Oklahoma considered 'small potatos' - Candidates bypass State!

Tulsa World:

Oklahomans' growing interest in the state's Feb. 5 presidential primary is not likely to be matched by the candidates themselves, political insiders say.
"When you have 20-something states (voting) on one day, everybody is trying to figure out how to maximize their schedules," said state Republican Chairman Gary Jones.

State parties allocate their delegates to their respective national conventions through a series of primaries, caucuses and state conventions. Oklahoma is among 22 states with Democratic primaries or state caucuses and 19 with Republican voting on Feb. 5.

Almost half of both parties' national delegates will be in play on that day.
New York and California will hold their primaries on Feb. 5. So will Illinois, Georgia and New Jersey. Those five states account for about a quarter of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention and about 20 percent of Republican delegates.

Compared to them, Oklahoma doesn't amount to much. It's 47 Democratic delegates (out of a total of 4,049) and 41 Republican delegates (out of a total of 2,380) are only about 1% and just under 2% respectively of delegates at the two parties national conventions.

Just look at the map," said state Democratic Chairman Ivan Holmes. "North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma -- those are states you'd like to have, but they're not top tier in terms of delegates. It's hard to get (candidates) through here."

Jones said he expects Mike Huckabee, John McCain and possibly Fred Thompson to put some resources into Oklahoma. Democrat Barack Obama's campaign was expected to send two full-time staffers into the state Monday. The campaigns of Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, the top two Democrats in the state according to most polls, are also likely to step up their activities in the state.

But money, not votes, has been Oklahoma's main attraction for presidential candidates. All the front-runners in both parties have made fundraising stops in the state.

Personal appearances in the next month are considered unlikely -- but not entirely out of the question. Reports that Obama's wife, Michelle, might visit Tulsa next week were quickly quashed, but speculation continues that she or Obama himself might pass through the state before the primary.

Huckabee was the leading choice of Oklahoma Republicans in an Oklahoma Poll conducted in mid-December, with 29 percent of GOP voters favoring him. John McCain was second at 17 percent with 22 percent undecided.
Clinton had the support of 34 percent of Democrats, with Edwards at 25 percent. Twenty percent were undecided.

While neither Jones nor Holmes thought moving the state's primary up to early February has enhanced its national importance, they both said the campaign has stirred up interest among Oklahoma voters.

The state election board reports voter registrations increased by about 10,000 during the last two months of 2007. The Tulsa County Election Board received 1,600 voter registration forms, many of them changing independents to Republicans or Democrats to vote in the primary, in just three days last week.
Friday was the last day to register or change party affiliations for the Feb. 5 vote.

"We're finding the citizens very much engaged," Jones said. "But things are going to happen so fast and furious in the next few weeks, it's going to be hard for the average person to keep up."

"We've had quite a bit of interest in the last six months," Holmes said, adding that he hopes the Democratic nomination is not decided on Feb. 5.
"If the candidates would continue to battle it out for the next six months, it would be good for the party at the grass-roots level," he said.

Oklahoma goes to polls 'Super Tuesday', February 5. Sample ballots are now available at your local election board.