“Ah consensus … the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies in search of something in which no one believes, but to which no one objects; the process of avoiding the very issues that have to be solved, merely because you cannot get agreement on the way ahead. What great cause would have been fought and won under the banner ‘I stand for consensus’?” — Margaret Thatcher
The Oklahoma primary, held Tuesday, July 27, 2010, resulted in less than encouraging outcomes for those who know what time it is in America and what is at stake in OK: the continuation of big government assaults on life, liberty and property; the chipping away at this country’s remaining foundations. In essence, the end of this country as we have known it.
The most-watched race was the OK Governor’s race, a contest between the establishment’s choice, Congresswoman Mary Fallin (a voter of the Bailout and other big-government bills), and OK Senator Randy Brogdon, the constitutional conservative with the grassroots support and the on-point message. Faux conservative vs. the real deal.
Faux won the primary. But just barely.
On the Republican ticket, 54% of the primary vote went to Fallin; 46% voted against Fallin. (Brogdon, projected by ‘experts’ to get 18% of the vote actually garnered almost 40%, with the other two Republican primary candidates drawing roughly 5.5% of the Republican vote).
This 54/46 vote split is a pretty accurate reflection of the ideological breach in the Republican party.
On the Democrat side, current OK Lt. Governor Jari Askins won over the favored Drew Edmondson, the current Attorney General: 50.28% Askins, 49.72% Edmondson. Just about down the middle.
The ‘experts’ were wrong on both the projected Brogdon numbers and the expected Edmondson win.
The dating game begin.
During the debate and leading up the election Fallin, characterized as a ‘mama grizzly’ by Sarah Palin, ignored the grassroots, refused to debate Randy Brogdon at every opportunity, ran away from tough questions, avoided any situation where there was a hint of being held accountable for her voting record, and wouldn’t committing to reducing the size of government.
Very un-grizzlyish. More pudding-ish.
The primary is over and the numbers make it obvious that Fallin does not have enough support to win in November without the committment of that 46% anti-Fallin block. Hence, the courting and wooing of the Brogdon supporters has begun. [There are currently more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state of Oklahoma and the Fallin camp knows that in order to win they need all the grassroots votes, plus votes from the Democrat side.]
The skilled and well-practiced establishment machine has already approached a sampling of the grassroots groups and has apparently convinced a few of them that they can be part of driving a ‘hard bargain’ with the Fallin camp, and that if they get behind Fallin-the-grizzly they’ll get certain pieces of legislation passed next session, i.e. Open Carry, no RFID chips in the OK driver’s license, and the Firearms Freedom Act.
Bunkum.
This is a con-game, played election after election. It’s a play that works to persuade the grassroots folks to go along with the agenda-driven establishment, filled with promises and assurances.
The grassroots will be told such things as ‘We got the message loud and clear – 46% voted for someone else,’ or ‘46% want smaller government,’ or ‘states really do need to stand up to the Federal government,’ and the ever-present ‘help us and we’ll make sure you’ll have a seat at the table.’
The result of buying into this routine will be as it always has been – folks will be used, then ignored after the election.
Compromising on core principles has never resulted in a good or righteous outcome. (Think back through your own life – when did compromising on a value or a Godly principle ever net a good result? What righteous cause in history was ever won by giving up on a core principle, such as the right to life, liberty and property? What people ever became free because they made a deal with the king?)
If the Oklahoma grassroots groups, who have grown in number and who are right on the issues, compromise their positions for a politician’s promise, their movement will regress and they will once more become meaningless, inconsequential, and to be ignored.
Packaging a candidate?
Read a little bit recently about the election of Jimmy Carter, the insider who was marketed as an outsider by the political machine, and who was described by one ardent supporter thusly, “He’s a conservative to conservatives, a moderate to moderates, a liberal to liberals. Jimmy Carter has believability!” He was packaged and sold to the public by a political machine who knew what the public wanted to hear and see.
But inside the packaging was the real Jimmy Carter and his 4 years in office (1977-1981) proved disastrous.
The political machinery, in order to grab that 46% voting block, will begin marketing Mary Fallin as a constitutional conservative to the constitutionalists, as a tea party candidate to the tea partiers, and as limited-government to the limited-government camps. Expect to hear and see quotes from the Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, etc.
This package will be as genuine as Jimmy Carter. As Bush and Obama, and all the other fictionalized political characters out there. And the public will buy it.
Again.
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