Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) still undecided about 2010.

[SamInTheSouth]

Coburn is one of the strongest fiscal conservatives in the Senate and for that reason I would support him for reelection.  He is kind of nuts when it comes to the social issues, though, the lesbianism remark for example.

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

Coburn is one of the strongest fiscal conservatives in the Senate and for that reason I would support him for reelection.  He is kind of nuts when it comes to the social issues, though, the lesbianism remark for example.

What lesbianism remark?

[Lunar]

couple posts above

Coburn is very principled and stands up for what he believes in regardless of party politics, you can give him that while pointing out he's a bit of a crazytown type.... "Lesbianism is so rampant in some of the schools in Southeast Oklahoma that they'll only let one girl go to the bathroom. Now think about it."


Replacing him with the chance of Brad Henry would make me very happy.

[BushKenya]

Sen. Coburn has said he will announce his decision on re-election in 2010 this Monday, June 1, 2009.

I honestly have no idea what he'll do given his character and his past.  He probably does not like being in a powerless minority, but he also has in the back of his mind that he is one of the few remaining conservative voices on the Republican side of the aisle.  I am under the impression he will run for one more term, but call it a Senate career in 2016.  I will throw in a disclaimer that he is also just as likely to retire after just one term, a pretty successful term in the eyes of many Oklahomans.  As we've already agreed, if he runs again, he's a shoo-in.  If he doesn't run, then Gov. Brad Henry has a better chance, but still the seat will remain lean to likely GOP.

[Senator Ben]

Hopefully he and Henry will switch jobs.  Any chance Henry could win a head to head matchup with Coburn?

[Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Hopefully he and Henry will switch jobs.  Any chance Henry could win a head to head matchup with Coburn?

Yes but Coburn would have the upper hand.

This isn't Delaware and so pulling off a switch between two people of different parties is unlikely. Why do people forget that there is already a Republican running for Governor who is unlikely to face a contested primary and Coburn would not run for Governor against another strong Republican like Mary Fallin even though he would likely win? If Coburn leaves the Senate he will likely leave politics or at least elective office.

[BeccaM]

PPP did an Oklahoma 2010 poll last week and concluded that the Democrats' chances there are very slim, and almost nonexistent with Coburn in the mix.  They had him at 59% approval (with 39% of Democrats and 61% of independents approving) and leading Henry 52/40.  Henry would at least make it an interesting race though.  Anyone else would make it a snoozefest.

And I was linked to this site that says they got a tip that he'll announce a reelection bid on Monday, but I'm not sure how reliable it is.

http://newledger.com/2009/05/senator-tom-coburn-will-run-for-re-election/

[BeccaM]

Yeah, he's running.

[Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Yes we are saved from Tom Cole!!!

[BushKenya]

I wouldn't be suprised if Tom Coburn runs virtually unopposed.

[Vepres]

A Henry/Coburn switch would be fine with me.  Would Henry just be a Ben Nelson type Senator?

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Henry

"Governor Henry has taken a fairly moderate political stance as governor. He believes that abortion is not an issue that requires government interference and has a mixed view of affirmative action, supporting it in colleges but not in hiring for the bureaucracy. Henry supports expanding public healthcare and holding HMOs accountable for poor care; however, he also is in favor of upholding the death penalty and is against gun control. The governor supports tax cuts for the lower and middle classes and believes in keeping the income tax; he also supports using the "War on Drugs" strategy to combat methanphetamine use within his state"

Hm...I see nothing in there that would prevent me from supporting him, though I do question what the abortion answer means.  My death penalty position is that it should be legal but not used...he seems like a hanging judge, but that's again not a huge concern with me.

Before anyone leaps on the "War on Drugs" line, I'm pretty damn strongly opposed to the meth epidemic.  It's definitely a case where a zero tolerance approach appeals to me.

I don't know how anybody could be against a zero tolerance approach to meth, considering how nasty the drug is.

[BushKenya]

This is kind of weird, but I'm having second thoughts about voting for Tom Coburn's opponent.  For one, it would be a waste of a vote, but more than that, even as a Democrat, I want to do everything in my power to keep my own party under the 60 seat mark.  I do not want us to have a monopoly on Congress with hotels on Park Place and Boardwalk, too.

Even though I will remain a Democrat, and will probably vote for the Democratic Party everywhere else on the ballot, if I am still living in Oklahoma in another 17 months, I may have to vote for the incumbent even though I disagree with him on a whole range of issues.

[Senator Ben]

even as a Democrat, I want to do everything in my power to keep my own party under the 60 seat mark.

[Mint]

even as a Democrat, I want to do everything in my power to keep my own party under the 60 seat mark.

Yeah I'd have to wonder why you'd be a member of a party if you want their agenda to be blocked at every turn.

[So the Heroes Fall]

This is kind of weird, but I'm having second thoughts about voting for Tom Coburn's opponent.  For one, it would be a waste of a vote, but more than that, even as a Democrat, I want to do everything in my power to keep my own party under the 60 seat mark.  I do not want us to have a monopoly on Congress with hotels on Park Place and Boardwalk, too.

Even though I will remain a Democrat, and will probably vote for the Democratic Party everywhere else on the ballot, if I am still living in Oklahoma in another 17 months, I may have to vote for the incumbent even though I disagree with him on a whole range of issues.

Moderate Hero.

[SamInTheSouth]

even as a Democrat, I want to do everything in my power to keep my own party under the 60 seat mark.

Yeah I'd have to wonder why you'd be a member of a party if you want their agenda to be blocked at every turn.

I am a member of neither party, but I prefer to have a split Congress with the President being from one party and either the House, the Senate, or both from the other party.  It makes it more necessary to compromise and in my opinion keeps the extremes in each party from running the show and pushing through too radical an agenda.

[BushKenya]

even as a Democrat, I want to do everything in my power to keep my own party under the 60 seat mark.

Yeah I'd have to wonder why you'd be a member of a party if you want their agenda to be blocked at every turn.

I knew that was coming   The reason for my position is I don't like the entire agenda that the Democrats have.  I like to think of myself as an Independent-thinking Democrat.  I do not want the extremes in either party to have much control.  While I do not like a lot of Tom Coburn's politics, I am not much of a fan of dyed-in-the-wool liberals such as Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Barney Frank (though he's in the House), just to name a few.

Of course, it shouldn't be suprising since I have several Republican social views.

I'm still thinking about it, though.  I haven't made up my mind just yet.

[I left.]

even as a Democrat, I want to do everything in my power to keep my own party under the 60 seat mark.

Yeah I'd have to wonder why you'd be a member of a party if you want their agenda to be blocked at every turn.

I knew that was coming   The reason for my position is I don't like the entire agenda that the Democrats have.  I like to think of myself as an Independent-thinking Democrat.  I do not want the extremes in either party to have much control.  While I do not like a lot of Tom Coburn's politics, I am not much of a fan of dyed-in-the-wool liberals such as Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Barney Frank (though he's in the House), just to name a few.

Of course, it shouldn't be suprising since I have several Republican social views.

I'm still thinking about it, though.  I haven't made up my mind just yet.

Well good for you....You can be proud to be representative of your state.

[Badger]

I knew that was coming   The reason for my position is I don't like the entire agenda that the Democrats have.  I like to think of myself as an Independent-thinking Democrat.  I do not want the extremes in either party to have much control.  While I do not like a lot of Tom Coburn's politics, I am not much of a fan of dyed-in-the-wool liberals such as Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Barney Frank (though he's in the House), just to name a few.

Of course, it shouldn't be suprising since I have several Republican social views.

I'm still thinking about it, though.  I haven't made up my mind just yet.

Is that really a fair description of Reid considering he's pro-life and pro-NRA? (Partisan rant on) It's relatively hard for a Democrat to earn a moderate (or even "not a hardline liberal") label. All a Republican needs to be considered "moderate" is be even nominally pro-choice. Find one that's also even marginally supportive of gun control and we'd annoint them as the second coming of Nelson Rockefeller. (Partisan rant off)

[Communists For McCain]

even as a Democrat, I want to do everything in my power to keep my own party under the 60 seat mark.

Yeah I'd have to wonder why you'd be a member of a party if you want their agenda to be blocked at every turn.

I knew that was coming   The reason for my position is I don't like the entire agenda that the Democrats have.  I like to think of myself as an Independent-thinking Democrat.  I do not want the extremes in either party to have much control.  While I do not like a lot of Tom Coburn's politics, I am not much of a fan of dyed-in-the-wool liberals such as Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Barney Frank (though he's in the House), just to name a few.

Of course, it shouldn't be suprising since I have several Republican social views.

I'm still thinking about it, though.  I haven't made up my mind just yet.

First off, it's cool to see a fellow Okie on here.
Second, I see where you're going here. I don't think alot of people on here truly grasp Okie politics. Our state is pretty unique when it comes to the two big parties. I would even go as far to say that if you asked the average Okie to compare us based on important issues I would be considered the "far leftist" and you would be an average Democrat.
Yeah, I'm not so hot about Coburn either. Then again I'm not hot about a vast majority of the people who hold political office in our state (I have a Civil Libertarian stance on social issues). I usually cringe and vote in the Democrat because of the friggin ballot access laws in our state, but if there was the possibility that the Democrat could possibly give the Democratic Party a filibuster proof majority? I'd probably stay home.

[Communists For McCain]

even as a Democrat, I want to do everything in my power to keep my own party under the 60 seat mark.

Yeah I'd have to wonder why you'd be a member of a party if you want their agenda to be blocked at every turn.

I knew that was coming   The reason for my position is I don't like the entire agenda that the Democrats have.  I like to think of myself as an Independent-thinking Democrat.  I do not want the extremes in either party to have much control.  While I do not like a lot of Tom Coburn's politics, I am not much of a fan of dyed-in-the-wool liberals such as Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Barney Frank (though he's in the House), just to name a few.

Of course, it shouldn't be suprising since I have several Republican social views.

I'm still thinking about it, though.  I haven't made up my mind just yet.

First off, it's cool to see a fellow Okie on here.
Second, I see where you're going here. I don't think alot of people on here truly grasp Okie politics. Our state is pretty unique when it comes to the two big parties. I would even go as far to say that if you asked the average Okie to compare us based on important issues I would be considered the "far leftist" and you would be an average Democrat.
Yeah, I'm not so hot about Coburn either. Then again I'm not hot about a vast majority of the people who hold political office in our state (I have a Civil Libertarian stance on social issues). I usually cringe and vote in the Democrat because of the friggin ballot access laws in our state, but if there was the possibility that the Democrat could possibly give the Democratic Party a filibuster proof majority? I'd probably stay home.

Considering that I did vote for Andrew Rice, I guess that does make previous point moot. Crap.

[BushKenya]

even as a Democrat, I want to do everything in my power to keep my own party under the 60 seat mark.

Yeah I'd have to wonder why you'd be a member of a party if you want their agenda to be blocked at every turn.

I knew that was coming   The reason for my position is I don't like the entire agenda that the Democrats have.  I like to think of myself as an Independent-thinking Democrat.  I do not want the extremes in either party to have much control.  While I do not like a lot of Tom Coburn's politics, I am not much of a fan of dyed-in-the-wool liberals such as Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Barney Frank (though he's in the House), just to name a few.

Of course, it shouldn't be suprising since I have several Republican social views.

I'm still thinking about it, though.  I haven't made up my mind just yet.

First off, it's cool to see a fellow Okie on here.
Second, I see where you're going here. I don't think alot of people on here truly grasp Okie politics. Our state is pretty unique when it comes to the two big parties. I would even go as far to say that if you asked the average Okie to compare us based on important issues I would be considered the "far leftist" and you would be an average Democrat.
Yeah, I'm not so hot about Coburn either. Then again I'm not hot about a vast majority of the people who hold political office in our state (I have a Civil Libertarian stance on social issues). I usually cringe and vote in the Democrat because of the friggin ballot access laws in our state, but if there was the possibility that the Democrat could possibly give the Democratic Party a filibuster proof majority? I'd probably stay home.

Considering that I did vote for Andrew Rice, I guess that does make previous point moot. Crap.

I voted for Rice, too, so throw that out the window!!

BTW, it is very nice to see a fellow Okie here.  Where are you from?  I'm from the Midwest City/Choctaw/Harrah area (eastern suburb of OKC).

[blagohair.com]

even as a Democrat, I want to do everything in my power to keep my own party under the 60 seat mark.

Yeah I'd have to wonder why you'd be a member of a party if you want their agenda to be blocked at every turn.

I knew that was coming   The reason for my position is I don't like the entire agenda that the Democrats have.  I like to think of myself as an Independent-thinking Democrat.  I do not want the extremes in either party to have much control.  While I do not like a lot of Tom Coburn's politics, I am not much of a fan of dyed-in-the-wool liberals such as Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Barney Frank (though he's in the House), just to name a few.

Of course, it shouldn't be suprising since I have several Republican social views.

I'm still thinking about it, though.  I haven't made up my mind just yet.

What?  Reid and Schumer are two of the most right-leaning Democrats in the Senate.

[Communists For McCain]

South Tulsa, near the Bixby border.