Signs, signs
With the presidential election just about a month away, officials with both political parties in the state say they’re having a hard time keeping presidential signs in supply.
Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Gary Jones said today his office has given away about 35,000 signs in the past three weeks or so. Some of the first signs given away just had the name of Republican presidential nominee U.S. Sen. John McCain; signs the past couple week also have the name of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the vice presidential nominee.
About 10,000 McCain-Palin signs arrived today at state GOP headquarters, 4031 Lincoln Blvd., Jones said.
“We usually get them in on Friday, but by Tuesday. Wednesday of the next week we’re usually out,” Jones said. “We just can’t believe how fast they’re going out.”
The state Republican Party is paying for the signs, Jones said. The national McCain campaign is putting its efforts in battleground states; McCain in Oklahoma is about 30 points ahead of Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, recent polls have shown.
Ivan Holmes, chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, said last week that party headquarters, 4100 Lincoln Blvd., is having a hard time keeping Obama yard signs on hand.
The state Democratic Party has bought nearly 11,000 signs with the names of Obama and Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, on them.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
Bad mountains on the rise?
Oklahoma’s developing some mountains that concern a state lawmaker.
They’re “trash mountains,” or landfills that are rising up in some areas of the state’s landscape.
Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, says he is concerned the state Department of Environmental Quality has allowed the height of some of these “trash mountains” to increase to the point some have become the key terrain feature on the horizon.
He says DEQ cannot take adverse action against landfills in response to complaints regarding odor emitted by large “trash mountain” sites.
Duncan says he will introduce legislation during the 2009 session to regulate large landfills and the contents they are permitted to bury.
Landfills that are authorized to bury solid waste and other questionable materials can be just as objectionable as large corporate livestock farms in the stae, he says. The obvious difference, Duncan says, is that the landfills haul the “smell” to the site.
What do you think?
I know that in Enid the city’s rising landfill on the south side has caused some residents to joke that when it’s completed the city could haul in some artificial snow and market it as a training slope for skiers.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
Treasurer heads to state fair
It appears to be a perfect day to head out to the Oklahoma State Fair.
And if you ever thought about checking with the state to see if it has any unclaimed property of yours, this afternoon would be a good time to have the head official of the program look it up for you.
State Treasurer Scott Meacham will be at the treasurer office’s unclaimed property booth in the Cox Pavilion at the fair.
He’s expected to show up about 2 to work at the booth.
During the first four days of the Oklahoma State Fair, workers from the treasurer’s office found more than $100,000 for more than 170 people who visited the booth.
Forgotten safe deposit boxes, stocks, bonds and uncashed payroll checks are among the items considered unclaimed property.
Checks from oil and gas companies that never have been claimed also end up in the unclaimed property fund, as I found out through personal experience.
I’ve been writing about the unclaimed property fund the past couple years, and even have visited the treasurer office’s booth at the state fair. My wife and I checked out our last names, but didn’t think about checking the last name of her mom’s mother, who died nearly 20 years ago.
A gas company sent a notice to my wife’s mom last month, stating it had some royalty checks for her mother. If the gas company didn’t hear back, it would send the checks onto the state’s unclaimed property fund.
Ding! The light bulb in my brain turned on, and I went to the treasurer office’s Web site, typed in Grandma Cecile’s last name and found four items listed for her.
My wife and her mom went to the treasurer’s office last week and started the process of retrieving those checks. They probably are no more than $100 or so, but still it will provide an unexpected windfall for my mother-in-law, who, like many on fixed incomes, is worried about rising energy and food prices.
So, take the time – a couple minutes at most – to check out the treasurer’s Web site, www.treasurer.ok.gov. Or make plans to enjoy today’s great weather and go to the fair and wander over to the treasurer’s booth. Check every family name you can think of, and who knows – you might be able to afford an extra cinnamon roll.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
Senators heading back to school
Several state senators are scheduling visits to local schools in their districts.
Some might wisecrack they might learn something from the students, but it’s part of “America’s Legislators Back to School,” a program sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislators. Its purpose it so help children and teens learn more about government and representative democracy.
Senators deserve a pat on the back to go to classrooms to talk with students. Perhaps such visits will spark a student to get interested in politics and to some day run for office. Or at least show an interest to regularly vote.
I’m curious what you would ask a state senator if a member from the upper chamber came to your work, school or church, or stopped by your house. You can reply with a post, and maybe we can get a senator or two to answer your query or consider some legislation.
Senators who have begun scheduling classroom visits include Sens. Cliff Aldridge, R-Midwest City, Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, Senate co-President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, Mary Easley, D-Tulsa, John Ford, R-Bartlesville, Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant, Connie Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, Ron Justice, R-Chickasha,Todd Lamb, R-Edmond, Richard Lerblance, D-Hartshorne, David Myers, R-Ponca City, Jonathan Nichols, R-Norman and Susan Paddack, D-Ada.
Other senators are expected to plan visits later in the school year.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
Palin energizes Oklahoma delegates
ST. PAUL, MINN. – Oklahoma Republicans arrived at the Republican National Convetion “almost as a matter of duty” to nominate U.S. Sen. John McCain as their presidential nominee, said Lynn Windel of Ardmore, who attended his seventh convention. Many were concerned it would be difficult for McCain to distance himself from President Bush and his declining popularity ratings, he said.
The selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin by McCain as his running mate perked up Republicans, Windel said.
“They were energized by her speech,” he said. “It was the best vice presidential speech I have ever heard at a national convention.”
Oklahoma County Assessor Leonard Sullivan, an alternate delegate from Oklahoma City who has been involved in state and local politics for more than 20 years, said Palin was “the highlight of the whole thing.”
Asked what he considered the highlight of the convention, Tom Montgomery, a delegate from Muskogee, said, “The obvious, Sarah Palin.”
“She’s really a change. It was really unexpected,” he said. “I was thinking it was going to be another older white guy.”
Montgomery said Palin rallied Oklahoma’s delegates to get behind McCain.
“He had pretty much lost a lot of the conservatives in the party and he needed someone who would bring them back,” Montgomery said. “If you can energize 10 percent of your party, you can win elections.”
Brenda Jones, a delegate from Oklahoma City, said she has been getting messages from Democratic friends asking her to bring Palin items back from the convention.
She selected campaign buttons, which have a picture of Palin and read, “The hottest VP from the coolest state.”
State Rep. Sally Kern, a delegate from Oklahoma City, said she is leaving the convention with more hope and optimism because of Palin.
“She brought the conservative base back home,” Kern said.
“The most exciting thing was Sarah Palin’s speech,” said Steve Millspaugh, a delegate from Weatherford. “It transformed the convention.”
McCain, not the first choice of Oklahoma GOP conservatives, at least showed he was listening to their concerns when he selected Palin, who is more conservative than the Arizona senator, Millspaugh said.
“We are extremely happy that he knows that without conservatives he doesn’t have a chance and without him we don’t have a chance,” Millspaugh said. “We have to work together.”
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
Oklahoma delegates preparing to leave Twin Cities
ST. PAUL, MINN. – Oklahoma’s delegation to the Republican National Convention are going their separate ways today.
They posed for this group shot Wednesday evening, just hours before what many said was the biggest and most unifying moment of the convention – GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s speech.
It’s been an interesting week for the members of the Oklahoma group – 41 delegates, 38 alternates and several guests.
Excited that four Oklahomans would be speaking – one each night of the convention – had them excited.
Then Hurricane Gustav decided to get nasty and headed toward New Orleans. It turned out the Crescent City didn’t take a direct hit, but it caused damage in other parts of Louisiana and in Mississippi. So convention officials pretty much gutted Monday’s schedule, ridding the proceedings of political speeches and turning its television time into an appeal for relief aid.
Conventioneers were pretty much isolated from anti-war protests outside the Xcel Energy Center, but at least four Oklahomans stumbled upon Monday’s parade, and a couple actually saw a few people – apparently not associated with the protest march participants – tangle with police.
Most of the delegates spent a lot of extra time riding in buses. First, one bus driver drove the Oklahomans to the wrong Crowne Plaza Hotel for breakfast with the Louisiana delegation to hear former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma speak.
Later that night, some of the same Oklahomans on the bus ride back from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul back to their hotel in Minneapolis were taken about four miles past the hotel.
Thursday was the last time Oklahomans would gather at the same time for breakfast. It was also a time to thank Bunny Chambers, Oklahoma’s committeewoman, and Lynn Windel, Oklahoma’s committeeman, on the Republican National Committee. Carolyn McCarty of Mutual and James Dunne of Oklahoma County start their new duties today on the national committee with – what else? – meetings.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
Big night for McCain, two Oklahomans
MINNEAPOLIS – Republican presidential nominee U.S. Sen. John McCain will be more conversational with the American people tonight when he accepts his party’s nomination at nearby St. Paul, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said today.
McCain, from Arizona, will talk about keeping America safe and secure as well as his confidence that his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, is experienced and able to serve.
“I look forward to this being probably the best speech he’s ever made,” said Inhofe, R-Tulsa.
McCain also will talk on the economy tonight, but security will be his main theme, Inhofe said after speaking to Oklahoma’s Republican delegation, which is staying in Minneapolis.
McCain is scheduled to speak about 9 tonight in the Xcel Energy Center.
Earlier, it was speculated McCain would not be here to give his acceptance speech. If Hurricane Gustav, which struck Louisiana on Monday and caused convention officials to shorten Monday’s opening session, it was possible McCain would have given a speech from a location near the hurricane damage.
That uncertainty was dashed Wednesday night when McCain came on the scene after Palin gave her acceptance speech.
Inhofe, who’s had differences over defense and social policies with McCain, said he now gets along with McCain.
“Sometimes we both agree that we’re both a little bullheaded,” Inhofe said. “Maybe that’s a characteristic that creates some problems some times, but it also creates a mutual respect and that clearly is there.”
Also speaking tonight will be U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, scheduled to speak about 5:20 p.m., and U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin, R-Oklahoma City, scheduled to speak about 7:30 p.m.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
New look rolled out for McCain’s speech
ST. PAUL, MINN. – When U.S. Sen. John McCain accepts his party’s nomination tonight, he will be appearing before a new podium.
Appearance apparently means everything so when the Arizona senator gives his acceptance speech, organizers of the Republican National Convention crafted a look that will make McCain look – for lack of a better word – presidential.
The podium used for the first three nights of the convention was modified to enable McCain to deliver his acceptance speech from the center of the Xcel Energy Center. The new podium is a reflection of the town-hall style that has been a hallmark of McCain’s campaign. In the new forum, he will be surrounded by the delegates that nominated him the night before, according to convention organizers.
The new podium was constructed by removing the front corner sections of the existing platform and extending its midsection by 30 feet. The extension will be eight feet wide. Near the conclusion of tonight’s program, McCain will address the convention from a lectern positioned near the end of the newly constructed extension. To accommodate the modified platform, delegates from the state of Ohio will be re-seated on either side.
For the first three days of the convention, speakers and program participants appeared on a black hard laminate stage.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
J.C. Watts dismisses governor talk
MINNEAPOLIS – Former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts from Oklahoma says it’s too early to be thinking about the Oklahoma gubernatorial race.
Watts, a former Oklahoma congressman and former member of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, said he has been busy trying to launch a television news network aimed at a black audience.
He said people have talked to him about running for governor in 2010.
“Even if I was, it would be way too early in my opinion,” said Watts, who has lobbying, consulting and public affairs businesses in Washintong. “I don’t need to be an elected official. I think I can serve in my business, in my church. I’m not so driven by the cheer of the crowd.”
Watts, who didn’t seek re-election to Congress in 2002 so he could spend more time with his family, said he is “not driven to run for anything.”
“I’ve got enough wisdom, however, to say – and I learned this in athletics, I didn’t learn this in politics – you never say never or you never say always,” Watts said in an interview after speaking today to the Oklahoma and Louisiana delegations attending the Republican National Convention in nearby St. Paul, Minn.
“I can tell you it’s not on my top five things to do before I die list, to run for public office again,” Watts said.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
Palin’s big moment approaching at GOP convention
ST. PAUL, MINN. – Sarah Palin, the pick of Republican presumptive presidential nominee U.S. Sen. John McCain, will give the speech of her life tonight, many observers here say.
Palin, almost nearly in the middle of serving her first term as Alaska’s governor, will speak to delegates and others gathered at the Xcel Energy Center and millions across the country during the third session of the Republican National Convention.
Palin, 44, was at the Xcel Energy Center about 6:30 a.m. today, being given a walkthrough of the convention stage and practicing on the teleprompter.
Palin has been campaigning at various stops across the country since McCain introduced her as his running mate selection Friday on his 72nd birthday. Tonight will be the first time Palin, a mother of five, will speak to a national audience.
And it’s the first time she will speak publicly since she announced Monday that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. Palin said her daughter plans to give birth to the baby and marry the baby’s father. CBS News reported this morning that the teen’s boyfriend has flown from Alaska to be with the Palin family here tonight.
Political analysts pretty much agree this is Palin’s big moment to introduce herself to the nation’s voters. It’s expected tonight’s convention will attract GOP voters, but also draw curious Democratic and independent voters.
Oklahoma’s delegates, seated next to Alaska’s delegation on the floor of the convention, have given verbal support to Palin, who’s being described here as someone who can reform the wasteful spending ways of the federal government. As a mayor, she cut property taxes and she got ethics reforms measures passed while she was governor, supporters say.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
