State Sen. Andrew Rice, who recently announced his U.S. Senate bid against Jim Inhofe, will live blog on Daily Kos at 3 p.m. (CST) Wednesday.
Rice decided to take on the gargantuan task of bringing down Inhofe when grassroots supporters in Oklahoma and across the nation appealed to him. He plans to run an aggressive campaign that will point out Inhofe's lack of integrity and the many times the kooky senator has embarrassed the state with his outrageous public comments.
Are you sick and tired of Jim Inhofe? Here is Rice's ActBlue account. ActBlue helps progressive candidates throughout the country raise money through the netroots. Please consider donating some money to help Oklahoma take a giant step forward in terms of its national image.
Another day, another local, right-wing media outlet argues Democrats should be like Republicans so some Republicans can be to the right of the quasi-fascist, mission-accomplished president they so adore.
So here we are, still 14 months away from the 2008 elections, and already the editorial writers at The Daily Oklahoman feel compelled to criticize State Sen. Andrew Rice’s campaign against U.S. Senate Jim Inhofe.
Heck, Rice has not even officially announced he is running yet. The bullies and chicken hawks at The Daily Oklahoman, the propaganda ministry for the state GOP, must be scared.
After a few weeks on the road in Oklahoma and a whirlwind of meetings in Washington, D.C., it now seems likely State Senator Andrew Rice will soon be filing papers to challenge U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe in the 2008 election.
Since winning election to the State Senate from a diverse, inner-OKC district, Rice has already proven to be a skilled consensus builder who gets results. He offers a stark contrast to the right-wing curmudgeon, Jim Inhofe.
Rice still says he will make a formal announcement after Labor Day but fundraising prospects have surpassed his expectations and sources close to him say he may be “all in” within the next 10 days. He has received encouragement on a draft Rice Web site, www.runandrewrun.com, and in meetings throughout the state. We also hear the DSCC now views Rice as a potential upset challenger in the style of a Jim Webb or a Jon Tester.
Rice lost a brother in the World Trade Center on 9/11 and believes that Bush and Inhofe took their eye off the ball by waging war in Iraq while Al Quaeda rebuilt its global terror network. Inhofe, who once called global warming a “hoax,” boasts of being "one of the last true conservatives left in the Senate".
Play the new and fun U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe Narcissistic Personality Disorder or Stupid Game!
Pick your favorite Inhofe quote from the list below and then explain in a comment if it is the result of a narcissistic personality disorder or just plain stupidity.
(2) In a 2002 Senate speech, Inhofe said, "One of the reason I believe the spiritual door [emphasis added] was opened for an attack against the United States of America is that the policy of our government has been to ask the Israelis, and demand it with pressure, not to retaliate in a significant way against the terrorist strikes that have been launched against them."
(4) In a June 6, 2006 Senate speech, Inhofe said, “…As you see here, and I think this is maybe the most important prop [family photo] we’ll have during the entire debate, my wife and I have been married 47 years. We have 20 kids and grandkids. I'm really proud to say that in the recorded history of our family, we've never had a divorce or any kind of homosexual relationship.”
(Misterokrahead says: Tired of crazy ol’ cusses like Inhofe making Oklahoma a laughingstock throughout the nation? Click here to sign a petition urging state Sen. Andrew Rice to run against Inhofe in the 2008 election.)
(Sign the petition urging state Senator Andrew Rice to run against U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe)
U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe's voting record and public statements about the Iraq war, now in its fifth year, show him to be completely wrong to the point of absurdity about the most significant world event in a generation.
Inhofe is the quintessential Bushbot, an angry warmonger, following the president's lead no matter what that means. Many Senators and Representatives, who initially voted in favor of the war, have tempered their support in recent months as the war drags on and the killing continues. But not Inhofe. His lack of insight and inability to face up to the truth show him to be incompetent and stubborn.
Can Oklahomans allow someone to be so wrong about something so important and still remain in public office?
Here are some of Inhofe's votes:
He voted YES on $86 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan . He voted NO on requiring on-budget funding for Iraq, not emergency funding. He voted no on investigating contract awards in Iraq and Afghanistan. He voted no on redeploying troops out of Iraq by July 2007.
The truth of the matter is that Oklahomans know we cannot expect Inhofe to express any remorse for his wrong-headed support of the war. We cannot even expect him to honestly and openly debate the issue.
What we can expect is that Inhofe will embarrass the state. When the Abu Ghraib scandal broke in 2004, for example, and people first realized American soldiers were torturing prisoners, Inhofe dismissed it. "I'm probably not the only one up . . . that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment," said Inhofe, according to CNN. The news station quoted fellow Republican U.S. Sens. John McCain (R-Arizona) and Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) disavowing his remarks.
In light of the abuse at Abu Ghraib, reports of abuse at the American prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and other known atrocities of the gruesome war, Inhofe's comments now seem even more wrong-headed, outrageous.
This is one reason why I draft Andrew Rice to run for U.S. Senate. Andrew opposed the war from its beginning. Even as the president and his advisors continued to exploit the September 11, 2001 terrorists' attacks as a reason for the Iraq invasion, Andrew remained against the war.
The 2001 attacks are an important and emotional issue for Andrew and his entire family. His brother, David, was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. In his grief, Andrew had the calm and insight to know America should go after terrorists following the attacks, not start a war that has diverted our attention, squandered our financial resources, and divided the country.
Please take a few seconds a sign the petition urging Andrew to run.
I posted this today on the new runANDREWrun.com site, which encourages state Senator Andrew Rice to run for the U.S. Senate in 2008:
U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe has for too long embarrassed Oklahoma with his boorish, archaic views on global warming and people's rights. His reckless statements have been consistently reported by the national and international press. This press coverage has made the state seem like a place of ignorance. As an Oklahoma ambassador, Inhofe has failed miserably.
Do you want six more years of embarrassment and ridicule under Inhofe's leadership? Can you stomach it? Do you want to go through six more years of cringing every time Inhofe makes a spectacle of himself and the state in the news or in television appearances?
Oklahoma Senator Andrew Rice, pictured right, a rising political star in the Oklahoma Democratic Party, is the person who can beat Inhofe. He is intelligent, articulate and committed to progressive issues Oklahomans care about. He will stomp Inhofe in debates. He will serve as a logical and overwhelming contrast to an angry Inhofe, who spouts dead ideologies to an unenthused base. Andrew is positive, poised, fair and compassionate.
But the main reason Andrew can win is he stands up for those issues Oklahomans really care about, issues like decent wages, outstanding health care, and individual and privacy rights. As a native Oklahoman, Andrew knows the state well. He and his physician wife, Apple, are raising their young children here, and they want to help Oklahoma families prosper.
Do you want to send Inhofe packing from Washington, D.C.? Then sign the petition urging Andrew to run.
Let's show Andrew he has our support to make Oklahoma a place admired around the world for its sensible, hard-working, compassionate people, not its kooky politicians like Inhofe who have no clue about the world around them.
This is a community blog operated since 2006 by people dedicated to promoting and restoring progressive values in Oklahoma. A courageous band of patriots, we fight right-wing tyranny in one of the reddest of red states. Do you want to help by posting here? Do you want traffic back to your blog or site? We welcome posts written by liberals and centrist to conservative Democrats and Independents. Register above and start posting. Crossposting is allowed. Questions? Contact kurt.hochenauer@gmail.com.
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