Weekly Opinion/Editorial

CHICKEN FRIED INSURANCE TAX!
by Steve Fair

Back in 1992, Oklahoma passed State Question #640. The measure prevents the legislature from raising taxes without approval from the voters, or three fourths of each house of the legislature. Last week, the Oklahoma State Supreme Court ruled a proposed one percent fee on health insurance claims (HB 2437) was unconstitutional. Six of the nine justices said it violated the constitutional provision that SQ 640 established.
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The ruling presents a challenge for state government on how Medicaid will be funded in the state. The new ‘fee or tax’ was expected to generate $78 million and create a dedicated funding source for Medicaid. The fee was to take effect last Friday. Many business interests opposed the bill because they knew the fee would be passed onto them in price increases, which they would have to pass on to their customers.
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The day the Supreme Court made the ruling, a local GOP elected official held a fundraiser. The keynote speaker for this particular fundraiser was Oklahoma State House of Representatives Speaker Designate Kris Steele, (R-Shawnee).
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After the normal ‘mutual admiration society’ ritual you see at fundraisers, Steele spoke about what the 2011 legislature will face, including budget challenges. After he spoke, he took questions from the attendees. A local Duncan physician stated, “You need to talk more about health care in Oklahoma.” An increasing large amount of health care in Oklahoma is being funded via Medicare or Medicaid, “ the doc said. A local attorney asked, “What’s the back-up plan for Oklahoma after this ruling today?” Excellent questions normally not asked at political fundraisers.
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Steele wasn’t rattled by the questions and expertly outlined a number of things the legislature has done in the past few years to enhance health care in Oklahoma. Steele and Representative Doug Cox, (R-Grove), co-chaired the Oklahoma Health Care Reform Task Force. Cox is the only doctor in the state legislature. The pair helped expand Insure Oklahoma, a program that helps small businesses provide health care insurance for their employees. Steele said, “We have to increase insurance availability to improve the state’s health picture. We’re looking at reducing the uninsured.”
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They also help put together the All Kids Act, which allows families making up to three hundred percent of the federal poverty level to qualify for government assistance in obtaining health care.
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According to a 2008 report, “America’s Health Rankings: A Call to Action for Individuals & Their Communities” Oklahoma’s 3.5 million residents rank 44th of states from most to least healthy. “Oklahoma has issues with increasing rates of obesity and diabetics,” Steele said. Oklahoma has actually moved up four slots since 2007, when we were 47th. The report lists among the state’s challenges a high prevalence of smoking, a high rate of cardiovascular deaths and limited access to primary care. Since 1990, obesity in the state has increased by 148 percent. Oklahomans rank 48th in smoking and 43rd in obesity. We didn’t get there overnight, so education and lifestyle changes will take time. Keep in mind that in 1988, the Oklahoma legislature named Chicken Fried Steak the official state dish.
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On the positive side, according to the report, Oklahoma has strong per capita public health funding, due to the work of many in the public and private sectors dedicated to improving Oklahoma’s health picture.
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Steele said the ‘back-up plan’ would have to be formulated in the next legislative session. He said federal stimulus monies will make up the shortfall this year, but 2012 will be a different story. Steele didn’t express a great deal of optimism about achieving a ¾ majority on the bill in the upcoming session. Three comments about health care in Oklahoma:
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First, HB 2473 should never have been passed short of the three quarters approval of the legislature (36 in the Senate/ 76 in the House). When it was apparent it did not meet that threshold, the legislative leadership should have withdrawn the proposal. This ‘challenging’ of SQ #640 was time consuming, costly to taxpayers and unnecessary.
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Second, the answer to Oklahoma’s health care problems is complicated. How do we get Oklahomans to live healthy lifestyles? How do we insure more Oklahoma have access to affordable health care? How do we reform our tort system to prevent health care professional from leaving the state because of high malpractice premiums? We didn’t get here overnight and it will take time to fix it. Because Steele is considered to be one of the experts in the legislature on health care, as Speaker he will place an emphasis on the health of Oklahomans. That is a good thing!
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Third, Oklahomans need to start taking more equity in their own health. Rising health care costs impact everyone- not just the person receiving care. When the government pays a large majority of health care costs, your medical treatment is not just ‘your business’ anymore. ‘Your business’ ends where my wallet begins.

Weekly Opinion/Editorial

TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS!
by Steve Fair

A couple of companies that operate food processing plants in Oklahoma recently sold or merged with another company. Last week, privately held Phoenix based Bar S Foods announced they were selling to a Mexican company- Alfa, S.A.B. de C.V., parent company of Sigma Alimentos, S.A. de C.V.

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Bar S operates four facilities (three manufacturing plants and one distribution center) in Oklahoma. They are located in Clinton, Altus, Elk City and Lawton. Bar S employs about 1,200 people in the state, so the sale could have significant impact if Sigma decided to move the processing south of the border. It’s highly unlikely the DC will be affected.

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Commenting on the transaction, Armando Garza Sada, Alfa’s chairman of the board, stated: “This is an important milestone in Sigma´s growth strategy. With this acquisition, Sigma will become a meaningful player in the U.S. refrigerated processed meats market with an important presence in the U.S. Hispanic market.” While it is true the Latino consumer is the fasting growing segment of the US population, it’s also true that Alfa has several plants in Mexico that produce the same products as the Bar S plants. Hopefully Alfa will see the quality of work done by the Oklahoma workers and leave the plants here.

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About a month ago, it was announced that Advance Food Company, which was founded in Enid in 1973, was merging with Pierre Foods in Cincinnati. The new company will be called Advance Pierre Foods and the new CEO will be a Pierre guy. The son of one of the founders- Greg Allen- of Advance will be on the board. Both Advance and Pierre make meat products like hamburger patties and sandwiches, mostly for the food service industry. Advance employs over 1,900 people in the state

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Advance and Pierre have a lot of duplication in production capacity. Advance President Mark Allen said, "Obviously, there is some duplication.” Allen went on to say, "Our plan is to look at those types of duplications, and we'll make the decisions as to what we end up doing as to what's best for company.” Not the most reassuring words to Advance plant workers, but unlike the Bar S/Alfa situation, several of Pierre’s plant are union. Advance’s Oklahoma plants are non-union, which should be an advantage in retaining jobs. In fact, post merger plans call for the Enid plant to produce some of the products Pierre was making elsewhere. Brian Hayden, Advance’s Vice President of HR says, “We’ll actually see fairly immediate growth in production output at our Enid facility.”

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I’m not sure if Oklahoma’s elected officials have been in contact with the management of Alfa or Pierre. If not, that should be done immediately. The executives at both companies should be educated on the advantages Oklahoma offers. We are centrally located geographically. There are a myriad of advantages from a logisitics standpoint because we are in the heartland of American. Oklahoma has a mild climate. We are close to where the raw ingredients are grown- peanuts, wheat, corn, beef, pork. We have a great workforce.

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I’m afraid with a lame duck Governor, a Lt. Governor and a Congresswoman scrambling across the state campaigning for election the important task of ‘taking care of business,’ may slip through the cracks. Three thousand Oklahomans need some quality salesmanship on the part of our elected officials.

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The consumer products/food industry isn’t the most sexy or glamorous, but it is among the most stable. If Oklahoma wants to recruit long term, stable jobs to the state, they should make a concentrated effort to go after the consumer products industry. But first, they should take care of the processors/manufacturers already here by insuring we don’t lose them to another state or country. You’ve heard the saying- ‘dance with the one that brought you’ which means that you should pay proper fealty to those who have gone out of their way to look after you. Let’s take care of business even if it is election time!

SENATOR COBURN IN DUNCAN!

On Tuesday morning, about 50 people gathered in Duncan to hear Senator Tom Coburn. In an informal town hall format, Coburn began by stating the real problem with the federal government is SPENDING. He continued that theme throughout the 90 minute meeting. One lady in attendance said the only way the US was going to get our financial affairs in order was to 'tax the rich.' "Five percent of the people pay ninety percent of the taxes," Senator Coburn responded. "We are already taxing the wealthiest Americans," he said.

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"I will never vote for a tax increase so long as I know there is over 350 billion dollars of waste in our federal budget annually," Coburn said.

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"One in nineteen Americans under the age of 65 are on Social Security disability. We have widespread fraud in our disability program," Coburn said. He related a personal story of how a man who was drawing disability asked him(Dr. Coburn) to pay him in cash or write the check to his mother for trimming trees because he was on Social Security disability. Coburn refused and said he paid him by check and sent a copy to the Social Security office which brought applause. Read the Fox News story concerning SS disability fraud at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/04/federal-workers-pocketed-fraudulent-social-security-payments-watchdog-finds/

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Coburn is a breath of fresh air to politics. After interacting with politicos for months who will say anything to get a vote, Coburn is a refreshing contrast. He projects a genuine air of confidence that reassures the listener that he not only believes what he says, but knows what he is talking about.

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America is fortunate that Dr. Tom was willing to give up twelve years of his life to serve in the Senate and six years in the House. We need 99 more like him.

Weekly Opinion/Editorial

DON’T IGNORE SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA!
by Steve Fair

At last week’s regular monthly GOP meeting, Representative Dennis Johnson, (R-Duncan) invited the current sitting Speaker of the House Chris Benge, (R-Tulsa) and the Speaker designate Representative Kris Steele, (R-Shawnee) to attend. They were in the area for a fundraiser for State Representative Ann Coody, (R-Lawton).
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Benge is term-limited, so he is essentially done in November. He is the third Republican Speaker of the House in modern history and ascended to the position when former Speaker Lance Cargill resigned after facing criticism over not paying his taxes on time. Benge isn’t as flamboyant as Cargill or as polished a speaker, but he has led the House in some of the most difficult times in Oklahoma history. From the current budget crisis to organizing the House after Cargill left so abruptly, Benge has proven he has crisis leadership skills. It’s what he didn’t do that is a disappointment.
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While Oklahomans will have eleven State Questions to vote on in November, one of them is not a proposal to reduce the annual five percent property tax increase to three percent. Benge wouldn’t let a Joint Resolution that would have put the issue on the November ballot go to a vote on the House floor. Benge’s reasoning was that he believed it was not the right time because of the current state government budget crisis.
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At Thursday’s meeting Benge was brief and gracious. He talked about the progress the legislature has made on Oklahoma roads and bridges. He talked about the current fiscal condition of Oklahoma and how despite the budget crisis, Oklahoma is not looking to the federal government to ‘bail them out.” But Benge took no questions from the Party faithful. Good thing- I doubt he could have satisfactory explained his actions on the property tax issue to those in attendance.
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Speaker designate Kris Steele graduated from Broken Bow High School and Oklahoma Baptist University. He is an ordained Methodist minister. Steele, 37, can only serve two years as Speaker because he is term limited in 2012. He is articulate and more polished than Benge. When he addressed those in attendance, he talked about health care. Steele was the author of a bill in last year’s legislative session that increased Oklahomans access to affordable, quality health care. Steele’s plan is targeted for small businesses and their employees. Similar programs have been very successful in other states.
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Steele also talked about redistricting. “One of the most important things we will do in the 2011 legislature session is redistricting. We will draw not only the Congressional district lines, but every legislative and county commission line in the state,” Steele said. Redistricting is important. In years past, lines have been drawn to protect incumbents with little common sense used. At one time, Senate District #24 ran from the Red River to OKC, bypassing cities and towns along the way. That has since been corrected, but it is still one of the largest geographic Senate districts in the State.
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Care should be taken to insure that legislature districts are drawn with more thought and logic. Citizens in those districts should have common interests and share common values and concerns. Carving out a district to protect an incumbent sends the message the elected official is more important than the people they represent.
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Steele has appointed a nine-member panel to begin preliminary work on redistricting. There is just one problem- there is no one from Southwest Oklahoma on the panel. The closest geographically is Representative Lisa Billy, (R-Purcell), but no State House member from the SW quadrant of the state is there, so unless Steele rethinks his appointments, it appears the SW quadrant of the state will not be represented on the redistricting panel. That’s unacceptable!
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It was historical to have Speaker Benge and Speaker designate Steele in Stephens County at the same time. They are both good moral, ethical, and honest men. But Oklahoma needs a transformational leader. Steele offers hope, but he can’t ignore our area of the state if he expects to be successful.

Weekly Opinion/Editorial

THE FIRST DOMINO?
by Steve Fair

Last week, Boeing announced they are relocating two programs from Long Beach, Calfornia to Oklahoma City. The move will bring 550 engineering jobs to the state. Boeing said some California employees will be relocated, while other positions will be hired locally.
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The C-130 Avionics Modernization program will move to OKC beginning in the first quarter of 2011. The move of the B-1 program is expected toward the end of 2012. Both aircrafts are part of critical defense programs for the military. Boeing is on contract to engineer a modernization of roughly 220 Lockheed Martin C-130 transporters in the Air Force fleet, and upgrade the B-1 to allow the stealth jet to simultaneously carry different weapons. The design phase for C-130 modernization is nearing an end, and actual retrofits(manufacturing) will be handled at sites in Georgia and Texas.

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In conjunction with the announced plans to move the two programs to Oklahoma, Boeing announced plans to lay off about ten percent of their total work force in the Long Beach area. Mark Bass, Boeing general manager of maintenance, modifications and upgrades, gave workers the news Monday. "Making a decision like this is never easy, but as we reviewed our anticipated operating costs for the next several years, it became clear that Boeing needs to take major actions on these programs in order to remain affordable for our customers," Bass said. "We remain committed to maintaining the excellent record of performance that our employees deliver for our U.S. Air Force B-1 and C-130 AMP customers during this transition."
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According to the Boeing website, they are the world's leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. Additionally, Boeing designs and manufactures rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems. As a major service provider to NASA, Boeing operates the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. The company also provides numerous military and commercial airline support services. Boeing has customers in more than 90 countries around the world and is one of the largest U.S. exporters in terms of sales. Getting them to look at the Sooner state in a positive light was quite an accomplishment.

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Boeing says the reason they are moving the job to the Sooner state is to be “more competitive for their customers.” How did Oklahoma become ‘competitive?’ Senator President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, (R-OKC) says the reason is because the Republican led legislature in Oklahoma has reformed workers comp and tort reform and the people passed right to work. These three moves have made Oklahoma more business friendly and appealing to business.

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“We knew the passage of comprehensive tort reform two sessions ago, and the progress we made in reforming our workers compensation system this past session would get the attention of the business community around the nation,” Coffee said. “Today’s announcement from Boeing that over 500 high-paying aeronautical jobs are moving from California to Oklahoma City is resounding affirmation of our work.”

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I'm not sure about workers comp or tort reform, but Right to Work was very likely a factor in Boeing’s decision. In an October 30, 2009 Wall Street Journal article, Boeing picked South Carolina over North Carolina because South Carolina’s work force was non-union.

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Right-to-work laws are statues enforced in twenty-two states, mostly in the southern or western U.S., allowed under provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, which prohibit agreements between trade unions and employers making membership or payment of union dues or "fees" a condition of employment, either before or after hiring. In other words, ‘complusionary union membership.’

Oklahoma’s work force has never had a high percentage of union workers, but the union members were vocal and fought passage of right to work tooth and nail. In September 2001, Oklahoma voters passed right to work by the slim margin of 54% to 46%. Critics said it wouldn’t make a difference in recruiting jobs to the Sooner state, but would we have gotten Boeing without it? Not likely.

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The domino effect is a phenomenon best illustrated by thinking about a row of dominoes standing on end side by side. By making a small change to one of the dominoes in the row, the entire row will be altered as the change is magnified and passed along. The first domino falls and all the others fall. Is Boeing the first domino? Time will time, but it’s a great first start.

Weekly Opinion/Editorial

OPENING UP THE PROCESS!

by Steve Fair

Oklahoma House Speaker-Designate Kris Steele, (R-Shawnee) announced last week he plans to change how the conference committee process in the State House works. Steele says the procedure will make the whole legislative process more transparent and open to the public.

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A conference committee is a committee appointed by the State House and State Senate to resolve disagreements on a particular bill. The committee is usually composed of the senior members of the committee where the bill originated.
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Beginning with the 2011 legislative session, Steele said all conference committee reports will be posted online for a full day before the bill can be considered on the House floor. The current House rules require conference reports be posted on the calendar for a minimum of 24 hours for review, except for the last two days of session. Steele also plans to take away the exception for the last two days.
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"We have come so far in a few short years in making Oklahoma one of the most open and accessible governments in the country," said Steele. "These changes, and others that may come later, will make our state government more transparent while also bringing the legislative process into homes across Oklahoma so people can become more involved."
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Additionally, Steele said that next year conference committee reports posted online for member and public review will also contain a link to the previous versions of the bill so the changes can be more easily spotted.

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Representative Dennis Johnson, (R-Duncan) supports Steele’s proposal. “Making government transparent is a good thing. I believe the changes will get more people involved in the process and by putting it online, it will be accessible to virtually everyone,” Johnson said.

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Since Republicans took control of the State House in 2004, they have worked to ‘open up’ Oklahoma government. For the first time in state history, ‘committee votes’ were recorded starting in 2005. Prior to that, like Vegas-what happened in the committee room stayed in the committee room. For years, good legislation was buried in committee and because committee votes were not recorded, the public had no idea who was stonewalling good legislation.
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In 2007, the House went to an exclusively online model, where members were given lap top computers and amendments and varying versions of bills were all available online as soon as they were filed for not only the members, but the public and the press as well. This was a major improvement over the previous system which often had bills passed before the public was even aware of them.
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In 2009, the House launched a video program that allows all members to speak directly to Oklahomans through the House website about important legislation under consideration. Last year, every legislative session was live streamed, so any interested citizen can view the process from a computer anywhere.
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Oklahoma has made significant progress in ‘opening up the process,’ but Steele’s idea on giving the Oklahoma taxpayer 24 hours to see/study a conference committee bill before its voted on the floor is excellent.
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Most major legislation requires a conference committee report. Steele’s proposal will do two things.

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First, it will allow the public time to look at bills before they are voted on. The key is for concerned, engaged Oklahoma citizens to regularly monitor the website to make see what is about to be voted on. If it’s something they are passionate about, they will have time to contact their legislator before the bill is voted on.
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Second, Steele’s proposal will discourage legislators from hurrying up legislation they don’t want the public to know anything about. In the past, we’ve had legislators who believe they know what we need better than we do and they rush bills through in order to keep the public ‘in the dark.’
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We have a ‘representative’ form of government. That’s where we vote on a person and send them up there to vote on the bills. As Will Rogers said, “Anything important is never left to the vote of the people. We only get to vote on some man; we never get to vote on what he is to do.” But that doesn’t mean we can’t influence them on a particular bill- in fact we should.

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Steele’s plan to open up the process a little more to the public will result in more public input in legislation, resulting in better legislation. Better legislation will move Oklahoma forward.

The Oklahoma Grocers, Wholesale Marketers and Petroleum Marketers hold their annual convention/trade show every year in late July. I seldom attend the show, because I am usually out of town. It’s always a time to see old friends- independent grocers/food brokers/manufacturer reps- from years gone by. In years past, this show was huge and drew every independent grocer from across the state. I saw Alan Mills, President of Reasor’s Foods, and Les Wease at the show. Even though it has been ten years and I have added several pounds since I saw them, they both recognized me.
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I’ve been in Chicago the last five days at a Federated Foods show and after arriving late last night and spending the night in OKC; I thought I would drop by the trade show before I went to the office. I had no idea the trade associations had already set up the first candidate forum for the winning gubernatorial nominees from last night.

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As I entered the hall, I saw Lt. Governor Jari Askins, (D-Duncan). She hugged me and I congratulated her on her upset victory last night. Jari Askins is one of the most gracious people in politics- no matter what your party affiliation is. That demeanor has served her well in Stephens County and across the state. It will get her some ‘swing’ votes in the upcoming general election. She softens her liberal views with a sweet dispensation. She ain't Nancy Pelosi!
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When I got to the MIO (Made in Oklahoma) booth, I was told that Askins and Congresswoman Mary Fallin, (R-OK) were going to speak to the group at 9am. I found the room and a chair. I saw Fallin enter the room, went over and greeted her. She told me she needed our (SCGOP) support and I pledged it. Fallin would be an infinitely better Governor than Askins would be.
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The trade associations had scheduled this event months ago, stating they wanted to introduce the two nominees to the Oklahoma food industry immediately after the primary. Since this was the first candidate forum, the press was well represented. I sat next the AP reporter, Michael McNutt from The Oklahoman was there and a half dozen other notebook toters along with several videographers.
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Beginning his remarks by saying, “we have the two best candidates in the state,” State Representative R.C. Pruitt, (D-Antlers), an independent grocer who has four stores in SE Oklahoma, served as monitor. He introduced Fallin first and they politely shook hands as she approached the podium. Wearing a royal blue dress suit, Fallin had obviously done her research on the audience. She touted her business background and said she got into politics because she was frustrated by government regulations. She reminded the mostly independent business owners when she was Lt. Governor that she had taken the chair to help get the Right to Work issue on the ballot in Oklahoma. Fallin said Oklahoma government needs to do several things to help independent small businesses. (1) Lower taxes, (2) Limit Government regulation, (3) Reform Workers Compensation (4) Work toward a fair legal system and (5) Educate our children more effectively. “We are not doing a good enough job in education, Fallin said. Not being specific, Fallin rattled off a list of issues like an auctioneer at a sale barn- Cap and Trade, Cardcheck, health care was just some of them. She closed by asking for the group’s consideration and support. It was a good stump speech and she did 'ask for the order.'

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Pruett then introduced Askins and hugged her as she ascended up the stairs to the stage. “I may be one of your biggest consumers,” Askins said. She was referring to the amount of gasoline she has burned crisscrossing the state since she has been running for Governor. But as Lt. Governor she has been criticized for campaigning at taxpayer expense while Lt. Governor, so while it was a great opening line- was it true? Is Askins campaign reimbursing the state for the gasoline she burns going to campaign events? If not, then the taxpayer may be picking up the tab, not Askins.

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Askins said in the sixth grade, her late father Ollie Askins paid her a dollar an hour to post credits and debits in his checkbook. “If I was one penny off, I had to find it- I had to make it balance,” Askins said. “I found out how important that one penny was,” she said.
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Dressed in a black dress with a light blue coat, Askins said she understands the ‘small business attitude.’ “I understand competition,” Askins said. She then related a story of how her brother- Marty Askins- called her when the roof on their abstract company building had collapsed. “It was difficult to convince people we were open when there was crime scene tape around the building and the competition down the street was saying come on over,” Askins said.
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Askins said she wants to see surgical cuts in state government that would be permanent. “I’ve been around long enough to know that reform doesn’t happen when times get flush again,” Askins said. The problem is Askins had twelve(12) years in the legislature to institute cuts. She served in leadership and was the Speaker designate when Republicans took control of the State House in 2004. On Oklahoma being ready to elect a woman governor, Askins said that Oklahomans proved yesterday they were ready. She never directly asked for the group’s vote or support.
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Both candidates spoke about ten minutes and the atmosphere was not contentious or controversial. They even posed for pictures together. After they spoke, they went to a VIP area where the two gubernatorial nominees granted press access. I went in, but didn’t wait to interview either of the candidates. After the press conference, Fallin shook hands with a half dozen people and left. Askins hung around for three hours, getting pictures made with exhibitors in the MIO booth and other booths and several retailers.
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Here are four observations about the first FALLIN-ASKINS candidate forum:
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NO SUBSTANCE! Neither candidate presented any meaty solutions to our state’s budget crisis. Pruitt mentioned during his remarks the retailers at the convention were there because they were products of the ‘survival of the fittest.’ Sorry RC, but that’s not the case. Most of the retailers in the room were C-store and Mom/Pop operations. The independent grocer of twenty years ago is gone and they are continuing to die because of government regulation, an unlevel playing field against big box retailers, and an unwillingness of the next generation to step up and take over the business. Some of the best merchants are gone because of the three factors cited, not because they weren't 'fit.'

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If Fallin or Askins had researched this group, they would have known the history of the associations they were speaking to. In 1980, the OGA was one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Oklahoma. Every Oklahoma city or town had an independent grocer that provided jobs, tax revenue, and the profits stayed in the community. Now Bentonville, AR benefits from those profits. Short sighted thinking by politicans by unleveling the playing field for independent business created that dynamic- creative solutions on 'leveling the field' will.

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Making broad general speeches on how we will change things in Oklahoma sounds good, but we need a specific PLAN OF ACTION to move Oklahoma forward by helping Oklahoma businesses. Pruitt mentioned these small business owners only wanted a 'level playing field.' He's referring to tax concessions that are often made to large big box retailers that are not available to the small business owner. Neither of the two candidates addressed specificially HOW they were going to help small business.
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ASKINS WILL NOT BE A PUSHOVER- In an obvious Republican year, many are already crowning Fallin Governor. Careful! Askins is a shrewd, tireless politico and said in her acceptance speech last night- “I’ve already started campaigning.” She wasn’t exaggerating! Fallin should have stayed at the show and met the ‘regular folks.’ That gets votes, it's fundamental and it’s also the right thing to do. Askins interacts with people well! Several “R”s in the MIO booth remarked how much they liked Askins. VIRTUALLY EVERY PERSON IN THE MIO BOOTH HAD THEIR PICTURE MADE WITH HER! She will get consideration from people that Fallin should have locked up. Many Stephens County Republicans will vote for Askins in November, not because of her politics, but because of her gracious nature. Fallin should soften her image, not hurry through campaign stops and discuss more than issues with those she meets on the campaign trail.
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IT’S FALLIN’S RACE TO LOSE! In 2002, former Congressman Steve Largent was running for Governor. Hale Halsell, a Tulsa grocery wholesaler, was having a food show at Shangri la in NE Oklahoma. I invited Largent to come to the show and meet the grocers, exhibitors and manufacturers at the show. Largent came, addressed the crowd and left just like Fallin. He didn’t engage anyone and unless I took him around to each booth and introduced him, he just stood around. I remarked to a friend that had Frank Keating been in that room, EVERYONE WOULD HAVE KNOWN HIM. Keating is engaging- he has great interpersonal skills. Fallin is not Largent, but on the first day after her nomination, she made a strategic error reminiscent of Largent’s Graff.
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RC PRUETT SHOULD BE A REPUBLICAN! When I ran for State Senate in 2000, RC and his wife Barbara contributed to my campaign. We have dined together at National Grocers Conventions and Shurfine conventions. When Pruett filed for State Representative in 2004, RC sent me an invitation to one of his fundraisers. I was excited, called then GOP Chairman Gary Jones and said, “I have a good friend running for state legislature in SE Oklahoma- a Republican named RC Pruett (Pruett was a Republican in 2000)." Gary told me Pruett was running, but as a Democrat. I called him and asked why. “Steve, I can’t win as a Republican down here,” Pruett said. Registration in Pruett’s district is about 85% Democrat. He is a ‘conservative’ Democrat, but it’s time RC aligned with his values and changed his Party affiliation back to Republican. Come on RC- you know you should do it!