BROKE: Trump has less cash-on-hand than TOM COLE

One of Donald Trump's biggest claims during the primary was that he was self-funding, and wouldn't be needing campaign donations because he is so rich. That is, until he completely flip-flopped and started asking for donations and fundraising. Turns out that self-funding is easier said than done when most of your wealth is not in liquid assets.

Now, his campaign is practically broke. Want some illustrations?

At the end of May, the last reporting period, Trump's campaign had $1,289,507.76 in cash on hand. He raised $3,104,619.98 during the month of May (and personally donated or loaned $2,293,966.27). In contrast, in May of 2012 Mitt Romney raised $16,002,050.79 and had $16,999,665.75 in cash on hand, not counting RNC money or Romney Victory committee cash.

Additionally, Trump's campaign is carrying a lot of debt, in the form of personal loans amounting to $45,703,185.39.

Contrast Trump's situation with his Democratic counterpart. Hillary Clinton's campaign raised $26,285,740.90 in May (not counting $102,860.92 from the candidate), and has $42,461,785.99 on hand.

Another comparison. Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole has $1,697,875.84 in cash on hand. That's $408,368.08 more than THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE HAS.

Really, it's not that hard. Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee of one of the two major political parties in the nation. By all measures he's a very wealthy businessman with lots of connections. Raising money should not be this difficult.

Way to go, Republican voters. Not only does Trump have to overcome a major self-created polling deficit, but he has to overcome a massive self-created money deficit. Say hello to President Hillary Clinton. It's almost as it he's doing this for a friend...

Rand Paul wins '2016 GOP Primary Madness'

Our 2016 GOP Primary Madness has now come to a close, and the champion 'chosen by the people' is Rand Paul. After racking up wins all the way through five rounds, Paul smashed Ted Cruz in the final matchup with a vote of 384 (92%) to 33 (8%). We had votes cast in 45 states, and Rand Paul won all of them except Oklahoma, interestingly enough.

The winner of our 2012 GOP Primary Madness -- Mitt Romney -- ended up as the actual 2012 GOP nominee. In our 2013 version of 2016 GOP Primary Madness, Sarah Palin defeated Rand Paul by an almost identical margin as Paul just beat Cruz with.

Thanks for participating in our GOP Primary Madness tournament! Next year, we'll see if the 'voters' were right.

Romney: Out (at least for now)

After making moves that indicated he might run for President for a third time, Mitt Romney announced today that he is opting against another presidential bid.

In a conference call with supporters this morning (text), Romney said, "After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I've decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee."

Toward the end of Romney's statement, he said "I've been asked, and will certainly be asked again if there are any circumstances whatsoever that might develop that could change my mind. That seems unlikely."

CNN correspondent Jake Tapper, one of the few true journalists in the mainstream media, thinks there is some ambivalence in Romney's remarks that might leave open the possibility of a late entry into the race, if Romney isn't satisfied with the GOP field.

I, for one, hope Romney stays out. 'Third time's the charm!' doesn't seem like it should be the GOP motto in 2016 -- and that goes for Jeb Bush, as well.

Sarah Palin wins '2016 Primary Madness'

Our 2016 GOP Primary Madness has now come to a close, and the champion 'chosen by the people' is Sarah Palin. After racking up wins all the way through five rounds, Palin smashed Rand Paul in the final matchup with a vote of 526 (91%) to 51 (9%).

The winner of our 2012 GOP Primary Madness - Mitt Romney - ended up as the actual 2012 GOP nominee. Will Sarah Palin follow suit with a victory in 2016? Only time will tell!

Oklahoma Presidential Results Map: 2008 vs. 2012

This map shows the trends in voting when comparing the 2008 presidential race and the 2012 presidential race in Oklahoma. Counties colored a shade of red trended more Republican, and counties colored a shade of blue went more Democrat when compared to the 2008 results.

Jefferson County had the greatest increase for Republicans, at 11.64%. Adair County had the greatest increase for Democrats, coming in at 3.85%. All told, 14 counties had higher percentages for Obama in 2012 than in 2008.

Oklahoma General Elections Results Map - President

Mitt Romney once again carried all of Oklahoma's 77 counties, most with larger margins than before, and some with rather extreme percentages. His best county was Cimarron County, where the GOP nominee received 90.39% of the vote. As in 2008, Obama's best performance came in Cherokee County, where he took 42.95% (in 2008 he got 43.92%).

For reference, here is the 2008 map:

Four More Years

As of 10:15pm CST, President Barack Obama crested the critical 270 mark in electoral votes. Throughout much of the evening, the big states of Ohio and Florida bounced between Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney, but Ohio appears to have finally landed in the Obama camp's tally, pushing the President across the finish line.

Ironically enough, Mitt Romney currently leads in the popular vote - a reversal from the 2000 election, when George Bush won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote to Al Gore.

Election 2012: My Endorsements

After months of being bombarded by political materials and advertisements, Election Day is almost here. I wanted to take a moment to go through the various races in Oklahoma (primarily eastern Oklahoma), and give my thoughts and/or recommendations, for any who might be interested.


PRESIDENT/VICE PRESIDENT: Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan
Obviously, we desperately need a change in the White House. Romney was not my top choice in the GOP primary (not my second, third or fourth, either), but even so, he will be a *MUCH* greater improvement over the disastrous Obama/Biden administration.

CONGRESS (1st District): Jim Bridenstine
Jim Bridenstine is a great candidate - genuinely conservative, and extremely intelligent. He will serve Oklahoma well in Congress. I have met Jim, and am thoroughly impressed with him as an individual, and expect great things out of him.

CONGRESS (2nd District): Markwayne Mullin
Markwayne Mullin (again, not my first choice in the GOP primary, or my second, third, or fourth) will line up on the conservative side in Congress on a consistent basis. The same can't be said for his Democratic opponent, Rob Wallace, who will caucus with the Democrats, and be just conservative enough every now and then to appease his conservative constituents.

STATE SENATE (District 5): Howard Houchen
Howard Houchen is a good friend of mine, and will make a *tremendous* conservative state senator. Howard is well known in Oklahoma for his outspoken support of legislation which promotes economic freedom and protects Life, Liberty, and Property while being very active in informing and resisting, and even defeating, legislation that threatens the freedoms of all Oklahomans. This will be a close race.
Senate District 5 covers all of Choctaw, McCurtain and Pushmataha counties, and portions of Atoka and LeFlore counties.

STATE SENATE (District 9): Barney Taylor
Barney Taylor is running against incumbent State Senator Earl Garrison. Garrison likes to act conservative at home, and vote more liberally in OKC. Barney is a conservative, and while not expected to come close, had the courage to place his name on the ballot and campaign. In Muskogee County, where Republican candidates can be few and far between, this needs to be rewarded by Republican voters.
Senate District 9 covers most of eastern and central Muskogee County (excluding Fort Gibson), and central Cherokee County (Tahlequah city limits, and south of Hwy 62 towards Muskogee).

STATE HOUSE (District 12): David Tackett
David Tacket is a staunch conservative (although I disagree on a few issues with him, such as tort reform), waging an uphill fight against incumbent Democrat Wade Rousselot, largely without help from the GOP establishment (whom he has fought with on numerous occasions).
District 12 covers most of central and eastern Wagoner County.

STATE HOUSE (District 14): Arthur Hulbert
This is the seat my dad has held for the past six years. Arthur Hulbert is a conservative who will stand up for family values and free-market principles. District 14 has only gone Republican once (George Faught, 2006-2012) - Arthur is a good choice to continue conservative representation.
House District 14 covers eastern Muskogee and western Cherokee counties.

OKLAHOMA SUPREME COURT: vote NO
In Oklahoma, we vote on retaining judges, as opposed to a judge vs. judge race. As far as I know, never has a state judge not been retained in Oklahoma history. HOWEVER, I will be voting against ALL Oklahoma Supreme Court justices. The Oklahoma Supreme Court is rather liberal, with most of the justices having been appointed by Democrat governors (all OSC justices on the ballot were picked by Brad Henry), and in recent years has struck down many pro-life bills or petitions. Given those reasons, I strongly encourage you to vote NO on all Oklahoma Supreme Court justices.

OKLAHOMA COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS: vote NO
As with the Supreme Court, all of the Criminal Appeals judges were appointed by liberal Gov. Brad Henry (D). I encourage you to vote against all of them.

OKLAHOMA COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS
P. Thomas Thornbrugh - appointed by Gov. Mary Fallin (R). Vietnam veteran. (YES)
William C. Hetherington, Jr. - appointed by Gov. Brad Henry (D).  (NO)
Kenneth L. Buettner - appointed by Gov. Frank Keating (R). Involved with his Catholic Church in various capacities.  (YES)
Robert Bobby Bell - appointed by Gov. Brad Henry (D). At one time was the youngest sitting judge in Oklahoma.  (NO)
E. Bay Mitchell, III - appointed by Gov. Frank Keating (R).  (YES)

Since I know next to nothing about the courts, judges and justices, and finding out information about them is so very difficult, I tend to vote for the those appointed by Republican governors and against those appointed by Democrat governors. The other option is to vote against them all; if by chance one of them was not retained, their replacement would be appointed by the sitting governor (in the case, Republican Mary Fallin).

Tulsa Vision2 - AGAINST
Tulsa residents would be wise to reject this major tax extension. Michael Bates of BatesLine.com has excellent commentary and resources on why to vote against Vision2.

STATE QUESTION 758 (info): YES
STATE QUESTION 759 (info): YES
STATE QUESTION 762 (info): NO
STATE QUESTION 764 (info): NO
STATE QUESTION 765 (info): YES
STATE QUESTION 766 (info): YES
State Rep. Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie) has an excellent page on the state questions, found here.

That about sums it up. If you have any questions or comments, or want to see what I think about something else, let me know!

Obama vs. Romney

Barack Obama, or Mitt Romney?

Hands down. 'Nuff said.

Also, click here to read why Romney should root for the Sooners this year (OU football does much better in years that the GOP nominee wins the presidential race).

OKGOP launches web ad: "Mr. President, I Built This"

The Oklahoma Republican Party today launched its latest web ad: “Mr. President, I Built This”. The video highlights President Obama’s outrageous comment to business owners that, “You didn’t build that.”

“The Oklahoma Republican Party stands with the millions of hardworking Americans across the country that believe hard-work and ingenuity are what breed success,” said Chairman Matt Pinnell. “President Obama’s comments were an enlightening - and frightening - window into the Democrats’ ongoing ‘War on Success’. This highlights the fundamental difference between the two parties and the two different visions for America as we head into the fall.”

Following the national uproar over the President comments, the Obama campaign argued the comments were “taken out of context.” As the Republican National Committee pointed out, the full context of the comments are in fact even worse than the specific line: “You didn’t build that.”

“These comments are indicative of what President Obama and his Democrat allies truly believe,” continued Pinnell. “It is their belief that government and its benevolence is what allows small businesses to succeed. As Republicans, we firmly believe it is the hard work of the individual that causes success.”

“These two visions are starkly laid out in the race between Governor Romney and President Obama,” said Pinnell. “President Obama believes that to turn our economy around, all we need is another government program, another handout, another ‘stimulus.’ Governor Romney understands what President Reagan did, that often government is the problem rather than the solution.”

“Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will fight to cut the red tape and end the onerous regulations holding our economy back. President Obama just offers more and more government, and more and more spending. This is a contrast we intend to highlight every single day between now and Election Day,” concluded Pinnell.

The Oklahoma Republican Party’s ad, “Mr. President, I Built This” can be viewed here.

Romney Picks Paul Ryan for VP

Mitt Romney announced this morning that he was tapping Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate. Ryan, aged 42, is the current Chairman of the House Budget Committee. He is extremely sharp and articulate, and comes from a swing state that will be crucial in the November elections.

Ryan happens to have close ties to Oklahoma - his wife Janna is from the Madill area, and is Congressman Dan Boren's cousin.

Rand Paul endorses Mitt Romney

Sen. Rand Paul endorsed Mitt Romney on Sean Hannity's television show Thursday evening.

RAND PAUL: "Well, you know, my first choice had always been my father. I campaigned for him when I was eleven years old. He's still my first pick. But, you know, now that the nominating process is over, tonight, I'm happy to announce that I'm going to be supporting Governor Romney."

Needless to say, this announcement is not going over well with the more rabid/zealous of Ron Paul's supporters. Rand is already facing a backlash from them. Just take a look at their comments on his Facebook page here and here.

The endorsement comes a day after Ron Paul publicly admitted that his campaign will not have enough delegates to win the GOP nomination.

BREAKING: Santorum Drops Out

At a press conference minutes ago in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum announced that he is suspending his presidential campaign, all but guaranteeing Mitt Romney the GOP nomination. Santorum said that he and his family made the decision to enter the race around their kitchen table, and made the decision to exit the race over the weekend around their kitchen table.

Santorum, presumed "dead" for much of the campaign, had a stunning victory by a mere handful of votes in Iowa, launching him to become the number one challenger to frontrunner Mitt Romney. He went on to win, with a shoestring budget, 11 states, over three million votes, and more counties than the rest of the field combined.

With his exit, Mitt Romney will become the GOP nominee. The focus over the coming months will now move to speculation on Romney's vice presidential pick.

To Rick Santorum, his family, and his campaign staff, congratulations on a hard-fought campaign. You surpassed every expectation, and should be proud of your efforts.

Super Tuesday: Santorum Wins Oklahoma

With 1950 of 1961 precincts reporting, Rick Santorum has won the Oklahoma Republican presidential primary, holding off Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in a tighter-than-expected finish. Santorum received 33.8% statewide, with Romney getting 28%, Gingrich taking 27.5%, and Ron Paul finishing with 9.6%.

Results by congressional district:

1st Congressional District

• Santorum - 33.4%
• Gingrich - 29.75%
• Romney - 27.65%
• Paul - 8.3%

2nd Congressional District

• Santorum - 37.6%
• Gingrich - 30.2%
• Romney - 22.2%
• Paul - 8.9%

3rd Congressional District

• Santorum - 34%
• Gingrich - 29%
• Romney - 25.8%
• Paul - 9.8%

4th Congressional District

• Santorum - 34.85%
• Romney - 28.3%
• Gingrich - 24.8%
• Paul - 11%

5th Congressional District

• Romney - 33.9%
• Santorum - 30.8%
• Gingrich - 23.9%
• Paul - 10.5%

The final delegate count looks like it will be Santorum with 14, Romney with 13, and Gingrich with 13. Of Oklahoma's 77 counties, 2 went to Romney, 11 to Gingrich, and the remaining 64 were won by Santorum.

It appears that on the Democrat side, Randall Terry (18% statewide) and Jim Rogers (13.8% statewide) will receive delegates, in addition to Barack Obama (57.1% statewide). Terry won 12 counties, Rogers won 3, and Obama took the other 62. Obama placed third in five counties. Terry and Rogers held Obama to just 42% in the 2nd Congressional District, and 47% in the 3rd Congressional District.

Outside of Oklahoma, Romney looks to have won Massachusetts, Vermont, Virginia, Idaho, and Ohio (in a squeaker). Gingrich won Georgia. Santorum has won Oklahoma, Tennessee, and North Dakota. Alaska's caucus results probably won't be available until sometime Wednesday.

My choice for President is...

This presidential primary has been a roller-coaster of surprises. A very divided field resulted in swiftly-changing dynamics in the race, with new candidates surging to the lead for a few weeks, then plummeting while another candidate soared to the top. Debate after debate after debate after debate..... after debate after debate, with a few scandals (or so-called "scandals") tossed in for good measure.

Eventually, some candidates saw their exit approaching, and decided to get off the campaign trail. That may have narrowed the field, but the upheaval still continues.

Finally, we entered into the actual voting. Three candidates have won states - Santorum, Romney, and Gingrich. For the most part, the race is down to Santorum and Romney, with Gingrich playing spoiler for Santorum.

Tomorrow, Oklahoma and nine other "Super Tuesday" states will be voting. Many of you have doubtless received numerous robocalls in the past 48 hours from the various campaigns (I have received nearly a dozen), and hundreds of volunteers are waving signs or making get-out-the-vote calls for their chosen candidate across the state. Most of that will end in Oklahoma tomorrow evening, once the polls close, and the campaigns will shift their resources to other states.

In 2008, I was a strong Huckabee supporter from the very beginning. When he announced that he would not run for President, I was left without a candidate. I truly became an undecided voter, for probably the first time since I registered to vote. I bounced between Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Perry (mainly Bachmann, though).


Problem is...

... they all dropped out.

There are four candidates on the ballot tomorrow that are still running. The time has come to decide who to vote for.


I pick Rick Santorum.

Of the candidates left, Santorum is the one who has been a genuine, consistent, and across-the-board conservative, and carries little-to-no baggage. He is a well-rounded conservative on the issues that matter - social, fiscal, and national security.

I agree with Ron Paul on most of his fiscal policy, but I cannot reconcile my beliefs to his libertarian views on social issues and on foreign policy. Additionally, he tends to attract the worst crowd (granted, a minority, but very vocal and public), such as 9/11 Truthers, anarchists, anti-Israel and pro-drugs activists, etcetera, and he chooses campaign leaders like Al Gerhart (see the McCarville Report for all the latest on that debacle). He also endorsed radical socialist leftists Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader for president in 2008 (along with two other third-party candidates).

I cannot support Newt Gingrich, because of his past and current actions, statements and policy views. Gingrich has tremendous baggage that would be exploited in a general election, and I can't trust him to be a reliable conservative. He is the last person in this primary that I would vote for.

I cannot support Mitt Romney, largely (though not exclusively) due to RomneyCare. The issue of this election will be ObamaCare, and Romney cannot draw a clear enough distinction between himself and Obama on this point. Unlike Gingrich, Romney's personal life has been admirable. Like Gingrich, Romney has had liberal tendencies in healthcare, global warming, abortion, gun rights, and other issues.

Only three candidates have any degree of a shot at the nomination; Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich. Romney and Gingrich present, as Ronald Reagan said best, 'pale pastels', while Santorum offers 'bold colors'.

Fellow blogger Michael Bates has a fantastic post that goes into more detail about Santorum, and why you should support him in tomorrow's presidential primary. He also has a good synopsis of the Santorum rally in Tulsa that took place last night, which I also attended.

I have many friends who will be voting for other candidates, and I hold no ill will toward them for their choice. All of these candidates are better than President Obama. However, for me, the choice in this primary is clear. I pick Rick.

Rasmussen: Santorum 43%, Newt 22%, Mitt 18% in Oklahoma

A brand-new Rasmussen Reports poll released today shows Rick Santorum with a two-to-one lead over his nearest challenger in Oklahoma's Republican presidential primary.

Rasmussen Reports Oklahoma Republican Primary (link)

Rick Santorum - 43% 
Newt Gingrich - 22%
Mitt Romney  - 18%
Ron Paul - 7%
Other - 2%
Undecided - 7%

Poll of 750 likely Republican voters, taken on February 21st, MoE +/-4%

With less than two weeks til the GOP primary here, Santorum looks well positioned to snag a big victory in Oklahoma. If the election day results are similar to these, he could receive between 25 and 30 (or more) of Oklahoma's 43 delegates.

Santorum Surges to Lead in Oklahoma

SoonerPoll.com released a survey today of that Oklahoma Republican Presidential primary, and found that Rick Santorum has surged to an impressive lead. Santorum recently attracted very large crowds at events in Oklahoma City and Tulsa following up on his victories in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri.

SoonerPoll.com Oklahoma Republican Primary Survey (link) 

Rick Santorum - 39%
Mitt Romney - 23%
Newt Gingrich - 18%
Ron Paul - 8%
Undecided - 13% 

Poll of 300 likely Republican primary voters, taken February 8-16, with a MoE of +/-5.66%

Previous polls had shown Newt Gingrich leading the Oklahoma primary. American Research Group released a poll on the 8th that had Gingrich with 34%, Romney with 31%, Santorum at 16%, and Paul with 10%. SoonerPoll had a survey in mid December that put Newt in the lead with 33%, Romney at 14%, Paul with 4%, and Santorum at 1.5% (other candidates have since dropped out).

Oklahoma has a proportional delegate apportionment this cycle. Oklahoma gets 43 delegates this time around. Three are unpledged (OKGOP Chairman Matt Pinnell, RNC members James Dunn and Carolyn McLarty), each congressional district has three (for a total of fifteen), and the remainder (twenty five) are awarded off the statewide vote tally. In order to be eligible for delegates, a candidate must receive more than 15% of the vote statewide for at-large delegates, and 15% for congressional district delegates. If a candidate gets more than 50% of the vote statewide, he is automatically awarded all at-large delegates; the same is true for the congressional district level.

Therefore, if the final results of the March 6th vote looked like the poll above, Santorum could receive something around 12 at-large delegates, Romney about 7, and Gingrich around 6. The 15 congressional-district delegates would be awarded based on how the candidates performed in each district. Since SoonerPoll has not released cross-tabs showing their survey results on a congressional district level, I can't give a complete delegate estimate.

UPDATE: SoonerPoll has now released the crosstabs - you can view them here.

Drilling down into the results allows for rough estimates on delegate allotment off of the results SoonerPoll found. My guess would be that among the 15 congressional-district delegates, Santorum would receive about 8, while Romney would get 4, and Gingrich would take 3. Add those to the statewide at-large estimates, and you come up with this:

• Santorum - 20 delegates
• Romney - 11 delegates
• Gingrich - 9 delegates
• Paul - 0 delegates

Obviously, take these with a big grain of salt, but this should give a rough idea as how the delegates would be dealt out.

ARG Poll: Gingrich, Romney lead in Oklahoma

American Research Group Oklahoma Republican Primary Poll (link)

Newt Gingrich - 34%
Mitt Romney - 31%
Rick Santorum - 16%
Ron Paul - 10%
Other - 2%
Undecided - 7%

Poll of 600 likely Republican primary voters, taken February 6-7, with a MoE of +/- 4%

A recent American Research Group survey finds Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney leading the GOP field here in Oklahoma's presidential primary. The poll was conducted on February 6th and 7th, before Rick Santorum won the three states last night.

ARG is not well-know for being very accurate; in 2008, they were among the worst in accuracy rates among polling groups, so take the results with a grain of salt.

Romney, Paul and Santorum have fairly public campaigns in the state, whether grassroots or official campaign staff-led. Romney visited the state a few months ago, and Santorum is coming to Oklahoma City and Tulsa tomorrow. The major Super PAC supporting Gingrich has been running ads in the state for weeks (I've heard several different radio ads).

Trump endorses Romney

Today, Donald Trump announced his endorsement of Mitt Romney for president. I guess this finally puts an end to Trump constantly hinting or threatening to run himself!

On a more serious note, though, does this endorsement actually mean anything to people?

Romney and Gingrich: "Who's on First?"

Contrary to what the title might seem to indicate, this post isn't about who is the front-runner in the GOP presidential race. Instead, it takes a slight break from actual political news...

Check out this video someone put together, featuring Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich "performing" Abbott and Costello's classic sketch 'Who's on first?'





Enjoy!