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.

Tag Agency 'policy' a Rip-Off?

I just returned from the Noble Tag agency where I paid for my car tag renewals for our family car. I normally purchase my tag from LaNoy’s Tag agency or on occasions with Fuson Tag agency, in Norman.
However, today I was in Noble, so I decided to stop and get our tag. My mistake.

I had written my check for $82.50 for the tag renewal. The card from the Tax Commission states that the cost of a new tag was $83.50 which includes a $1 mailing fee. In all of my previous experiences with Fuson and LaNoy’s Tag Agency in Norman, they have always been $1.00 less than mailing it into the State. That should have been the case today.

The representative who was assisting said I owed $83.50 so I questioned her why it was not $82.50 she then showed me my copy from the State tag renewal that showed $83.50. I stated yes, it shows $83.50 but that includes mailing it back to me, since I am here it is not necessary to mail it so the actual cost is only $82.50. She replied “we don't do that" we mail you your copy. I told her that my Norman agency always process es my tag while I wait.
She replied that “we wait and process all the tags at once so you do not have to wait .” She then said, "Well, we are really backlogged and it would take a long time for you to wait to process your tag."

I've been to LaNoy’s and Fuson Tag Agency many times when it was much busier than the Noble agency was at 9:00am today and I've never had to wait more than a couple of minutes. The agent did go ahead and process my tag which took all of 30 seconds. I might also say she was very polite. It's only $1. However, it’s the principle of the matter that I find offensive.

After a few calls I have found that numerous tag agencies across Oklahoma are using this kind of tactic to increase their profits.
According to the Oklahoma Tax Commission, 2,801,369 non-commercial tags (automobile registrations) were issued between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2007.

Basically, over a period of a year, this equates to over two million dollars that we the taxpayers of Oklahoma are being over charged. There are approximately 300 tag agencies in the state.

Respectfully,
Bobby Cleveland - Norman

Iowa Caucus Today!

Some 300,000 are expected as surverys show one in four has NOT made up their mind! The Nation waits with some interest for evening results!

A New Year Begins......

The Grapevine extends warmest wishes to you and your family for a New Year that is healthy, safe from adversity, and blest with the love of family and friends along with a growing knowledge of the Good Lord who so richly provides us with life's bounty.

Happy New Year in 2008!

The 'good 'ol boys' score again in stolen trailer case!

From the Pottowatmie Online Countywide News......http://www.countywidenews.com/calendar/

(Gary Jones stolen campaign trailer) The good 'ol boys score another travesty of justice!

The case of the stolen campaign trailer was laid to rest Tuesday when a City of Tecumseh employee pleaded 'no contest' to a charge of concealing stolen property and was given a deferred sentence.

The charge against Justin Lewis of Macomb will be dismissed if he successfully completes the five-year deferred sentence, including two years of supervised probation, $1,808 in restitution, 100 hours of community service and some court costs.

District Judge Doug Combs went against the recommendation of District Attorney Richard Smothermon in granting the deferred sentence. Smothermon, who handled Tuesday's appearance himself, said he had, "from day one, recommended a three-year suspended sentence if he would disclose who actually did it."

The trailer was stolen from the Branson-McKiddy parking lot the night before the 2006 Frontier Days parade. Decorated to look like a covered wagon, it was a well-known part of the campaign by Gary Jones, who ran against Tecumseh's Jeff McMahan for State Auditor & Inspector last year. McMahan defeated Jones, who is now chairman of the state Republican Party.

Tecumseh Police Detective J.R. Kidney and a sheriff's deputy found the trailer on property belonging to Lewis on Nov. 2, six weeks after it disappeared. In an August preliminary hearing, Kidney testified that "Lewis wouldn't say who brought the trailer to his property but commented that Kidney was smart and could figure it out."

Lewis later told Deputy Jim Patten that he "wasn't saying anything else and would take whatever happens to me." Shawnee attorney and Tecumseh native Allan Grubb represented Lewis. Grubb said he was pleased the judge rejected Smothermon's recommendation and said the DA "wouldn't negotiate" because of the "political ramifications of the case."

December Dates in History!

December 7, 1941, Japan attack the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor killing 2300 Americans. This event brought the United States into WWll.

In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared December 15 to be Bill of Rights Day, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.


The Boston Tea Party was an act of direct action by the American colonists against Great Britain in which they destroyed many crates of tea bricks on ships in Boston Harbor. The incident, which took place on Thursday, December 16, 1773, help to spark the American Revolution.

Oklahoma AG and Courts Play Favorites?

It seems Oklahoma's legal system is easily influenced by out-of-state groups. When an Oklahoma Supreme Court judge's wife and a few other powerful animal rights advocates in Oklahoma wanted cockfighting made illegal, out-of-state (Humane Society) petitioners were allowed to gather signatures. Then, the Oklahoma Supreme Court allowed the signatures.

The laws controlling the petition process haven't changed. However, the state district attorney's office recently arrested three people, two from out of state, for illegally gathering signatures on an initiative petition. They've been charged with defrauding the citizens of the state. This was the same thing that cockfighters appealed to Oklahoma's Supreme Court: that the Humane Society brought people into the state who illegally gathered signatures.

The referee the Supreme Court appointed to verify the signatures (Gregory Albert) found this to be true. He rejected the petition in his recommendation to the court, but was overturned by the state Supreme Court based largely on the same Supreme Court judges' insistence. It was the first time in Oklahoma history that the Oklahoma Supreme Court went against the findings of its own referee.

The court ignored the laws of the petition process and allowed a very illegal campaign and illegally written bill to proceed to the polls.
In one case the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the Attorney General stated it was legal for the out-of-state people (Humane Society) to gather signatures and influence Oklahoma laws; in the other they arrested the people (with TABOR) doing the same thing.

It's sad the leadership in the Oklahoma legal system chooses when to enforce a law by weighing how much will be taken out of their pocket, who will make the biggest donation to their re-election or what a wife demands.

B.L. Cozad Jr., Indiahoma
Letter to the Editor, originally printed in the Lawton Constitution
Emphasis added