I'm Back!

Hermione's power cord broke and I realized that I have forgotten how to share a computer. Instead of relearning I just stayed off the computer, almost entirely. After throwing up in front of the $80 power cord at Office Depot, I found one on E-bay for $14 and got it today. Sing with me--"I got it on E-Bay!"

I've been doing a lot of reading. I re-read "A Voice On the Wind" and "An Echo In the Darkness" and finally read "As Sure As the Dawn". I'm also reading "The Victory of Reason".

I did a deep cleaning of my desk--rearranged, filed, dusted, and threw a lot of stuff out. Now to maintain it.

Mama and Naomi had a joint, 68th birthday party Friday evening at the Pizza Hut. Lots of wonderful people came and we had a lot of fun. I'm glad we did a party. We don't often but we sure have fun when we do.

I have a lot more peace about my job hunt since the sermon mentioned in my last post. I haven't been very productive in my job hunt since but I don't think it's related. I think I've been under the weather, busy with other stuff (said birthday party and cleaning), and am now suffering doubly from menstrual cramps and a swollen throat. When it rains it pours. Despite that, I did do some networking tonight both for my job hunt and the county party--reception for a Ryan Leonard who is running for state attorney general.

I'm very excited about Christmas shopping. I sure hope everyone likes what they're getting! And I'm even more excited about Jen being here for our week-late celebration!

Here's hoping

that I won't have to point back at this blog post someday and say "I told you so!"

I can see the political reaction to the Ft. Hood shootings and Nidal Malik Hasan going two different ways. 1, the government will crack down on teachers of Muslim extremism. They will follow money trails from "peaceful" organizations like CAIR and harshly punish any money that gets spent for violence. Tax-free statuses should be revoked. Clerics will be more closely monitored.

2, civilians and soldiers' access to firearms will be restricted. Veterans will come under suspicion of possibly going postal. Studies and research will be done on whether or not military service makes you more likely to be violent. People will try to draw the link between Ft. Hood and the Beltway Sniper Shootings as a military connection instead of the obvious Muslim connection.

Obviously, I hope option #1 happens. Considering our current political environment, I'm very afraid that #2 is what will happen. But, as the title says, I'm hoping that I won't be proven right.

You Are My Superstar!

I'm listening to S.H.E. right now. So much fun!

I have a list of 12 different companies to start researching to approach about hiring me. I've decided that in addition to applying for posted open positions, I'm also going to preemptively strike companies about hiring me. The idea of bringing up the idea of hiring myself is rather daunting, but I think it's worth a try.

Dad called last night. It's always so good to hear his voice! He's gotten over the cold, although he said the dust is a constant respiratory irritant.

Random observation: why do people assume that if you don't speak English well you must be here illegally? I have had so many people make this assumption here in Oklahoma. I think it shows how provincial Americans, and Oklahomans in particular, are. Do they think that the possession of a green card automatically magically gifts the bearer with perfect English? I think they all need to spend some time in a foreign country where they don't speak the language and have to just learn as they go.

Speaking of languages, I'm going to start Hebrew classes in Tulsa. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high. I was excited to learn that it's only going to be about $100 for 9 classes. It's on Mondays, which is a bummer, but I think the class will finish in time for me to make the upper belt work out after class.

Mother's Milk

"Money is the mother's milk of politics."--Jesse Unruh

I don't usually talk about money on here. (I only have 2 posts tagged with money--one a link to a funny political commentary by Fred Thompson and another that is a sermon by John Wesley.) But today I will make an exception, because it's that important. Today, Randy Brogdon, conservative gubernatorial candidate here in Oklahoma, is doing a "money bomb" on his website. I would like to take just a few minutes of your time and make a case for dropping Randy a few bucks.

1. It's an investment. Investing is the act of putting money or effort into something because you think it will, in the long run, pay you back, make it worth your sacrifice. Giving money to a good political candidate, like Randy, is a very profitable investment. Randy, or any other good political candidate, cannot do what they need to do if they don't have money to do it with. Randy, when elected, will do a lot of good things for our state. He just needs the money to get there! I have no doubt that Randy will keep his word when he gets to the Governor's Mansion and do the good things that we've asked him to do. You will get a return on your investment!

2. It has spiritual worth. People don't like to talk about religion, sex, or politics and they labor under the delusion that the 3 are in no way connected. I won't try to totally disassemble this false belief here and now, but I will say that a living, mature Christian faith cannot ignore politics. I'm speaking here to Christians, such as myself. (Having never ever been of any other faith I won't pretend to know what they teach about politics.) We are called as Christians to actively engage our culture and world at large, not just in our churches and in evangelistic efforts. We are responsible not only for individual souls but also for our collective soul--our culture. Politics is an integral part of this culture, our collective soul. It is our duty to support other Biblical Christians in their crusade into this dangerous land, just as much it is our duty to support missionaries who go into foreign lands.

3. If not you, then who? Our country is "of the people". You are a person, so you qualify. You don't have to make a big donation. So few people give money politically that when you do, you have a huge impact. A little goes a long way. If you're not doing something to mold our country, then who is? Big special interest groups, corporate greed, and career politicians. If this disturbs you, then do something!

Please swing by www.randybrogdon.com and make a donation!

Random Thoughts from State Committee Meeting

This is what you get when I have internet access and am sitting in a session about Facebook that's not telling me anything new.

Tweet is one of the funniest words ever.

I wish the American Majority and Republican stuff would emphasize getting content in social networks instead of just connections and quantity. I think we're ending up with people generating a lot of fluff or worst just empty accounts that don't do anything. We need to use new media for meaningful connections and discussions--not just numbers. Perhaps I'm just a step ahead. maybe we need to get people on before we can train them for significance. I'm just concerned that I'm not seeing any move towards that. We need to be training people on how to write blogs, feed blogs into Twitter and Facebook, use Facebook to notify them of a meaningful politcal email, etc.. Right now I just feel like they're just chanting "Use Facebook! Use Twitter!"

I love hot rolls.

Naomi was so sweet to come with me today. I've been fighting a migraine for a couple of days now, so she came in case I get bad enough that I can't drive.

I wonder how long until the FCC starts regulating Facebook ads.

103

That's the current temperature here in sweltering NE OK. Yuck.

The Rogers County Republican "Government Serves the People" Cookout was a success! We raised over $400 net profit--that is more than what we've had in the past 3 years!

Poor Joshua has poison ivy. It was so bad this morning that his eyes were swelling shut. Mama packed him off to the doctor this morning where he got a steroid shot and cream. He's already looking better much.

We have had baptisms the last 3 Sundays!! Praise God! I'm so excited to see God working!

Also on a church note--I'm helping with the Missions room at VBS this year. Shawn Hines will be in charge of it. I did the missions room 3 years ago and just loved it, so I'm excited to get to do it again. Mama has already said she'll help me with posters for each country.

I get to go shopping with Mama this evening--fun!

99 Red Balloons

I've had this song stuck in my head this afternoon. It's such a surreal song.

Speaking of surreal moments--I had one Thursday. I've been job coaching a gal named Lizzie who's volunteering at the boutique store inside Hope Pregnancy Center. We're looking for someone to job coach her permanently, but right now I'm the only staff who has all the training classes she requires. Anyway, the two of us were putting out some baby boy clothes and there was a pair of dark blue cotton shorts with a grey stripe running down each leg. What was surreal was that Isaac and Caleb used to wear that exact style of shorts. I'm sure it was not the same pair. I seem to remember that they wore them into oblivion, but that just made holding an identical pair, that looked like new, even more surreal.

Tomorrow is the "Government Serves the People" Cookout hosted by the Rogers County Republicans. I really hope we make some money off of this!

I am getting over a summer cold and feeling better each day. Praise God!

Learning faith and patience

is no fun. I want a well-paying, political job so bad and I want it now. Bruce Long was very encouraging this morning in Sunday school. He reassured Samuel and I that as we continue to live for Christ He will provide the perfect job that we want so bad. However, he also threw that "wait on Him" bit. *sigh*

Another late night post

  Why are most of my blog posts written late at night?  I do tend to be more contemplative in the evenings.  I think that's a good thing.

  Punyou had two seizures this evening.  The first one was about a mintue and a half and the second was a little less than a minute.  They were about thirty minutes apart.  His whole head would shake, back and forth not up and down, and his eyes wouldn't blink.  We'll call the vet in the morning.

  I think I'll go take the computer and U.S. history II CLEPs tomorrow.  Yeah for CLEP tests!  Everybody pray for me.

  Mama found my old violin shoulder rest--hallelujah!  I haven't been too happy with my new one.  It pops off whenever I really start hugging the violin to me.

  Hillcat basketball is having a great season!  The men are 6-0 in conference play, 12-0 overall.  The ladies just won their 6th game in a row last night and are 4-2 in conference play, 10-4 overall.  They both play St. Gregory's tomorrow.  I'll have to leave right in the middle to go to band practice at church, but I'm hoping to catch most of it.  I sat with Ethan, Mae, and her boyfriend Aaron at the last home game.  Mae played basketball in high school, so she was able to explain all the ref's calls, which was awesome because they're totally incomprehensible to me.

  I had a very productive day today.  I applied for 6 different jobs, filed the quarterly report for the Rogers County Republicans with the State Ethics Commission, renewed the club's registration (with the $52.50 fee) with said Commission, took the sample U.S. history CLEP, cleaned my room (some), worked out, and stretched.  I should have cleaned my desk, but I didn't.  Oh, well, tomorrow.

  I now have three of my textbooks in: Orientalism and Comparative Politics for my Comparative Politics class, and an Anthology of 20th Century Native American Poetry for my Poetry Writing class.

  I'm really enjoying a book Julie lent me called Stealing Elections by John Fund.  It's challenging my some of my views on absentee ballots and extremely interesting.

  I try to remember to ask this something-resembling-annually: who all reads my blog?

Yesterday's Breakpoint

was very good.  Here it is in it's entirety.

A Grand Duke, Indeed
Conscience is King

December 23, 2008

When you hear the phrase “European royalty,” you probably think of the less-dignified antics of the British royals.

Yet there are European rulers who have distinguished themselves in more admirable fashion.

For example, Spain’s King Juan Carlos is credited with almost single-handedly saving his country’s fledgling democracy during an attempted coup in 1981.

More recently, his wife, Queen Sofia, stirred up controversy with her comments about the directions that democracy has taken. In a new book, she is quoted as saying that while she “[understands] that there are people with other sexual orientations,” she doesn’t think that that’s something to be proud of.

Not surprisingly, she takes a dim view of same-sex “marriage,” which was legalized in Spain in 2005. She said that people may have a right “to live together [and] dress up like bride and groom,” but it shouldn’t be called “matrimony.” Well said.

Her comments, combined with her traditional Catholic views on abortion and religious education, have some on the left calling for a reexamination of the role of the monarchy in Spanish life.

For now, it’s only talk in Spain. In Luxembourg, things have gone a lot farther. Earlier this year, its parliament, following in the footsteps of neighboring Holland and Belgium, voted to legalize euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. “The law would let doctors kill the terminally ill if they asked repeatedly and had the consent of two doctors and a panel of experts,” so the law read.

In Luxembourg’s system, the next step was for the constitutional monarch, the Grand Duke Henri, to give his assent to the measure and sign it. It was considered a formality.

But it wasn’t. Henri, whose official title begins with the phrase “by the Grace of God,” refused to give his assent, citing “reasons of conscience.”

This refusal for reasons of conscience is nearly unprecedented in Luxembourg’s history, but not in the Grand Duke’s family. In 1990, his uncle, King Baudouin of Belgium, refused to sign a law legalizing abortion in that country.

As you might expect, Luxembourg’s parliament didn’t take kindly to this exercise in moral leadership. As the prime minister put it, “If the parliament votes in a law, it must be brought into force."

In response to the Grand Duke’s refusal, the parliament is stripping him of his constitutional veto. For having the temerity to act in accord with his conscience, the Grand Duke and his successors will be stripped of their powers.

Fittingly, the measure tearing away his power is attached to latest version of the euthanasia bill. I say “fittingly” because measures like this are only possible if conscience has been squelched. Otherwise, the evil and folly of what is being proposed becomes too obvious to ignore.

Instead, as Michael Cook of MercatorNet wrote, the Grand Duke has reminded his subjects that “euthanasia is [inconsistent] with democracy, solidarity and human dignity.” He goes on, “[Abandoning] the sick and dying at the most vulnerable moments” isn’t law, it’s lawlessness. In my opinion, Henri’s willingness to pay a high price for conscience’s sake makes him the grandest of dukes.

Thompson's satire of the economy

This is so true it's barely funny.

Campaign Analysis

  Here's the campaign analysis I wrote for Dr. Taylor's election class.  I totally understand if y'all don't want to read nine double spaced pages by a political junkie, but I was so tickled with it that I had to share.

Anna Bavido

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting

Dr. Carolyn Taylor

December 10^th, 2008

Campaign Analysis: Cole Butler for Rogers County Sheriff

In 1996 former Claremore police captain and Democratic candidate Jerry Prather was elected to the office of Rogers County Sheriff.  Prather gained reelection by a comfortable margin twice, but didn’t run again in 2008.  This made 2008 the first open sheriff’s race in twelve years.  Scott Walton, the only Democratic candidate, announced his candidacy in July, 2007 and was endorsed by Jerry Prather.  The Republicans had a large primary for a local race of three candidates: Barry Lamb, Rob Mallory, and Cole Butler.  Cole Butler won by a large margin with 61.1% of the vote.

This is the setting for my analysis of Cole Butler’s general campaign for Rogers County Sheriff.  I will provide a profile of Butler, Walton, and Rogers County, discuss the funding and spending associated with Butler’s campaign, analyze the rhetoric and campaign strategy used, and, finally, the results of the election.

Profile: Rogers County

In the summer of 2007, Rogers County’s population was 83,105 breaking down into 43% urban and 57% rural, according to City Data.  I was unable to find any precise population estimates for 2008.  Rogers County has been multiplying its population and number of businesses for several years in a row.  The towns of Verdigris and Claremore, and the areas between Claremore and Owasso and between Claremore and Tulsa (which includes Verdigris) have added most of the residential growth.

Rogers County traditionally is registered as Democrat and elects Democrats to local and state offices, but votes strongly Republican in Congressional and Presidential races.  In recent years however, Rogers County has slowly been shifting more towards the Republican Party.  In 1998 Republican Tad Jones was elected as State Representative for the first time and has been reelected every two years since.  In 2004 and 2008 Republican County Commissioners Mike Helm and Kirt Thacker, respectively, were elected.  In the fall of 2008, for the first time in Oklahoma’s history, the number of registered Republicans actually outnumbered registered Democrats in Rogers County.  On November 4^th, the numbers stood ~22,724 Democrats to 22,824 Republicans with 5,627 Independents (check with election board).

I have only lived in Rogers County for seven years, which isn’t really long enough to know something as deep as a region’s political culture.  Take this with a grain of salt as it’s based off of my limited experience only.  I divide the political culture into two halves: voters and nonvoters.  Rogers County voters are traditionally conservative, but still passionately partisan.  They value traditions and have a strong sense of belonging.  They have strong, long-standing social networks.  People tend not to change churches, schools, or political parties.  They will remain in a network just because of how long they or their family have been a part of that network.  This combines to make local races very stressful, because it forces an individual to be at odds with some of the social networks in her life in order to follow the tradition of her party.  Most voters deal with this strain by simply being quiet.  They don’t get involved in politics anymore than is necessary to vote.  They will not attend events, put out a sign, or even talk about politics outside their partisan network.  Nonvoters are typically very suspicious of government, politics, and especially of politicians.  I’m not sure if they abstain from politics from dislike or because they’re afraid of getting burned, but since they don’t vote they don’t factor much into this campaign analysis.

Profile: Cole Butler

Cole Butler is a twenty-seven year veteran of the Tulsa Police Deparment, fifteen years on patrol and twelve years as a detective.  Overlapping through those are sixteen years and counting as the top negotiator for the Special Operations team, sixteen years and counting as an instructor at the Police Academy, and eight years and counting as an instructor at the Citizen’s Academy.  Butler has lived in Rogers county for twenty-five years.  He and his wife Debbie live out towards Foyil.  They have four children, one granddaughter, and a dog, Benson.  They attend Bethel Baptist in Owasso where Butler teaches a young married couples’ Sunday school class.

Profile: Scott Walton

Butler’s opponent, Scott Walton, is a life-time resident of Rogers County and currently lives in Verdigris.  He is also a twenty-seven year veteran of the Tulsa Police Department.  Walton has served in every assignment available except for motorcycle and helicopter patrols.  Most recently he has been head of Tulsa Crime Stoppers Program.  He and his wife, Roseanne, have two boys.

Campaign Strategies and Activities

Butler ran a grassroots campaign, but that’s not saying much as a grassroots campaign is pretty much the only feasible cost/benefit option for such a small race.  Butler did have a surprisingly large number of volunteers for a local race, especially compared to the number of volunteers for the other races.  Unfortunately, the campaign didn’t keep hard and fast records of their average numbers of volunteers.  From my own person memory, I would estimate a core group of fifteen that showed up for almost every everything and would do anything and a peripheral group of up to sixty people that showed up for some events that were more fun like fundraisers, parades, and the watch party.  Butler had XX donors, another way of estimating number of supporters.  What exactly these supporters did can be broken down into purposes/activities of door knocking, name recognition, events, and community connections.

Door knocking is the most basic grassroots campaign activity.  Butler went door knocking most every evening of the week.  Several of the core group of volunteers also door knocked on their own a weekly basis.  Usually volunteers would door knock in groups on the weekend.  Most volunteers door knocked in their own communities.  The door knocking done by groups and by the Butlers were targeted at specific neighborhoods, however.  A large portion of this door knocking was done in the area between Claremore and Owasso.

Name recognition is a sad fact of our apathetic citizens.  People will vote for someone based solely on whether or not they recognize the name from.  As reprehensible a truth this is, it’s still true and it would be foolish to ignore this effective technique.  Campaign signs are a form of name recognition used throughout the campaign.  Butler had signs left over from the primary, but less money to spend on signs than Walton.  Sign waving was used mostly within seven days of the election as name recognition and to remind people to vote.  Parades provided some chance to hand out literature, but they’re mostly name recognition events.  Butler usually had a good showing of volunteers at parades, which can influence people to vote for a candidate.  Volunteers wearing campaign shirts is also a form of name recognition.  For example, several of Butler’s supporters volunteered during Claremore’s Bluegrass and Chili Festival to sell drinks, tickets, and parking.  They were not allowed to actively advocate for Butler, but just seeing a smiling and helpful face on top of a “Wanted: Cole Butler for Rogers County Sheriff” t-shirt is enough to at least favorably influence a voter towards Butler.  The results of name recognition pretty much sink or swim on what kind of image the volunteer presents. 

Another campaign strategy was connecting with voters at community events.  For example, the 4-H Steak Dinner and Round Up for Jesus were attended by Butler and volunteers (who are living in red t-shirts by this point) partially as a chance to have fun and partially as a chance to talk to people about the campaign.  Although this might overlap somewhat with name recognition it’s different in that a significant amount of dialogue took place between supporters, candidates, and voters.  It isn’t efficient to do polling in such a small race, so this was the substitute.  This is how the campaign found out what people were concerned about, what they thought about Butler and Walton, and what was and wasn’t working.  Some volunteer recruitment would take place at community events, but it wasn’t exactly frequent.

The campaign did not put on very many events of their own during the general race.  There were two fundraiser events (a pancake breakfast and a spaghetti dinner) and a prayer meeting the Sunday before the election.  The prayer meeting was promoted just by word of mouth, and obviously the fundraisers are for supporters.

The majority of events that Butler got to speak at were hosted by other organizations and were open to Walton as well.  Examples of this would be the Rogers County Ministerial Alliance’s meeting, monthly Fire Department meetings, and American Bikers Association of Teaching and Education elections meeting.  People attending these events were usually already involved at least in the community and quite possibly in politics and generally a more sophisticated audience than the average group of voters.  The questions and answer section of these meetings were always animated and interesting.

Platform and Rhetoric

When speaking Butler used the acronym S.E.R.V.E. for what he would bring to the office of Sheriff.  Service, Equal treatment under the law, Responsibility, Visibility, and Everyone’s the same.  Under service he would talk about the nature of law enforcement being that of a servant.  Equal treatment had to do with everyone being under the law.  Here Butler would say that, if elected, his supporters couldn’t count on any favors.  He would also talk about a zero tolerance for drunk driving.  He said that any deputy under his administration would be immediately suspended for not arresting a drunk driver.  He reasoned that this would negate any pressure the offender might try to put on the arresting deputy.  Responsibility was fairly straight forward.  Visibility had to do with the accountability and transparency of the Sheriff’s office.  Butler said that if elected he would never ask the Commissioners for money without himself or a representative present to explain what it would be used for.  Under Everyone Butler would talk about the Sheriff being available to anyone and still active in patrol.

Other talking points that also appeared on a lot of Butler’s printed materials were professionalism, integrity, and experience.  A slogan used was “Prepared by the past for service in the future”, usually with some kind of image meant to remind of the Tulsa Police Department and Rogers County.

As October started, there was a subtle shift in the campaign’s rhetoric from how Butler’s experience and qualifications would make him a good sheriff to how Butler’s experience and qualifications would make him a better sheriff than his “opponent” (Butler purposely avoided using Walton’s name).  The same talking points were used but added to them were longevity of assignment and independence.  Butler would preface these two by saying that he and his opponent were very different and that “this race is very clear, it’s black and white.”  Longevity of assignment had to do with how long Butler served in each assignment he’s had, showing that he is committed and responsible on the long stretch.  Suggested, but not stated, in this is a statement about how many different assignments Walton has had with the Tulsa Police Department.  Independence was “I have no ties with or allegiance to the current sheriff’s administration.”

In many ways, this was the biggest difference (and perhaps the deciding factor?) between Butler and Walton.  Walton made campaign promises of continuing the good work done by Prather.  Prather endorsed Walton.  Walton praised the Sheriff’s department for the fact that Rogers County has the fourth lowest crime rate of counties in Oklahoma.  When he talked about what he would do if elected he talked about efficiency and said he was against any rapid changes or expansions.  He said he would be happy with a 100% retention rate of current county employees.

Butler, on the other hand, was very outspoken in his criticisms of Jerry Prather and the current quality of law enforcement in the Sheriff’s department.  Except for brief statements about his independence from Prather, Butler was never critical in campaign material or during speeches.  Most of his feelings about Prather would come out in informal conversations or the Q&A sections of events.  He was critical of the lack of accountability in finances, Prather’s apathy about the Reserve Officer Corps, how few deputies Prather employs, the lack of set districts and patrols for the deputies, the absence of regular enforcement of the traffic laws, the lack of continued training for the deputies, the lack of a central dispatch in Rogers County, the lack of random drug testing in the Sheriff department (Prather added this shortly before the election, which Butler would point out thereafter), and the presence of a “good ‘ol boy system” in the County’s law enforcement.  These strong feelings culminated in a rather unique campaign promise: to raise the crime rate.  Crime rates are based off of crime reported by law enforcement agencies.  Butler felt that such a poor job was being done by Sheriff Prather that crimes were being committed and never investigated or reported.

Conclusion

In the end, Scott Walton won by seven percentage points, 53% to 46%.  What follows are purely my speculations as to why we saw this outcome and what it tells us about Rogers County.

Based off of this race, recent county commissioner races, and the State House race, I think a strong line of difference is developing in Rogers County between the area between Claremore and Owasso.  This is not a very big area geographically, but it’s heavy populated.  People in this area are much more likely to be new to the County, to do business outside of Rogers County, and to be Republican.  This area is a small picture of the changes happening or about to happen throughout Rogers County: rapid suburbanization and lots more interdependency between Tulsa, Owasso, Tulsa County, Rogers County, and Claremore.  I think this is fast becoming the new Republican base.

A simplistic explanation would be the cynical one of money.  Scott Walton raised and spent the most money and he won.  However, I think it’s a little more complicated than that.

It was assumed that this was an open race because neither Walton nor Butler was from the incumbent’s department.  However, I think Prather’s endorsement and Walton’s close alignment with Prather and other Democratic officials in county government had the same effect as if someone from Prather’s department had run.  It was a closed race in all but name.  In many ways Walton’s election is a confirmation of Prather.  The majority of Rogers County voters weren’t as concerned about Prather’s job performance as Butler was.

Based on the idea that active volunteers are only a small percentage of actual voting supporters, I predicted Butler to win this race.  I think the difference between the two campaigns was clearly encapsulated in the two semi-trailers in the Will Rogers’ Days parade.  After a pitiful showing at the Claremore homecoming parade, Walton rounded up his supporter for this parade.  This was the last parade before the election, the very weekend of the election actually, so Butler had a larger than average showing of volunteers, as well.  Both candidates had been lent a flat-bed semi trailer for the parade.  Walton covered his in large, glossy signs.  Butler’s was covered up in people.  However, Butler’s large group of supporters obviously wasn’t enough to win him the election.

I think Scott Walton won because the political culture of Rogers County favors those candidates who have the most connections in the social networks discussed earlier.  This usually translates into the candidate who’s lived here the longest and/or is the most well-known.  Personally, I underestimated the power of these connections.  I assumed that twenty-five years of residency would stand up just fine to a life-long residency, but I was wrong.  Some of these social connections were rather tenuous, but strong enough to influence people’s vote.  One lady told me that she had voted for Walton because his name was so similar to Sam Walton and she worked for Wal-Mart.  Another lady told me she voted for Walton because she’s the daughter of the Democratic County Assessor so she always voted for Democrats.  A student here at RSU, a Republican, told me that she voted for Walton because a relative worked with him and she liked the church Walton goes to.

Unless things change drastically, Walton is likely to be reelected as many times as he runs.  Despite the large changes that have taken place since Prather was first elected, not enough has changed or the change hasn’t been of the correct kind to convince voters that any change in the Sheriff’s office is needed.  I wouldn’t dare to venture a prediction as to whether Walton will or will not keep the status quo.

Physically and emotionally exhausted

To give you a clue to my mood, I've been listening to Linkin Park and Breaking Benjamin this morning. Because of that, let's go over the good news first.

Oklahoma Republicans increased their majority and, for the first time in Oklahoman history, won the majority of senate seats. This is hugely wonderful! We can't get rid of Henry for another two years and I'm sure he will veto many a good bill, but that will only give us ammunition for 2010.

Jim Inhofe, Tad Jones, and Mike Helm all won their races by quite a bit. No surprises there, but still fantastic!

On a sidenote, today's Breakpoint is very good.

I was not at all surprised that Obama won. I think it's bad for the nation, but not as bad as we think. However, this is basically a death sentence for any kind of freedom in Iraq, and I'm predicting the same for Afghanistan. Last night, I decided to start giving regularly to Voice of the Martyrs. I'm praying about how much. I don't usually talk about who, what, when I give financially, but I'm mentioning this because I want y'all to think about what this election means for Christians in Iraq. They are already being persecuted now, but at least we have been able to offer protection for them and put pressure on their government to help them. When Obama pulls us out, whenever that is, it will be open season on Christians. Please pray seriously about what God would have you do.

Cole Butler lost and this was a surprise to me. Yesterday, I said that Cole would win because supporters win elections, not money. Cole had way more supporters door knocking, sign waving, and showing up at events than Scott Walton ever dreamed of, so I didn't think it really mattered how much more money Scott had. When I said this to Debbie, she said "Yeah, but Scott knows a lot of people." At the time, I discounted that because I thought it wouldn't matter because of how many new people are in the county. Well, I guess who you knew and how many you knew still counts in Rogers County. Rogers County is a good o' boy county, but it's changing. I thought this would be the race where we would see a turn away from that, but apparently not. I still live in a good ol' boy county.

I have never worked on campaigns because I thought my candidate would win. For me, campaigns are something I do first and foremost for God. Secondly, I do it to repay the debt I owe to my country for getting to live in a free society. To whom much has been given, much shall be required. I have been given much politically, so of course I need to give a lot back. Because it's only a matter of time until I'm in Israel and my primary focus will be that country, I feel like there's a timer on my debt to America, which makes me work that much harder. Thirdly, I do it for the candidate. Cole is a wonderful man of God and I would work for him again in a heartbeat, but unfortunately he says he won't run again. Fourthly, Cole's campaign was my college internship. I wanted to learn the thinking behind all the volunteer activities and I did get to see a ton of that and I learned an incredible amount of stuff. The whole team was so good to me and were willing to show or teach me anything. The internship was certain to be successful from the moment I started it, no matter how the race turned out.

I am so glad it's all over. I enjoyed it up until the very last hours and I would certainly do it again. Right now though, I just feel drained. I would feel drained if Cole had won, too, but not quite as bad as this. It's frustrating beyond words to have poured so much into something and have it not matter in the end. So, now I'm going to trust God, catch up on sleep, clean my desk, and focus on school.

Huzzah for Fall Break!

  Brave St. Saturn rocks!  (Can you hear me screaming Daylight right now?)

  The Rogers County Election Board is pathetic.  I'm trying to knock doors in precinct 8, one of the largest precincts in the county.  My list is of active independents and democrats.  Now, if we were practical it would be arranged by street and include phone numbers.  But, no!  It has no phone numbers and is arranged *drumroll for the stupidity here* alphabetically.

  I've found my younger brothers extremely irritating today, which is highly unusual.  Usually, it's an absolute blast to be with them.  Wonder what's up...

  I feel good about my midterms and very exhausted from having to do them.

  Maybe it's because I'm doing so much campaigning this time, but this semester seems to be flying past.  Usually by mid-terms I'm burned out and dying for the semester to be over.  I'm not saying I'm going to miss this semester, just that it's going really fast.

  I love Facebook's flair application!

  Sometimes I wonder what psych majors at school and peacenicks generally would think if I actually told them how violent I am.  For example...last night Samuel and I were sparring and discussing martial art strategy and theories of self defense and somehow we got onto breaking.  I have a major issue with breaking in that I don't hit with the power I know I have and I don't follow through.  Samuel is my main coach on this, the patient soul.  Anyway, he told me to go at his body, hands only, as hard as I possibly could.  I was very tickled with myself over the fact that it was hard for him. :)  It was sooooo much fun to go all out.  Since the hanging bag got taken down at the dojo I haven't gotten to go full power in a long time.  It felt great!  I would love to tell that to a psyched out peacenick just to see their reaction.

  As long as I'm going on a total ego trip...not Monday, but last Monday we were doing epon (sp?) sparring, similar to World Combat League or sabaki fights.  I got to spar Larry.  When we were done he told me that I needed to guard my head (majorly) and *smug grin here* control my knee strikes.

  Ok, to pop my ego, I'll also say that he totally clobbered my head and I really need to work on guarding it.

  I'm majorly pumped about Kate not needing chemo or radiation!  God is so good!  It's been awesome to see Him work on Kate's behalf over and over.

  OK, I'm going to veg a little with a computer game, Samuel, and my mug of sleepytime tea and then go to bed.

Claremore Homecoming Parade

Today was Claremore's homecoming parade. Ethan, Joshua, Caleb, and I walked in it for Cole. We had the Butler Car (very fancy sports car, courtesy of Oologah police chief), a huge pick up, and about 30 people, most of us walking. At the beginning we were waiting for other floats to go past us so we would be in the right order. As I'm standing there with Cole, Debbie, Lisa, and Melissa we see one tiny pickup with a Scott Walton sign drive by and about 20 ft. behind Scott and Rosalie Walton running behind it. There's a brief moment of silence as we wait for the rest of them... and then we all busted up laughing because that's all there was. Maybe I'm just mean, but I think that's my favorite campaign experience so far. Scott has boasted that he has the hometown advantage, he graduated from Claremore high, this should have been his big event...I think Melissa summed it up good. "Way to turn out the support!"

Happy as a lark!

School is going great! All of my classes seem like a lot of fun, some more work than others, obviously. It's amazing how many people I know up here now. I feel like I'm going to class with all the same people.

I'm now officially interning with the Cole Butler for Rogers County Sheriff campaign. They put me in charge of media and communications so I'm majorly hyped! All of y'all should brace yourselves for lots of political posts now.

I need to run across campus to another class but hopefully I can update again soon. Love y'all!

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." - Herm Albright

I go in tomorrow to sign papers to do my college internship with Sen. Inhofe's office in Tulsa. Praise God! I'm so excited!

My neck is really sore and swollen and I don't know why. Samuel did hit me in the face and I did sabaki Monday, but nothing bad enough for this. Maybe it's a combination of things. I'm going to the chiropractor after school today.

I got a job last week! I'm working evening or overnight shifts taking care of 54 yr. old, physically and mentally disabled lady named Donna Marie. She's total care, which means all her shifts are waking. I've worked one overnight so far and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I'm just so thrilled to be employed again and being paid well ($7.35 until I get some training and then it goes up!) and having it work with my schedule. Praise God! Pray that scheduling all my training classes can be done without missing too many college classes.

I just made 96 on my first quiz in U.S. Courts. Yeah!

I wrote a press release for the Republican Precinct meetings this morning and sent it to Sherri. Hope she likes it.

Everything for the state of Oklahoma is scheduled for May 3rd: State tag meet, Republican state convention, OSU's graduation, and ABKA nationals. So not fair! I'll be at nationals and maybe swing by the state convention.

"Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born." - Ronald Reagan

What I'm currently working on

These are questions I need to answer for the application to Senator Inhofe's internship program. What do y'all think I would answer?

Please answer the following questions concisely yet thoroughly.

Briefly list what areas of public policy most interest you and why.

Briefly describe what you expect to learn from an internship with Senator Inhofe.

Describe your greatest strength.

Describe your greatest weakness.

What are your career goals?

An Urgent Calling

"Because politics can protect the weak in the cause of justice, it can be a noble profession. And because the oppression of the weak is an offense against the image of God, politics is an urgent calling."--Michael Gerson in Heroic Conservatism