Andrew Rice belives that real leadership means putting people before politics. His opponent, Jim Inhofe has lost his way - after 22 years in Washington, he's forgotten who comes first. In the U.S. Senate, Andrew Rice will listen to you and not to the lobbyists and special interest groups who give millions to Jim Inhofe.
During the many years Jim Inhofe has served in the Senate, he has consistently supported deregulation of financial markets. Inadequate regulation has led to the current financial crisis with widespread loss of jobs and retirement security. It will cost taxpayers well over a trillion dollars and has resulted in government ownership interests in banks, insurance, and other businesses. Socialism? Inhofe will not change.
The polar ice cap has been present for tens of thousands of years. A mere hundred years after man began burning carbon fuels on a large scale, the polar ice cap is melting away. Current predictions tell us that ships will be sailing through the Arctic from Europe to Asia. Inhofe has called global warming a gigantic hoax and has opposed efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Inhofe will not change.
If Senate Democrats had not passed a temporary fix in July, doctors caring for Medicare patients would have experienced a ten percent cut in fees. This would have led to more doctors being forced to limit the number of Medicare patients they can afford to see. Fewer doctors would locate in rural areas and many would have retired early. Inhofe put the interests of insurance companies ahead of patients and doctors and voted against the fix. Inhofe will not change.
It is time for a change. Inhofe has promised that if elected he will not change. My vote is for Andrew Rice.
With eight days left until the election, our campaign is in the final push. While Sen. Rice has been meeting more voters across the state, we've been talking to our supporters about getting out the vote.
On Sunday, our campaign held five training sessions around the state, from Okmulgee to Stillwater. The sessions drew hundreds of participants - all of whom are ready to make sure that we get out the vote on Election Day. In our Oklahoma City office, there was standing room only for our volunteers as field coordinator Alex Duncan (pictured above) and volunteer coordinator Tyler Gilbertson discussed what we need done between now an November 4th.
Our nation is at an historic crossroads, and the high energy at our training sessions demonstrates that Oklahomans are looking for a change. They know Andrew Rice will be a breath of fresh air in Washington, a Senator who will represent our interests and always put people before politics.
They will be working hard for the next eight days to bring about the change we need in Oklahoma. Will you join them?
Email volunteer@andrewforoklahoma.com for more information on how you can help get out the vote for Andrew Rice!
Sarah, a teacher from Edmond, emailed us this story over the weekend:
So today i got home and found a "THANK YOU" card that someone had just put in our mailbox.
It said, thank you for putting up Obama and Rice signs outside your home. in this area you may feel like you are the only rational minded person etc etc... then she signed it, your fellow democrat, and her name. I was shocked! It was so random and unexpected. Thought you would appreciate it :)
For the past week, Andrew and his wife Apple, an Oklahoma City pathologist, have both been visiting towns across the state as part of the Working for Main Street Tour. Apple has been making stops from a bowling alley in Yukon to a beauty shop in Ada, talking with everyday Oklahomans about how her husband will represent them in the U.S. Senate.
By far, the number one concern Apple hears about is the economy. She's been telling everyone about Andrew's plan to help the middle class and get our economy back on track. From Thursday's Ada Evening News:
Rice said one of the main ways her husband plans on supporting the middle class is through tax breaks. "People ask, 'how do you do that? Where do you get the money to do that?'" she said. "Basically it's closing loopholes for these multi-million dollar companies that are able to, say, have their headquarters based in the Cayman Islands or something like that and get out of paying taxes. If he can stop those things, which to me are just not right and not fair, then you can bring it back to helping the middle class and regular people, which also helps the economy because people can start spending money again."
On Monday, when we unveiled our incredible Women for Rice group - a list that included more than 1,100 names from all 77 Oklahoma Counties and is co-chaired by several prominent Oklahoma women - Apple spoke passionately about Andrew's ability to bring about the change we need in this country. In an email the following day, Apple wrote:
I am among thousands of Oklahoma women who support Andrew because we are united by his positive campaign for a new direction in Washington. Our families have been forgotten by the Bush economic policies of the last eight years and we can't afford more of the same.
Since then, Apple has been working tirelessly to make sure that families across Oklahoma know that they will no longer be forgotten when Andrew Rice is elected to the U.S. Senate. As she continues on the campaign trail, talking with everyday Oklahomans, Apple says that she's becoming more and more inspired by the stories people are sharing and the incredibly positive feedback she's getting about her husband's campaign.
David Thach, a lifelong Oklahoma City resident, is our latest volunteer of the week.
"I want Oklahoma to be represented by someone who is not beholden to big oil, who is a moderate on social issues and supports environmental causes such as reducing green house gasses and reducing other man made pollution, unlike Mr. Inhofe," David said. "We also need a new voice in the senate to get rid of tired old voices that have been in office much too long."
David enjoys volunteering at the office and he keeps coming back to help: "I saw that there was a need for assistance in the campaign office and that the staff and volunteers were a bunch of hardworking, smart people that I enjoyed working with."
He also mentioned that he enjoys when a member of our staff will "break into occasional song," but he gets more than entertainment value out of volunteering. David said he likes "meeting and talking to Andrew and visiting with a wide range of supporters who come by the office to pick up signs, volunteer or make donations. It is always interesting to hear why they support Andrew."
Thank you for all your work, David - the title of Volunteer of the Week is well deserved!
Jeannie from Oklahoma City wrote this letter to the Muskogee Phoenix:
I am embarrassed by our U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe. His campaign ads indicate that Andrew Rice is "too liberal for Oklahoma."
I would say that Inhofe is too out of touch to represent Oklahoma. He has a 92 percent agreement rate with George W. Bush, refuses to acknowledge global warming and offers no solutions for serious problems. After 22 years in Washington, he has no ideas for fixing the messes he has helped to create.
In contrast, from the beginning of his service in the state Legislature, Rice has repeatedly worked with both Republicans and Democrats to make Oklahoma a better place to live. He has clearly articulated his positions on providing affordable health care, providing tax cuts for the middle class, decreasing our dependence on foreign oil and protecting our national security.
Examine Inhofe's dismal record. Then look at Rice, an intelligent, ethical and dedicated public servant who will bring pride to our state and positive change to our nation.
As we enter the final 17 days of the campaign, I am constantly reminded why we are working so hard to win. Earlier this week I asked you to share your stories with me. I wanted to share one such story with you today. This one's from a young man who joined this campaign and is working tirelessly to help get our country back on track.
Senator Rice,
I am the son of two blue collar workers: a Head Start teacher for underprivileged families and a parks and recreation worker in the town where I live.
I've watched my father, a Vietnam Veteran, work hard every day. Raised by his sister, he only had so much as his high school diploma, but he has worked his way up the ladder of every job he has taken. My mother's story is in stark contrast to my father's. My great grandfather came here as an immigrant from Switzerland with not a dime to his name. He invested wisely, and bought and farmed much land. Through this my mother had the money to go to college and become a teacher. She doesn't work for Head Start because of the pay. Many more jobs could offer better pay, but instead she works to help the people who need it the most.
We're always watching for your letters in our papers statewide - and here are a few we spotted recently.
Martha from Oklahoma wrote this letter to the Tulsa World, which was published under the headline "People before Politics":
I'm really mad, and this is ridiculous. We have completely lost our way. This country is so far off track. We have become "One Nation under Gold" instead of God.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe and the status quo in Washington have sat back and let these fat cats plunder our country, destroying all the securities we have enjoyed.
Many of us don't have homes any more. If we do, we don't know how we will heat them this winter. And if we are lucky enough to have a car, how are we going to keep gasoline in it. Feeding our families is becoming trickier every day. We need now more than ever someone like state Sen. Andrew Rice who is going to put people before politics.
The Muskogee Phoenix published this letter from Marvin in Oklahoma City, who talks about one issue he finds important:
Can you imagine the condition that the Social Security fund would be in today if President Bush and Jim Inhofe had succeeded in "privatizing" your Social Security? Privatizing is a fancy way of say i n g, "Put the money in the stock market." A bad idea!
Inhofe has had 22 years to learn how to do a good job for us. He has failed. It's time for change. I am voting Andrew Rice for U. S. Senate.
Keep the letters coming, and if you have one published, be sure to send it to peoplebeforepolitics@andrewforoklahoma.com.
Jennifer Griffin is our new Volunteer of the Week. Jennifer has been helping out in Enid, where she says she's been doing a lot of phone banking - calling people in her community and telling them about Andrew Rice. Jennifer says that the first time she volunteered, "With the help of my friend, Juana, we were able to call over 100 people in our county to inform them of what Rice stands for."
A native of Fort Worth, TX, Jennifer, her father, and their two cats moved to Enid, where Jennifer now attends college; she notes, "I'm a freshman at NOC - Enid campus and plan to go into Secondary Education (History/Politics)." No wonder she's so involved in our campaign!
Jennifer says that she keeps volunteering because she believes strongly in our campaign. "The more I learned about Rice the more passionate I felt about how he should be elected," she wrote. "I decided to do any thing and every thing in my power to assist his campaign."
She says she plans to continue working for us by "doing as many phonebanks as possible!! And anything else my field coordinator, Melissa, asks me to do. :) "
Because of her true passion and great attitude, we're happy to have Jennifer as our volunteer of the week!
More Americans than ever believe the country is on the wrong track, and workers throughout the state whose jobs have been cut have good reason to believe that.
Given the global economic crisis, a record 90 percent of registered voters say the country is seriously off on the wrong track, the most since this question first was asked in 1973. [...]
Economic concerns are paramount. Nearly nine in 10 registered voters are worried about the economy's direction; nearly seven in 10 are worried about their own family finances. Fifty-five percent call the economy the single most important issue in their vote, with all other mentions in the single digits.
While as a whole, Oklahomans may right now be faring better than other states in this economic downturn, recent news - such as Labinal, Inc., closing in Pryor and eliminating 485 jobs, and Chesapeake Energy's stock diving last week well under $20 a share - sets a troubling trend.
"We are probably number one in the nation in terms of our economic health," Inhofe said. "[...] It's dynamite (the local economic situation), no way to go but up."
If Inhofe means volatile and explosive, then yes, our economic situation is dynamite. But really he's just ignoring the problem with hollow platitudes.
George Bush and Jim Inhofe have taken this country in the wrong direction. After 22 years in Washington, Inhofe thinks he can escape reality with a stream of denials. Oklahomans have had enough Inhofe; it's time for a change.
Last week the Rice campaign announced fundraising totals for our best quarter to date. And we just got word of exactly how good our quarter was.
Because we matched Jim Inhofe just about dollar for dollar.
As we announced at the end of last week, Senator Rice raised more than $900,000 this quarter -- $923,000 to be exact.
Because Oklahoma's primary is at the end of July, candidates here are required to release their fundraising totals from July 10 to September 30. Inhofe reported raising $910,000 during this period. Rice raised $899,000.
That's right. Andrew Rice was able to match Jim Inhofe, an incumbent senator who's been in Washington for 22 years, almost dollar for dollar.
This is the year to defeat Jim Inhofe, and with your help, we can do it. As the outlook nationally continues to deteriorate for Republicans, a Democratic advantage is developing in Oklahoma as well. There's no doubt the momentum is on our side. Public and internal polling shows the race closing in our favor, and our internal polls show that when people hear our message, we win, and we win by a large margin.
For months, volunteers across the state have been knocking on doors, making phone calls, and beating back Jim Inhofe's lies and distortions. In the last two weeks alone, we've registered thousands of new voters, held more than 150 phone banks, called 125,000 voters, and traveled to more than 30 counties. We're matching his presence on TV. And the thousands of small donors who have given even $5 to help Andrew Rice become our next U.S. Senator have pooled their power to neutralize the $5,000-a-pop special interest checks Inhofe has been collecting from Big Oil and Wall Street.
There are 22 days until the election - one day for every year that Jim Inhofe has been in Washington. Oklahoma has had enough of Inhofe, and it's time to put Andrew Rice in the U.S. Senate so he can put YOU first. We need your help now to keep the pressure on Jim Inhofe and to keep our momentum going.
It's hard to say what is going to happen tomorrow. When the stock market opens, we don't know what's coming.
And it's just about as unnerving to look back as it is to look ahead. Because one year ago Thursday, the Dow Jones hit an all-time high; since that point, the Dow has dropped over 40%. Job losses nationwide are staggering - over 750,000 jobs have been cut in 2008 - and unemployment levels are rising nationwide.
But just as our opponent declared that Oklahoma was in good shape during this economic crisis, reality hit us in the face.
The Muskogee Phoenix today published this letter from Wayne in Tulsa:
I watched the Andrew Rice and James Inhofe debate Tuesday. My question for Inhofe wasn't asked.
I'd like to know why Inhofe voted against giving 100 percent disabled veterans a $300 rebate in the stimulus rebate package earlier this year.
This amount represents a child's portion, and yet he voted against any extra money for the most disabled of disabled veterans. Everyone got $600 plus $300 for each child. So the U.S. Senate wanted only a child's portion for the most disabled who gave so much for our country, and yet Inhofe wouldn't vote for this pittance.
He is not getting my vote come November. I'm voting for that pit bull-like Democrat and former missionary Rice, who I know will help all Oklahomans.
Over the last couple of weeks, Sen. Rice has been answering your questions on this site. But with the only debate in this election coming up on Tuesday, we thought we'd let Oklahomans ask Jim Inhofe some questions they'd like to see him answer.
David Thach, a lifelong Oklahoma City resident, is our latest volunteer of the week.
Jennifer Griffin is our new Volunteer of the Week. Jennifer has been helping out in Enid, where she says she's been doing a lot of phone banking - calling people in her community and telling them about Andrew Rice. Jennifer says that the first time she volunteered, "With the help of my friend, Juana, we were able to call over 100 people in our county to inform them of what Rice stands for."
