Coburn Sitting Tight on Reelection Plans
Many people here expect Sen. Tom Coburn to seek another term next year, but the Muskogee Republican isn’t ready to make an announcement.
In an interview last week, Coburn said, “I ran for the Senate (in 2004) because I felt like I was called to run for the Seante. It was something I’m supposed to do. And I’m not about to announce to run again until I know I’m called to do that. And until I know that, I’m sitting tight.”
Coburn said he didn’t want to be here if his heart wasn’t in it.
“Can you imagine me being here and not being involved? Just coasting? How good would that be for Oklahoma if I was just here coasting, just collecting a check and being one of the boys?
“If I’m going to be here, I need to know I’m supposed to be here. It’s something that’s on my mind a lot.
“I’m prepared when I announce, if I announce, I will have everything set to do what I need to do to win this election big-time, big-time. And if I run, I relish anyone who wants to run against me. I can’t wait to have the debates.”
Some of the speculation about Coburn’s plans has focused on the fact that he has relatively little money in his campaign account _ less than $55,000 at the end of 2008.
In the 2004 race against former U.S. Rep. Brad Carson, Coburn spent $5 million.
However, Coburn raised that money despite not announcing for the race until March of that year. And, so far, no big-name Democrats have signaled an interest in running against him.
In fact, the only Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation, Rep. Dan Boren, said he won’t run against Coburn.
“I’m not worried about raising money,” Coburn told me.
He said he didn’t want to start raising money until he’s sure he’s going to run again.
“Is it unethical to ask people to give you money for an election you’re not sure you’re going to run in? I think it is. You’re asking people to give you money for something you haven’t committed to.”
Coburn said he had no internal timetable for making a decision.
If he did decide against running, a lot of prominent Oklahoma names would likely be interested, including Boren and U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, a Republican from Moore.
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