This has to change now... for me too.
In November, we are going to have some big decisions to make about the future of our great state. We have two candidates with what seem to be drastically different platforms, philosophies, and goals. I think that we should first look at each of these candidates individually. See what makes them tick... in 500 words or less (don't hold me to that).
I want to start with the one that is more likely to be new to you: Representative Joe Dorman.
Joe Dorman
Dorman is currently the State Legislator for Grady, Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Grady, and Stephens counties. Dorman is reaching his term limit in the House and feels that he is up for the challenge of running what some Democrats may have abandoned as a sinking ship.
Dorman's own website details five issues that he states will be priorities for him as governor. They are: education, bipartisan leadership, the economy, healthcare, and public safety. In blurb form, I will go over these (to be seen in the following weeks in more detail as they become appropriate).
Education
It seems that at least today, Dorman and Fallin have something in common. Both appear to be unexcited by the common core (although she was for it before she was against it). Dorman says we need "common sense" in Oklahoma education because we are promoting testing over learning and because we are 48th in teacher pay. In typical political fashion, Dorman is speaking to a voter block here primarily before speaking about an issue. With Dorman several times over alluding to teacher raises and teacher's financial burdens as a cause for education failure, he is saying, "vote for me for more money" to a powerful voting block. Call me cynical, but if I were writing a half a page blurb about the state of education in Oklahoma, I'd have a lot to say about inequalities between rural and urban, rich and poor, suburban vs inner-city, or any number of things. Maybe through research, we will find a more detailed plan here, but I read something much different in this section than I would hope for.Bipartisan Leadership
This section is a not-so-veiled attack on our illustrious governor. Dorman uses this section to talk about ending sweetheart deals and secret meetings. The linguistics of the section are key to understanding its real intent. If these things are in need of ending, that means that they are currently happening. This puts in the mind of the reader that Mary Fallin is violating the law of the land with her current practices with zero accusals.
I'm surprised to not see more about Dorman's push to put out bipartisan legislation or his ability to work as a Democrat in a Republican state. In his bio, the Representative quotes a great editorial by the Daily Oklahoman that speaks to some of this. This section is pandering to the base at best, whining at worst. I like this guy and have followed some of his recent career due to his outspoken-ness on public school shelters. I would have expected a little better here. Maybe he needs better PR.
Economy
Dorman's economy section focuses on a desire for job creation and tax fixes in Oklahoma (both are near and dear to my heart). I feel like we are giving big oil so many tax breaks to cause earthquakes and the only thing we get from them is the exact same thing we'd get if we didn't cut them a break. It's not like oil companies would pack out and leave natural gas behind and go to another location. They will still make money if we normalize the tax incentives.
Dorman's closing paragraph talks about common sense tax policies to cater towards a 21st century economy. I know that he can't give away all his policies here (as he needs stuff to talk about in debates) but I would like to see an example here.
I would also have liked to see some concerns about Fallin's tax cuts... I personally have concerns with cutting taxes when the State constantly complains about being broke and not having money to pay for anything. If he agrees with the cuts, I'd like some reasons why. If he does not, I'd like his economy section to spell that out.
Healthcare
Spoiler Alert! You live in Oklahoma (unless you are a friend of mine reading this out of courtesy or you just love my writing style). People you meet here hate the Affordable Healthcare Act (I despise the term Obamacare, but I guess he is owning it).
Dorman is not going to say, "I love universal healthcare and as soon as I take office, I'm going to ensure that everyone in Oklahoma has healthcare and the Republicans all be damned." I wish that he would, but he just won't do that.
He uses this phrase to start us out though: "Like it or not." It's a phrase that talking heads and realistic politicians are now using. Face it detractors, once you start offering a group of people a service (entitlement-- don't love that word either, it's like politicians give it you you and make it seem like you are begging for it), good luck stopping.
The Feds are offering a lot of free money in the way of healthcare subsidies that we are leaving on the table. "We need a Governor who is willing to drop the partisan games and find pragmatic approaches to ensure Oklahomans can access the healthcare they need." I was actually going to type pretty much this and realized that the Dorman website basically did for me. Actually this too is a good one: " The time for health care politics is over; the time to help Oklahomans is now."
The Dorman camp did well here. Don't overtly praise Obamacare, make sure people know you want better healthcare in OK... this is quality work. You expect this out of a campaign that actually believes it can win.
Public Safety
I believe this is Dorman's real staging ground and the issue that you know him from (if you know him, blue is a lonely color in the land of the Redmen). Dorman has championed legislation to divert funds towards building school shelters in all of Oklahoma's public schools and has been an outspoken opponent of Fallin's policies towards the correctional system (or lack there of, status quo, here we go!). If Dorman has a place to steal votes, it's here. Whining about Fallin or propping up Medicaid expansion will do nothing for a Democrat in Oklahoma looking to move up in the ranks. The man needs a couple of issues to drop in her face to even stand a chance.
Shelters, correctional system changes, and tax policies that don't favor giant corporations are the ways to victory, assuming he can get his PR message out in front. The Republic spin factory likely has the money to run him over if he doesn't have his message together.
In the coming days, I will be looking at Mary Fallin's key platforms as she sees them and what they mean for her campaign to come. My intent was to do one super post with both, but this got a little long and I'm enjoying my Labor Day doing as little labor as possible.
Expect a follow-up to this piece this week as well as my (soon-to-be) routine post this weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment