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State designates presidential electors, but nationally Americans Elect party abandons campaign

Patrick B. McGuigan

Who owns the rights to the Americans Elect party line on the Oklahoma ballot?
 
Not David Boren.
 
The University of Oklahoma president’s brief run at creating a third party for the 2012 presidential contest was always too controversial, but he seemed committed to it. But even the University of Oklahoma president found the latest evolution of the Americans Elect party too weird. Libertarian Party activists took control of the American Elect ballot line in this state, so Boren is bailing.

To be clear, the presidential ballot status of Americans Elect remains murky in Oklahoma, even as state election officials face a tight deadline to start preparing official ballot forms.
 
State members of the party, which gained a ballot line in March, submitted electors Wednesday, in support of the Libertarian party’s nominee. However, on Tuesday the national Americans Elect organization conveyed, via express mail, formal notification to state election officials that the party “has terminated or otherwise dissolved” its party status in Oklahoma, “effective immediately.” All future correspondence in the matter was directed to a Boston lawyer.
 
Boren, acting in his private capacity, was the key player in the national group’s efforts in Oklahoma. Friday August 10, he told CapitolBeatOK, "Since Americans Elect did not field a ticket in the presidential election, I will not be involved in any of their state and local efforts." Through a spokesman, he has declined further comment.
 
State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax declined to comment on the situation at length in an interview with CapitolBeatOK. He said, “This is a very unusual situation, so we are seeking legal advice from our counsel at the Attorney General’s office about how to proceed.”
 
Neal Leader, a career assistant attorney general, is handling the issue for Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a Republican who was elected in 2010. Friday afternoon, Leader told CapitolBeatOK the office is acting as counsel, not issuing a formal A.G. opinion. Still, he asked both the national party and the state party leaders to send information to him. Leader said he anticipates a decision by the end of next week. 
 
The legal question is whether the state will honor the wishes of the national party – “we’re outta here” – or the state party – “we’re in it, to win it.” Leader would not comment on his inclinations. However, Richard Winger of Ballot Access News, one of the nation’s leading analysts of ballot access issues, told CapitolBeatOK he believes by long-standing tradition state parties determine state party rules, including delegate selection and selection of electors.
 
Winger believes the state Americans Elect party’s electors will be on the November ballot. He argues from a long thread of evidence laid out in his August 2012 monthly newsletter (not available online until August 31). 
 
Rex Lawhorn, state chairman of Americans Elect, submitted seven electors for the party’s nominee on August 7. The electors were pledged to support former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, for president, and James P. Gray for vice president. Johnson and Gray are already the nominees of the Libertarian Party, which does not have ballot status in Oklahoma.
 
In a letter dated August 6, Kahlil Byrd of the national party told the Oklahoma state election board the national party voted in July to terminate its status “as a qualified political party in all states in which it has so qualified.” Byrd’s letter conveyed “unanimous written consent” of the national group’s directors to withdraw the party’s “ballot line in all states in which Americans Elect has obtained a ballot access line.”
 
Ziriax announced March 10 that Americans Elect had qualified for a presidential ballot line.
 
Boren, former U.S. Senator and a one-term governor of Oklahoma, helped the group gather some 90,000 signatures, submitted to the state election board in late February.
 
At that time, Boren – stressing he was acting in a personal role and not in his current capacity as president of the University of Oklahoma, thanked Americans Elect “for assuring that Oklahomans and Americans will have a third alternative in the Presidential Election this November if it is needed.”
 
“If it is needed,” the group intended, Boren said then, to hold a nationwide online “convention” to pick a Democrat and a Republican “to run as a team for President and Vice President. It would be the first bipartisan national ticket in modern history.”
 
Ziriax said Americans Elect garnered 68,424 valid signatures in the petition process. The organization had filed a “Notice of Intent to Forum a Recognized Political Party” on October 3, 2011.
 
In contrast, the state Libertarian Party fell short of ballot status. Activists filed their notice of intent On May 3, 2011, then turned petitions in on March 1. However, only 41,070 valid signatures were turned in.
 
To secure a ballot line, petitioners had to gather a number (51,739) equal to five percent of the votes cast in the 2010 general election for governor.
 
Oklahoma election officials plan to prepare ballot materials in early September, to meet a September 21 deadline allowing timely distribution of absentee ballot materials to military personnel.

About the Author: Patrick B. McGuigan is editor of CapitolBeatOK, an online news service, and senior editor at The City Sentinel, a weekly newspaper in Oklahoma City. He is the author of "The Politics of Direct Democracy: Case Studies in Popular Decision-Making" and of "Ninth Justice: The Fight for Bork." His essays appear regularly in Perspective, the monthly publication of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.  McGuigan once served as Capital Editor for Tulsa Today where his work frequently appears. 
 

TU football breaks to bowl

Staff Report

The Tulsa football team practiced for two hours on Friday morning and in the afternoon took a break from meetings and traveled to 31st and Sheridan for a bowling tournament at Sheridan Lanes.

“We felt like after the grind we’ve had in fall camp, we felt it was important to get an afternoon where we can relax and so we canceled what they thought we were going to have this afternoon in meetings and decided to have a little bowling tournament and it looks like they’re enjoying themselves,” said Blankenship. “The idea was to freshen up our minds a little bit. I think it will help going into the scrimmage tomorrow.”

The team of D. Brown (a.k.a. Team ‘Dre), captained by senior linebacker DeAundre Brown, captured the 26-team single elimination tournament title. Team members included defensive backs Marcus Pate and Austin McDaniel and receiver Conner Floyd. Team ‘Dre defeated the team captained by junior quarterback Cody Green, 132-105 in the championship match.

Team Green was comprised of junior offensive lineman Davis Walton, freshman deep snapper Jake Compton and freshman kicker Daniel Schwarz.

Team ‘Dre reached the finals with a 156-88 victory over Team Rose, captained by senior cornerback Lowell Rose, while Team Green defeated Team Flanders, captained by senior cornerback John Flanders, 143-116.

The winning team received Team autographed bowling pins for each member.

Mullet Over #520

James White

I recommend extreme caution when hiking in Sri Lanka. In 2010, the
island nation averaged one human death due to poisonous snake bites
every 12 hours. Yikes. 

Are you a serious consumer of cheeseburgers? Friona is a town of about 4,000 in Northwest Texas. Each July the local population hosts a Cheeseburger Cook-Off and Festival. The state legislature has designated Friona as the Cheeseburger Capital of Texas. You may call 806-250-3491 for cook-off entry details.

America’s first billionaire was John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937). His fortune was primarily from the oil industry.

The famous Sioux chief and medicine man, Sitting Bull (1831?-1890), was killed by Indian Agency Police. Originally buried at Fort Yates, North Dakota, the chief’s earthly remains were moved by some of his Lakota Sioux kin in 1953 to a new location at Mobridge, South Dakota.

Does your neighborhood seem crowded? Folks who monitor the world’s population claim that every day approximately 390,000 babies are born and about 150,000 people die, which implies a daily net gain of 140,000 people.

Have you been watching any of the London Olympic Games? London was purportedly founded in 43 B.C. I do not know who found it.

Abraham Lincoln apparently shopped at Tiffany’s. One of their receipts certifies that Honest Abe purchased a string of pearls with matching earrings and bracelet for $2,600. Rumor has it that our 16th president promptly gave the jewelry to his wife, Mary.

A famous photograph shows Mary Lincoln wearing the Tiffany pearls.

Medical historians estimate that at least 500,000 men became addicted to morphine during and shortly after the American Civil War.

In 1960 Fidel Castro was given a ticker-tape parade down our famous Wall Street (NYC).

Dr. Coburn commends Mitt Romney for choosing Paul Ryan

Staff Report

U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-Okla.) released the following statement today after Mitt Romney named Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate.

“Governor Romney has made an outstanding selection.  He has sent a clear signal that he intends to win not just a political victory but a mandate to restore America.  The Romney-Ryan ‘comeback team’ understands our debt is the greatest threat to our national security and will act decisively to meet that generational challenge,” said Dr. Coburn.  

“I have had the privilege of working alongside Paul Ryan for many years.  He has exhibited the rarest and most essential quality of leadership in politics – moral courage.  When most elected officials have offered only rhetoric, Ryan has had the audacity to offer specifics and a plan that has transformed the landscape of American politics.  

“Those on the left who view this pick as an opportunity to demonize their opponents will, through their attacks, only energize Americans who are yearning for honesty and real answers.  The fact is Ryan has proposed innovative ways to salvage the noblest goals of his political opponents – a safety net that is both compassionate and sustainable.  I applaud Governor Romney and look forward to helping the Romney-Ryan ticket put America back on track.”

To
see an example of Ryan in action, click here for the YouTube video as
the Budget Committee Ranking Member walked through why the bill put
forward by Democrats fails the deficit test President Obama declared to a
Joint Session of Congress, September 9, 2009.

Paul Ryan:
Hiding Spending Doesn’t Reduce Spending

Text highlights of Ryan’s remarks follow:

The Majority Leader said the bill scores as reducing deficit by $131 billion over the next 10 years.

First a little bit about CBO: I work with them every single day; very good people; great professionals. They do their jobs well. But their job is to score what is placed in front of them. And what has been placed in front of them is a bill that is full of gimmicks and smoke and mirrors.

Now what do I mean when I say that?

First off, the bill has ten years of tax increases and ten years of Medicare cuts to pay for six years of spending. The true ten year cost when subsidies kick-in?      $2.3 trillion 

The bill is full of gimmicks that more than erase the false claim of deficit reduction:

– $52 billion of savings is claimed by counting increased Social Security payroll revenues. These dollars are already claimed for future Social Security beneficiaries, and claiming to offset the cost of this bill either means we are double-counting or we are not going to pay Social Security benefits.

– $72 billion in savings is claimed from the CLASS Act long-term care insurance. These so-called savings are not offsets, but rather premiums collected to pay for future benefits. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad has called these savings, A ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud.

Additionally, the nearly half-trillion dollars in Medicare cuts cannot be counted twice.  Medicare is in dire need of reform in order to make certain that we can ensure health security for future seniors.

Using Medicare as a piggy bank, it raids a half trillion dollars from retirees health coverage to fund the creation of another open-ended health care entitlement.

The Presidents chief Medicare actuary says up to 20% of Medicare providers may go bankrupt or stop taking Medicare beneficiaries as a result. Millions of seniors who have chosen Medicare Advantage will lose the coverage they now enjoy.

Objections to the policy aside, you cannot use these savings twice to both extend the life of Medicare and to pay for other spending. The half-trillion dollars in Medicare cuts are either to extend the programs solvency or to reduce the cost of this deficit but not both as its authors claim.

When you strip away the double-counting of Medicare cuts, the so-called savings from Social Security payroll taxes and the CLASS Act, the deficit increases by $460 billion over first ten years and $1.4 trillion over second ten years.

Finally, one of the most expensive and most cynical of the gimmicks applies to Medicare physician payments, the so-called Doc Fix.

By your own estimate, the Doc Fix adds an additional $371 billion to the cost of health care reform. With the price tag beyond what most Americans could handle, the Majority decided to simply remove this costly provision and deal with it in a stand-alone bill.

Ignoring this additional cost does not remove it from the backs of taxpayers. Hiding spending doesn’t reduce spending.

OCPAC Endorses Faught

Yesterday the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee voted to endorse George Faught in his race for the GOP nomination in CD-2.

Faught stated, "I was honored to join the group last week and listen to issues they were concerned about and answer their questions. OCPAC and its members stick to their conservative convictions and I am pleased to have their support."

Charlie Meadows, President of OCPAC said, "After appearing before OCPAC and going through an intensive question and answer session our members determined that George Faught is far better qualified to serve in the US Congress than his opponent. George has a better grasp of the Constitution and his experience will work for the benefit of the citizens in the 2nd District, particularly his consistent, principled opposition to ObamaCare."

OCPAC focuses on promoting conservative constitutional values in the Oklahoma state Legislature and holds legislators accountable through their constant involvement and communication with the voters of Oklahoma.

Staunchly pro-life, pro-business, and pro-limited government, George Faught has been endorsed by Gov. Mike Huckabee, Oklahoma State Auditor Gary Jones, Gun Owners of America, the Oklahoma 2nd Amendment Association, David Barton, Family Research Council Action PAC, Concerned Women PAC, Eagle Forum and Phyllis Schlafly, Citizens United Political Victory Fund, and many other conservative groups and individuals.
 
Longtime owner and operator of a successful carpet cleaning business, Faught and his wife of almost 30 years, Becky, live in Muskogee, and are the parents of three grown children – all born and raised in Muskogee.  In 2006, Faught became the first Republican ever elected to the State House in his Muskogee-based district. You can learn more about George and his campaign by visiting his website or on Facebook and Twitter.