Democrats run where Obama can’t help

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma, overwhelmingly Democratic since statehood in 1907, has drifted sharply to the Republicans over the past 1 1⁄2 decades.

The state’s two U.S. senators and four of its five U.S. representatives are Republicans, and the GOP has majorities in both the state House and Senate.

But unlike Democrats, Republicans have never controlled both the Legislature and the executive branch at the same time. Three Republicans have served as chief executive with Democratic legislatures.

Democratic candidates include Attorney General Drew Edmondson and Lt. Gov. Jari Askins. The Republican contenders so far are Rep. Mary Fallin, a former lieutenant governor, and Randy Brogdon, a state senator from Owasso who is one of the fathers of the state sovereignty movement that swept through legislatures in the winter and spring.

Conservative rural areas are expected to be a key battleground, and state GOP Chairman Gary Jones is encouraged that in recent elections, Republicans have picked up legislative seats in heavily Democratic areas.

“I think if we continue on the path we are on right now, we will have a Republican governor in 2010,” Jones said.

Todd Goodman, the new Democratic state chairman, says Democrats can rebound from the 2008 presidential election, when rural areas went heavily for John McCain over Democrat Barack Obama. That helped Republicans win a majority of Senate seats for the first time and increase their House majority.

Goodman said Democrats will benefit in 2010 because the record shows GOP legislative leaders were reluctant this year to fund rural economic development projects and other programs important to rural folks.

“Obviously, we also do better in off-presidential election years and that trend should continue,” he said.

Bob Darcy, political professor at Oklahoma State University, says Oklahoma is an anomaly, with Republicans continuing to gain ground, while most parts of the country are trending to Democrats.

For that to change, he said, two things need to happen: “The Democrats are going to have to come up with a message and the Republicans are going to have to mess up in some way.”

He said a problem for Democrats in legislative races is the party can’t condemn the GOP record in many instances because Democrats voted for so much of it.

“For decades, a century, Democrats have tried to be the party of the left, the party of the right and the party of the center.

“The Republicans have grabbed the label as conservatives and they are running with it. The Democrats can’t out-conservative the Republicans.”