Rice Gains Ground On Inhofe

It’s no wonder state Sen. Andrew Rice is gaining ground in his bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe this year.

Inhofe, a shill for Big Oil and health insurance companies, has become completely absorbed in Washington politics and culture, and he has repeatedly failed the vast bulk of his constituents back home when it comes to wages, health care, living costs, energy prices, privacy rights and government spending.

As expected, Rice is steadily building the name recognition he needs to challenge a well-funded incumbent in a political system that rewards the status quo and in a state dominated by an ultra-conservative corporate media.

A recent poll conducted by the Benenson Strategy Group for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee shows Rice is only nine percentage points behind Inhofe in the race. Two months ago, Rice was trailing Inhofe by 22 points. The polling results made national news. Even The Washington Post covered the poll, speculating the race might be competitive.

Chris Cillizza, writing in The Post says, “On the other hand, change is the order of the day in politics nationwide and Rice, a first term state senator, is a far more obvious change agent than Inhofe who has been in Washington since 1986.”

The Rice camp says its gains are partially because of recent television advertisements that are helping to introduce the 35-year-old State Senator to Oklahomans outside of the Oklahoma City area. Inhofe’s own television advertisements appear to be ineffective at this point. Is the race heating up? When and how will Inhofe go negative?

The 73-year-old Inhofe remains one of the most despised American politicians on the planet for his flippant and careless remarks about climate change and cultural issues through the years. Inhofe has done more damage to the state’s image than The Dust Bowl, but the state’s largest newspaper, The Oklahoman, has failed to cover the issue because it is a biased, right-wing publication. Its Washington “correspondent,” Chris Casteel, is a conservative propagandist who fails to hold Inhofe accountable, and thus Inhofe can operate without scrutiny unless the national media takes the time and expends the energy to cover Oklahoma politics.

In the coming weeks, Okie Funk will set the record straight when it comes to Inhofe. This blog will be publishing an open-ended series titled “The Case Against Jim Inhofe.” The series will look at Inhofe’s political and business escapades, from his earlier lies about when he graduated from college to his bankrupt company Quaker Life Insurance to his dirty campaign tactics. It will focus as well on Inhofe’s atrocious record on economic, health, energy, environmental, military and government spending issues.

For example, in September 1994, according to the documented historical record, Inhofe admitted “he received his college degree 14 years later than he has previously reported.” In his political biographies, Inhofe claimed he graduated from the University of Tulsa in 1959 when, in fact, he graduated in 1973. Why did Inhofe lie? Why wasn’t he held accountable?

“The Case Against Jim Inhofe” will start running soon.