Same Great Folks, New Location

I suppose this blog's title is now a bit of a misnomer.  If it were to reflect the true reality of the situation, I should probably entitle it The Contemplative Oklahoma Cityite or perhaps more truthfully, The Contemplative Inhabitant of Mustang.  In all actuality, life is currently in more flux than I would prefer, so none of the above is entirely accurate.  Allow me to explain.

After the Fallin for Governor campaign concluded, I began exploring options for my next line of employment.  All along, Sara and I had our sights ultimately set on a move to the Oklahoma City area for numerous reasons.  My wife is from OKC and her business, Simply Sisters Wedding Planners, is based here as well.  The wedding planning business has been blessed with prosperity, which, in turn, necessitated increasingly frequent weekend trips to the state's largest metropolitan area.  Despite pop culture notions to the contrary, my affection and affinity for my wife grows with the passing years instead of having the opposite effect.  As such, weekends apart from my beloved are what those of Hispanic descent might describe as "no bueno."  Finally, my desire for a long time has been to work in state government in a policy capacity.  Since the capital of Oklahoma resides in Oklahoma City, you can see how living in Tulsa just wasn't cutting the mustard anymore. 

As it turns out, my dreams of becoming a banker came true...oh wait, that's the plot of an old Seinfeld episode.  Let's try that again.  As it turns out, my dreams of becoming a policy advisor/International Man of Mystery came true.  That's better.  In December, I had the honor of becoming the Legislative Director for President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman in the Oklahoma Senate.  You can read all about it here.  Suffice it to say, I absolutely love my job and take great pride in the fact that I get to use my talents (whatever they may be) to make our great state even better. 

After Christmas, we put our house in Tulsa up for sale and moved to Mustang, OK.  Did I mention that we moved in with my father-in-law?  Yep, consider us boomerang kids.  It's just temporary until our house sells.  We're not big on the whole "paying two mortages" thing.  been quite an adjustment, but things seem to be going okay with the new living arrangements.  My father-in-law got internet at his house and purchased a big screen TV, so that went a long ways toward easing the transition.  In fact, with amenites like this, we may never leave. 

Just kidding, Dave.  Just kidding.

Reflections on the Election

Time to crank up the blog again.  I'm not sure how many readers are left after my election season hiatus, but I've got the itch to write again.

We're a few days shy of two weeks since Election Day and since then, I've been thinking about what it all means.  I think anyone with even a passing interest in politics recognizes the historic nature of the November 2nd election.  The funny thing is that we just had a historic election two years ago.  There seems to be some seismeic rumblings going on in the electorate.  The impression I come away with is that nobody and no party is safe anymore.  The people are demanding change in how the business of government is done.  They also want grown-ups who will make grown up decisions.  The citizens want their politicians to take a long-term strategic approach to governing versus the short term politically opportune approach.  If these characteristics are not present, I believe now, more than ever, people are willing to vote out previously safe incumbents.

Party registration seems to have less and less to do with how a person chooses to vote.  Otherwise, we wouldn't see as many party upheavals as there have been in the past few years.  In 2004, the Republican Party was on a roll.  They had picked up seats in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House in 2002 and won the presidency again in 2004.  The political pundits and news writers routinely issued the obituary for the Democratic Party.  In 2006, the tide turned.  Frustrated by the progress of the Iraq War, voters gave the Senate and the House to the Democrats.  In 2008, the Democrats made more gains, including the presidency.  Obama charged into office promising to be a force for bipartisanship and transparency in addition to repairing the ailing economy.  The Republicans were given up for dead after two bad election cycles.  After two years of not living up to expectations, the GOP has come charging back.  People want change and they are willing to vote for the opposition party to obtain it. 

It remains to be seen what will happen in the next election cycle.  If history is to be our guide, the Republicans should not assume the electorate will give them a pass.  Those who turned out in force for the GOP in this election will abandon them in the next if they forget the mandate that brought them to office.

Oklahoma Blogging Week

Hey friends and neighbors, this is Oklahoma Blogging Week.  To celebrate, Tasha Does Tulsa is hosting a Tulsa Blogger Meet-up on Thursday evening at 6:30pm.  The event will take place at The Melting Pot restaurant on the Jenks Riverwalk.  Admission and food are free, but you need a ticket to get in. 

To get a ticket, click here and follow the instructions. 

On a somewhat related note, I've been a bad blogger lately.  Believe me, my blog guilt is at an all-time high.  My only excuse is that being involved in the final stages of a statewide political campaign has sapped whatever time and energy I might otherwise possess.  I'm also teaching an Ethics in Public Service class at Rogers State this semester, an endeavor that requires quite a bit of time in its own right.  I have a couple of good blog ideas, I just need to follow through.  One idea involves a recent gift of two Life Magazines, both published in 1968 after the respective Democrat and Republican national conventions.  It has been quite fascinating to read articles about those historic events from the timeframe in which those events occurred.

Tulsa World Completely Misses the Point

This morning, the Tulsa World published a harsh editorial aimed at gubanatorial candidate Mary Fallin.*  The opinion writer focused on remarks she made recently in a speech to the Tulsa Republican Club.  When expounding on the need for a state government that promotes business and economic growth, Fallin said, "I don't know about you, but I've never been offered a job by a poor person."  The World criticized this remark by pointing out that Oklahoma has many poor people and Fallin, as an elected official, has been voted into office by those same people.  I've never seen a more blatant case of missing the forest for the trees. 

Evidently, the opinion writers at the Tulsa World believe that higher taxes and more government involvement in private enterprise is the way to a more prosperous state.  They must not come into contact with many business owners in our fine state who believe quite the contrary.  The World accused Congresswoman Fallin of making "oh-so-trite" comments while making some of their own in same sentence about "tax breaks for the rich."  The simple fact is that low taxes spur economic development.  This results in more businesses investing in Oklahoma which, in turn, results in more people employed by those busiensses.  The more people who are employed, the more tax payers we generate instead of tax eaters.  It's a simple formula, really. 

Mary Fallin has laid out an economic vision for the state which focuses on more employers, more jobs, and smart regulation vs. over-regulation.  It's too bad the Tulsa World chose to ignore the theme of her message and focus instead on stoking up the old flames of class warfare. 

*In the interest of full disclosure, I am the Northeastern Oklahoma Field Representative for Fallin's gubanatorial campaign.

Fallin Campaign Live Chat

My fellow bloggers, tomorrow at noon, the Mary Fallin for Governor press staff is hosting an online, Lunch Hour Live Chat with bloggers and online news providers to discuss the Fallin campaign and to answer questions that you might have.  This is a great opportunity to obtain the latest information from the campaign and learn more about the Republican nominee for governor.  If you are interested in participating, please contact Alex Weintz at alex@maryfallin.org.

A New Chapter

I've been a bad blogger lately, but I've been a good father, husband, and friend.  That's a pretty good trade, in my opinion.

Life has gotten a lot crazier and a lot more interesting in our household.  A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to interview for an open position on Mary Fallin's campaign team.  I was very excited about the prospect of helping out with the campaign in a professional capacity and even more ecstatic when I was offered the job of Northeastern Oklahoma Field Representative.  Over the past week or so, I've been frantically working to ensure a smooth transition away from my American Majority duties while keeping one eye on campaign activities.  You can see why blogging hasn't risen to the top of my priority list. 

Today was officially my first day with the campaign team.  I can't say enough good things about the dedicated staff members I'm working with in addition to the quality of the candidate I have the privilege to represent.  While I really enjoyed training the next generation of political leaders at American Majority, I must say it is quite invigorating to be fully engrossed in the political arena again.  It seems to fit me pretty well.

I'm not sure what this blog will look like in terms of content over the next few months.  I'm now officially representing a candidate for office, which means I have to be careful about what I write, lest it conflict with the official message of the campaign.  I still plan on writing when I have time, but I may have to keep a healthy distance from politics for the time being.  Nevertheless, I encourage you to stay actively involved in the political discussion and exercise your right to vote in November.  If you live in Oklahoma, a vote for Mary Fallin would be much appreciated. 

A True Star

Last night, Emmitt Smith, the longtime running back for the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.  It was the culmination of a fantastic professional football career in which, among other awards and honors, he became the NFL's all-time leading rusher. 

As I watched Smith's speech, I had memories of my boyhood days watching football on Sundays back in Texas.  He came into the league in 1990 when I was a seventh grader and left in 2004 when I was 26 years old.  He provided hours of great entertainment not only to me, but to football fans across the country.  Like many fans, I'll never forget the game against the Giants in 1994 in which he overcame a separated shoulder to propel the Cowboys to victory.  It was a courageous performance which merits re-tellling through the generations.  Even though my son is only two years old, I pointed at Smith on the TV screen and told him about one of the greatest running backs of all-time.  As he gets older, I'll tell him stories about the Triplets (Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Emmitt Smith) in much the same way my elders told stories about the days of Roger Staubach, Drew Pearson, and Bob Lilly.

Throughout his college career, Smith was told he was too small and too slow to make it as an NFL running back.  Choosing not to give credence to his detractors, Smith pressed on toward the goals he set for himself.  In his speech, he spoke of not letting others define you:

"When you claim your inner champion, you will learn to see, hear and feel differently than others. So what I most want to convey here is, never, never let others define you; you define yourself."

Smith words are soaked in the truth.  We should never let others tell us who we are or what we are to become.  With the courage of our convictions and confidence in our hearts, we should boldly proclaim who we are to the rest of the world. 
 
To Emmitt, thanks for the memories and for being a great example of how to pursue one's dreams.  Go Cowboys!
 
To read Emmitt Smith's Hall of Fame induction speech, click here.  To watch his speech, click here.