicating with its constituents."

Bezdek believes because most of Oklahoma's top Democratic officials supported Hillary Rodham Clinton, it took longer to get the state party to rally around Obama.

Oklahoma Democratic Party Chairman Ivan Holmes endorsed Obama as a superdelegate at the nominating convention. Holmes was not available for comment.

EXIT-POLL NUMBERS
A look at exit-poll numbers indicates how well the Republican Party got its message out in Oklahoma.

In the presidential race, McCain took nearly every demographic, no matter if the voter was male or female, no matter the age group. Besides getting 91 percent of the conservative vote, McCain also took the moderate vote by 14 points, and even received one out of every five liberal voters.

The numbers were similar for incumbent Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who easily won reelection over State Sen. Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma City). McCain and Inhofe also took a bulk of voters who "somewhat disapproved" of President George W. Bush.

McCain also earned 26 percent of people who voted for Rice, while Obama only garnered 7 percent of Inhofe voters.

Overall, Obama's 34 percent Oklahoma vote is one of the lowest for any Democrat.

"There is no excuse to get a vote less than John Kerry," Bezdek said, referring to the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee who received 34 percent of the Oklahoma vote. "I'm sorry, but John Kerry was not that well-liked in Oklahoma. I have heard people call Oklahoma racists and say extremely negative things about Oklahoma and I do not believe that. I do not believe that our voting public is somehow different."

But there are signs Obama never had a chance. The exit poll showed 57 percent of Oklahoma voters made up their mind for president before September.

"When the stock market fell (in September), the polls in a lot of states changed at that time," Shappard said. "Oklahoma didn't change. You could argue the economy is not going to affect Oklahoma. But you could also argue it's because of value voters. The economy is not their issue but abortion is."

The day before the election, TVpoll.com came out with a poll not only showing who Oklahomans were mostly likely going to vote for, but also their attitudes about politics and American society in general. One question asked if an Obama presidency would improve race relations. The majority in the poll, 44 percent, said relations would get worse. Only 18 percent said race relations would improve.

"Not everyone is as optimistic about Barack Obama winning, especially Republicans and conservatives," Shappard said. "They look at race relations in a different way. Liberals and progressives see a black president as race relations getting better. I'm not sure conservatives share that world view."

http://www.okgazette.com/p/12776/a/2920/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=LwBEAGUAZgBhAHUAbAB0AC4AYQBzAHAAeAAslashAHAAPQAxADIANwAyADkA

[HAnnA MArin County]

Oklahoma has the second highest Native American population in the country, second only to Alaska.  Myself, personally, am 1/32nd Potawatomi Indian, from my mother's side and 1/64th Cherokee from my father's side.  On my mother's side, my great-great grandfather was full blood Potawatomi and may get a newly constructed bridge named after him in the northeast Choctaw/southeast Jones/southwest Luther/northwest Harrah, Oklahoma area (east-north-east of Oklahoma City proper)
[/quote]

Actually, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, Oklahoma has the fourth highest Native American population in the country.

1) Alaska - 15.4%
2) New Mexico - 8.9%
3) South Dakota - 8.1%
4) Oklahoma - 7.7%
5) Montana - 6.0%

[minionofmidas]

Gonna have to side with the Alderman here. Sarah Palin's entire campaign was basically rural identity politics.

...except she didn't even know what a rural identity is, so it came out more wanna-be-rural exurban.

Which was okay since a) it's similar though different b) there's far more of it by now.