By ANDREW W. GRIFFIN

Oklahoma Watchdog, editor

Posted: July 29, 2010

andrew@oklahomawatchdog.org

OKLAHOMA CITY — Many political observers, including this reporter, have been wondering when and if Sen. Randy Brogdon will endorse fellow Republican and gubernatorial candidate Mary Fallin leading up to this fall’s general election.

Mike McCarville at The McCarville Report Online is wondering the same thing, his latest post headlined: “Henry endorses Askins, as did Edmondson; but where is Randy Brogdon’s support for Mary Fallin?”

Indeed. A good question.

Drew Edmondson graciously and quickly endorsed Jari Askins as the Democrat candidate for governor in the hours after Tuesday night’s results came in. And this, after the numbers between Askins and Edmondson were very, very close.

Brogdon, the Owasso Republican, was beaten pretty handily by Fallin and that was expected according to numerous pre-primary polls. He had to know this is the way it would turn out. Yet, when The Oklahoman interviewed Brogdon after Fallin had been declared the victor, Brogdon did not offer his endorsement. He said he would think about it.

This is surprising and it should be of concern to the Republicans. Is Brogdon taking his ball and going home in a huff? He has still not offered his endorsement. Will fellow Brogdon supporters sit this one out, giving the Democrats a stronger shot at leading the agenda?

Clearly, the Democrats in Oklahoma are coming together. And Askins is a solid and likable candidate. She did well in areas that Edmondson was expected to take, like in northeastern Oklahoma. This is an historic occasion having two women running for governor in a state that has never elected a woman as governor.

Fallin, it has been noted, also did well. But there is a strong, constitutionally-minded conservative contingent of voters and Tea Party folks who were ardent Brogdon supporters. Many are Republicans but there is also a smattering of independents, libertarians, constitutionalists, 2nd Amendment supporters and even a few lefties who eschew hardline statist doctrine who found Brogdon appealing as a candidate, particularly in the face of a more mainstream conservative Republican like Fallin.

On the night of the primary, Oklahoma Watchdog spoke with a Fallin campaign person about Brogdon and his campaign. The Fallin campaign worker noted that Brogdon and his supporters had worked very hard and that Fallin also agreed with many of Brogdon’s positions and that Washington was encroaching far too much into the lives of everyday Americans. I found the Fallin campaign to be very complimentary of Brogdon and his campaign.

But as someone recently told me, when the issue of Randy Brogdon’s candidacy came up, “I’m not voting for someone who quotes Leviticus.” The idea being that a person like Brogdon was a little too extreme for many moderates on both sides of the aisle. In retrospect, the fact that Askins and Fallin won their primaries makes a lot of sense in light of polling trends in Oklahoma.

When Randy Brogdon did not stand up for Gov. Brad Henry during this year’s State of the State, I couldn’t help but wonder that maybe this campaign for governor was more personal than he was letting on. It seemed a little immature and churlish. Would this man have what it would take to make important decisions to move our state forward? I recall that a few weeks before the State of the State, Brogdon had complained about Henry’s involvement with Obama’s newly-formed “Council of Governors.” As noted in Red Dirt Report at the time: “As governor I would never sit idly by and allow the federal government to usurp power clearly designated by the State of Oklahoma.”

In fact, Brogdon often thundered that he would “stand in the gap” between Oklahoma and Washington and make sure the constitutional rights of Oklahomans were not infinged upon. But his speeches also sounded as if he was running for a U.S. congressional seat, not governor. There was more talk about the evils of Washington than what Brogdon would do for Oklahoma and how he would bring people together.

But Brogdon, being the underdog, attacked and attacked. For instance, we wrote a piece in early May headlined “Brogdon campaign attacks Fallin’s support of Puerto Rican ‘Democracy Act.’” The Brogdon people made it sound as though Fallin was pushing for Puerto Rican statehood, which she was not. She was merely supporting a bill, HR 2499, that would allow the people of that island to decide “to hold a non-binding vote expressing their wishes” either to go independent, vote for statehood or remain as they are, an American territory. It was an issue that didn’t get any traction for Brogdon and showed increasing desperation.

The Brogdon campaign ignored Oklahoma Watchdog‘s inquiry into Brogdon’s support of SB 131, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority bill which used Stimulus funds, this, from a guy who said he was going to be governor with “no strings attached.”

One political writer noted that Brogdon is great on the regional level. He is popular in his Senate district. It’s just that his campaign and approach did not work as well on the statewide level. Mary Fallin is a known figure in this state. She is friendly, likable and approachable. The Tecumseh native’s recent “Working Across Oklahoma” campaign was brilliant. I don’t recall Brogdon doing anything similar to that.

So now the Republicans will have to wait and see whether or not Randy Brogdon will endorse Mary Fallin. I suspect some out there aren’t holding their breath.

Copyright 2010 Oklahoma Watchdog