Tulsa GOP Chairman Opposes Super Tuesday

  This cycle, Oklahoma has been elevated to the #5 date on the GOP calendar. The RNC has stood firm to punish states like Florida and stared down North Carolina's attempt to cut in line. Why did those states want to? Relevance. I never heard an Iowan complain that his state has TOO MUCH impact on the presidential election process.
  This year, Oklahoma has had presidential campaign rallies like never before. Some leading candidates are coming back for a 2nd time in the past week. Others are booking venues in multiple cities as they come sweep'n down the plain.
  But Tulsa County GOP Chairman, Michael F. Ford; doesn't want Oklahoma to be a part of this early process. Last spring he publicly supported a bill in the legislature which would have buried Oklahoma into the April election dates. that's far beyond the point where a real choice of candidates remain. It would allow half of the other states to narrow down our Oklahoma choices to at most 2 active candidates, if that?

Guest Editorial: WTPO Ranks Fitzpatrick As Best Candidate For Sheriff

  In part one of this series, we learned about the organization of We The People Oklahoma and their efforts to bring needed reforms to the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.  This group consists of many private individuals, many of whom are also active in other civil rights, civil liberties, and constitutional rights groups. They worked very hard over the last 10 months to address serious problems in law enforcement and especially with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.
  In part two, we see their perspective on the needs of the office and their take on who brings what assets to their candidacy. Sooner Politics congratulates We The People for being proactive and solution-oriented. This organization will no be going away any time soon.

WTPO OPINIONS ON THE CANDIDATES FOR TULSA COUNTY SHERIFF

  The Tulsa County Sheriff Republican Primary election will take place on March 1, 2016 and the winner of that primary will go on to face the Democrat in the General election on April 5, 2016. We have had an opportunity to look into who is running, why they are running and who is backing each candidate. The TCSO is an integral part of law enforcement in Oklahoma and the new sheriff needs to be an individual of integrity, an effective leader and a person who understands the needs of a diverse county. We have scored each of the candidates on a scale of 1 – 5. 1 being the highest and 5 being the lowest. 

"The TCSO is an integral part of law enforcement in Oklahoma and the new sheriff needs to be an individual of integrity, an effective leader and a person who understands the needs of a diverse county."

Guest Editorial: Restoring trust at Tulsa Sheriff's Office

  I must commend the work of "We The People Oklahoma" for their tireless struggle to restore integrity in the Tulsa County Sheriff's office.  While political hacks trashed them for political gain, they pursued justice and have largely attained a great deal of reforms.  I am somewhat ashamed that a few leaders in the Republican party leadership have, at times; been more of an obstruction than an ally to reforms in Tulsa County.

This is the first of a two-part report on the status of the work of We The People. 

Restoring trust at TCSO

What should we look for in a sheriff?

BY MARQ LEWIS

  The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) is an integral part of law enforcement in Oklahoma. The office handles numerous duties including but not limited to security, maintaining the jail and, most importantly, protecting the citizens of Tulsa County. The new sheriff of the TCSO needs to be an individual of integrity, an effective leader, and a person who understands the needs of a diverse county. 

  The recent scandals in the TCSO show that a leader can either make or break an organization. We have witnessed firsthand how favoritism, cronyism, and lack of accountability can erode morale in the office, along with the public’s respect. The next Tulsa County Sheriff now has the responsibility to restore what has been broken and to build a new and better TCSO.

Ted Cruz comes to Tulsa: Photos

More photos coming... These pix are free to share for news and campaign purposes.

The crowds kept swelling. This is one fired up rally!

Rubio Calls for Convention Of States

By Niels Lesniewski, for Rollcall -
  Just before New Year’s, GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio added an element to his stump speech sure to appeal to conservative voters: his support for a constitutional convention aimed at limiting the powers of the federal government.

“This is a systematic effort to redefine America,”  - Marco Rubio

  Now his endorsement, along with support from other prominent Republicans, is breathing new life into a long-shot bid to re-open the U.S. Constitution — for the first time in 229 years — to amendments from a gathering of state delegates.

Regalado Campaign Rocked By Funding Scandal

Vic Regalado (right) faces questions of violating state campaign laws. 

  KOTV Reports, tonight that Sheriff Candidate, Vic Regalado has a lot of explaining to do, but he won't be providing any answers until after the election, if ever.
  His campaign money is coming from a felon, several out-of-county sources, reserve officers (like Deputy Bates was), and a very bizarrely connected group who allegedly all gave the maximum on the same day?

TULSA, Oklahoma - Republican candidates for Tulsa County Sheriff took shots at each other on Saturday, as the race intensifies just three days before the primary.
News On 6 and our partner, The Frontier, reported Friday the candidate with more donations than any other, Vic Regalado, has received about 25 percent of his donations from people tied to one local company, ISTI Plant Services at the Port of Catoosa.
Those donations, from 14 ISTI employees and their spouses, total more than $34,000 -- and many were made on the same day for the same amount.
Each donation was between $2,500 and $2,700 dollars -- the maximum donation an individual can give.
Regalado addressed questions about these donations at a sheriff's candidate debate Saturday.

"I'm proud of every individual that has donated to my campaign... I would welcome any inquiries into my donations," he said.

Candidate Luke Sherman says it's unusual to get maximum donations in a race like this.
News On 6 and The Frontier found that one of those maximum donors to Regalado is a felon.

"Those donations, from 14 ISTI employees and their spouses, total more than $34,000 -- and many were made on the same day for the same amount. Each donation was between $2,500 and $2,700 dollars -- the maximum donation an individual can give"

Regalado says he will return that donation.

South Tulsa Voting Location NOW Open For Weekend Balloting

  South Tulsa County voters have a great new option for voting in the upcoming primary election. This is the second time that the county library system decided to assist the county election board in providing this service and convenience.
 The change in law permits early in-person voting on Thursdays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for all elections and 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturdays for state and federal elections.

  It underscores the blatantly bad layout of the county, in that our election board is only a few hundred feet from being in Osage County. But the vast majority of the county's population lives south of I-44 and many miles from old Tulsa.

Blogger Digs Into Sheriff Candidate's Odd Financing

Michael Bates; one of Oklahoma's most established and respected political bloggers, has found some really strange details about a very well-funded campaign for Tulsa County Sheriff.

  Vic Rigalado has raised more money than all 9 other candidates COMBINED! But what's really puzzling is that the money seems to come in large part from a small group of folks who are connected to a company located in another county.

"Why are the executives and employees of a Rogers County manufacturing company, many of whom don't live in Tulsa County, so passionate, so willing to give sacrificially in support of a candidate for Tulsa County Sheriff?"  - Michael Bates

  And many of the very large contributions come from folks who own very modest residences.
You can study the matter in greater detail at Batesline.com.

Ted Cruz Rallies In Tulsa, Sunday

TedCruz.org reports that this Sunday, his campaign team is coming to Tulsa for a 1:00pm rally, at the Fairgrounds Central Park Hall.
The event starts at 1:00pm.
Free tickets can be reserved here (Link)
Details:

• Central Park Hall at Expo Square
• Tulsa Fairgrounds
• 4145 E 21st St
• Tulsa, OK 74114

Sunday, February 28, 2016 from 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM (CST)

Wesselhoft Enshrined

  The gentle and unassuming Representative Paul Wesselhoft has been properly honored in Oklahoma media for his diligent work to right a terrible wrong.
  Paul has successfully shamed David Boren and the regents of Oklahoma University into returning a masterpiece oil painting which Nazi German operatives stole from a Jewish family some 7 decades ago.
  Tulsa World's political cartoonist, Bruce Plante, depicts Wesselhoft as the 'knight in shining armor', rescuing the hostage artwork. Unfortunately, OU has wrongfully created several litho reproductions and sold them, keeping all that money. At last check, the OU campus is still trying to sell their remaining stock. It is also uncertain whether the official flagship university of our fine state will continue to violate international law by marketing illegal copies of the painting.
  At any rate. God bless Saint Wesselhoft, friend of the doubly victimized holocaust survivors.

Eastern Media vs Constitutional Liberty

We used to think that conservative media was the solution

  Just about every eastern national media figure seems to express a mindset of surrender to totalitarian rules and rule. We've slipped so far from the days when great journalists like Edward R Murrow declared that;

"A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.".

Bernie Comes To Tulsa

Bernie Sanders filled a convention center auditorium, tonight. The estimated 7000 people who did get in heard a 1 hour speech which hit all the Bernie trademark talking points and some off-the-cuff comments geared to this Oklahoma conservative geography. His global warming affirmation  brought huge cheers from a group which seemed thrilled to hear a political affirm their liberal mantra - in person.
Some were turned away when the facility reached capacity count. One medical emergency in the crowd temporarily stopped the flow of Sander's speech.

Holding Senators Accountable For Bad Legislative Behavior

How To Behave When Politicians Misbehave

  Some very respected Republican friends of mine just had a highly instructive discussion on social media about how to constructively deal with the behavior of Senator Anthony Sykes, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

  One of the fellas expressed a difficult dilemma, brought about by the behavior of Senator Anthony Sykes', in his decision to refuse an important bill to be heard in his committee.

Senator Loveless details the lack of cooperation he has
dealt with, to get his bill heard in committee

  "Two things have disappointed me in this debate over Civil Asset Forfeiture reform. One, I have been disappointed that Senator Sykes has not taken a stronger stand on the issue (which I have talked about for 20 years as a huge concern for me), and secondly, the hateful comments made by many against Senator Sykes, who is clearly either the 1st or 2nd most conservative members of the Legislature. I think it is wrong to say some of the hateful things which have been said about him, simply because of one issue, while praising others on this one issue, who have a much less conservative voting record. 

Fixing A Bad Vaccine Bill

  The Oklahoma senate committee vote, last Monday;  narrowly defeated a measure which would have reduced the allowed exemptions from 3, to 2.  Senate Bill 1478 was assigned to the Education Committee.

Medical Frailty

  The first class of exemption (medical frailty) is clearly going to be retained. The child with grave illness (if acknowledged by the bureaucrats at the health department) will be cleared.

Religious Objectors

  Some senators have been very frustrated with the opposition to the bill because the language clearly supports clear religious objectors. I don't yet know what secular authority will be delegated the power to define which religious views are legitimate and which are scurrilous? But, yes, that class of exemption is retained; but what would be lost is the political/philosophical objection to the forced socialist endangerment of the atheist family.

Political Objectors

  My problem with this bill is that a parent cannot have political objections if the bill had passed; only religious objections. And that's a narrow minded political mindset.
I see vaccinations as an imposition of socialist intentions. Central government wants to force my healthy kid to take a risk so that someone else's kid (whose chronic sickness forbids such immunization risk) will be better buffered against a serious disease. But that's forced and coerced!

Oklahoma Liquor Battle Heats Up

  Anheuser Busch is running some very direct hit pieces on Oklahoma TV and radio. their target is Senator Clark Jolley of Edmond. The subject have to do with distributorship laws in Oklahoma. I spoke to a lobbyist involved. He explained that the state mandates a "middleman" entity in the distribution process (for anything over 3.2% alcohol). And the distributor must be an Oklahoma sole proprietor, not a corporation.
  Perhaps it's just to more conveniently enforce tax collection at the wholesale point of distribution?  But it's essentially an economic fascist regulatory model. The state picks winners and losers.

Current law stifles free enterprise competition.

  In my view, the problem lies with the regulatory model. Anyone should be able to get into the distribution business, with reasonable oversight.  Evidently Clark Jolley has good insight into the situation, but some claimed that he has a conflict of interest, given a rumored business involvement in distribution.

Update: Senator Jolley has released the following clarification regarding rumors of some conflict of interest. 

 " I own no alcohol interests whatsoever. I'm not involved in any business operations anywhere nor do I own any shares of corporations other than some old shares of tech stocks and mutual funds in retirement account. "

  Also, corporations should be able to incorporate in Oklahoma and compete in liquor distribution. The Oklahoma sole proprietor requirement was probably so that state  courts could easily prosecute violators of liquor and taxation laws.

  Current liquor stores and distributors roundly reject the new laws, from an economic argument, because of the stiff competition that they would face. If the state constitutional question passes, this fall, and the statutory changes do not pass, there will be a very confusing situation resulting.
A Fort Smith media outlet posted an article on the liquor battle.  They said:

  "Oklahoma liquor store owners and a group representing liquor distributors have filed legal challenges to proposed State Question 783, which would expand the types of beers grocery and convenience stores are allowed to sell."

Most of the voices in this debate are players in an economic war.  For that reason we would do well to ignore a good amount...

  So the current privileged few who have exclusive rights to distribute and retail all liquor, are just fighting to keep the stiff regulations because it protects their business model. Free enterprise would subject them to new competitors.
  Fans of free enterprise need to philosophically support open markets. Oklahoma has practiced protectionism for many decades. Mostly it has been a way for politicians to get campaign contributions from trade groups and their lobbyists. It's also an easier way for state regulators to monitor commerce more easily. But if government convenience is at the cost of economic freedom, the free people need to win that battle.
    Most of the voices in this debate are players in an economic war. For that reason we would do well to ignore a good amount of what Anheuser Busch and the liquor retailers are saying. They just are the lucky and well-connected who have scored a state license and guaranteed territory. Quite often we've seen tag agency owners earn these licenses in the same scenario, from giving sufficient campaign contributions to powerful state officials. For instance, it used to be essentially impossible for a Republican to be awarded a tag agency, until recent years.
  Liquor prices will go down from broader competition. Increased liquor taxes might cancel out those decreases. Either way, Oklahoma has for too long held to a 1950's prohibition-era model of controlling liquor in our state.

Voter Guide For Tulsa Sheriff Candidates

  The Tulsa 912 Project produced a voter guide for the upcoming special election for Tulsa County Sheriff.  Our good friends at Fortysix News have posted the results on their site, for your reading convenience.
  The questionnaire is well done and very comprehensive. The candidates were allowed to respond in their own words and Tulsa 912 wisely left those responses unedited, so that voters get the fullest understanding of the candidates.
  The election will be held in tandem with the presidential primary, next Tuesday.

Oklahoma's newest Democrat Senator Votes To Force Vaccinations

Vaccine Bill Fails

  The senate bill (sb1478) which forces even privately educated students to be vaccinated; was defeated narrowly in senate committee, yesterday. A large and diverse group of parents have mobilized against such threats to parents' rights.

Committee vote on bill to force vaccinations.
photo credit: captured by Liza Longoria Greve

"The best thing about the defeat of Senator Yen's bill was seeing hundreds at Capitol (on short notice) of newly politically engaged families! Also THANK YOU to the thousands of Oklahomans on FB who have joined us!!" - Liza Longoria Greve

  The upset winner of last month's special election for senate, Senator JJ Dossett of Owasso, voted to force these toxins into the bodies of children seeking an education in any school within the state.  Dossett was packaged to voters as a very conservative pro-life advocate for civil liberties.

Senate Leader Bingman Moves His Bill To Another Committee

  This morning, Senate President, Brian Bingman told KFAQ Radio that he has pulled his School District bill out of the Education Committee after the chair of that committee, John Ford, let the bill die without a hearing or vote. Bingman's hand-picked Rules Committee will be assigned to hear and vote on the bill, which could result in a committee passage and a senate floor vote.  Broken Arrow Senator, Nathan Dahm then called the station to announce his support for the bill. Dahm is also a member of the Rules Committee.

"It is a good starting place, if legislators will just stop listening to those with a vested interest in inertia and start thinking about improving the quality of Oklahoma schools." - Tulsa World editorial

  Bingman's bill addresses the several dozen Dependent School Districts which do not provide a full k-12 common education to it's students. Bingman would merge such districts into the administrative oversight of the independent school district where they feed their high school students into.

Libertarian Party Succeeds To Oklahoma Ballot

Option 'C' will be on the Oklahoma General Election Ballot

  The Libertarians are excited about their return to the Oklahoma election ballot.  They reached a unique status partly due to their cooperative arrangement in gathering signatures. Evidently, they agreed to provide Green Party petitions at their signature drive locations, and the Green Party of Oklahoma, in turn, made the Libertarian Party petitions available in similar signature drive efforts.

Applause For Apple

Security and Liberty

By guest columnist, Stephen Mills of Peace Officers and Liberty - 
  At the request of the FBI, a Federal Judge recently ordered Apple to create an operating system for the I-Phone with a backdoor allowing them to hack into the phone of one of the San Bernardino shooters.
  While I applaud the efforts of the FBI to fully investigate the shooting and identify any terrorist associates of the shooters, there are some huge legal, constitutional and ethical problems with this order.
  If the operating system was already developed and available I would have no problem with the Judge ordering Apple to provide it to the FBI; but to order a private corporation to create a product they would not otherwise build, not to mention one that’s creation is not in the best interest of the private corporation is paramount to government slavery.

Our Pick For Tulsa County Sheriff

Sooner Politics Picks 4

  On March 1st, Tulsa County voters will pick 2 candidates from a couple of long lists.

  Yes, there is a presidential primary that day; but there is an open seat for Tulsa County Sheriff. This is a special election brought about from a vacancy. The field of candidates is very strong and the choice is incredibly difficult. Yet the decision will likely impact the Tulsa area for many years to come.

  The last time Tulsa County voters replaced a sheriff was during Ronald Reagan's presidency.

Our Picks

Yes, we had a very tough time narrowing down the field. Sooner Politics has 4 finalists and we decided to "go to press" with this select group as our final advisory. In no particular order, we chose these fine men.

Coburn Condemns Trump Plot To Use Him

Redstate provides this update:

  So it is presented as a quote, and retweeted by The Donald himself. No clean hands here.

Coburn narrows his choice of Presidential nominee

  Coburn was livid that a presidential candidate would abuse him in this type of shameless scam. Sen. Coburn just narrowed his choices. “I can tell you now somebody I’m not going to vote for,” he told the Examiner.

Trump Fakes A Tom Coburn

Trump Makes A Fake Tom Coburn Quote To Smear Cruz As 'Dishonest'.

UPDATED
 Talking Points Memo just released this "Caught In The Act" story of Trump's campaign.  This one appears to be completely made up. Dr. Tom Coburn actually said nothing which could be misconstrued by CNN or any other credible source.
  Mediaite finally summed up the scandal by adding;

 "Probably not the best strategy to be so loose with the fact-checking when you’re trying to accuse someone else of dishonesty…"

Vision Impaired Tax

  Michael Bates and George McFarlin are presenting a report of the proposed new city tax that Tulsa is pushing. The plan is a failure which is trying to cover up for previous failed promises.

Tulsans need to be very leary of schemes like this.

William F. Buckley Jr. Exposes Donald Trump

Look for the narcissist.

Hat tip to Pat McGuigan for the story & source
The following excerpt comes from a 2000 column in Cigar Aficionado:

"  The most obvious target in today's lineup is, of course, Donald Trump. When he looks at a glass, he is mesmerized by its reflection. If Donald Trump were shaped a little differently, he would compete for Miss America.   But whatever the depths of self-enchantment, the demagogue has to say something.
  So what does Trump say? That he is a successful businessman and that that is what America needs in the Oval Office. There is some plausibility in this, though not much. The greatest deeds of American Presidents--midwifing the new republic; freeing the slaves; harnessing the energies and vision needed to win the Cold War--had little to do with a bottom line.

The Anti Endorsement of Trump

  Most of us have narrowed down our personal favorites in the presidential primaries. The crowd has thinned and several have had to pick a 2nd or third choice, already.
  If you're still a Trump supporter after last night's meltdown, You may need to find your soul.
Last night, Donald Trump advanced 3 major Liberal talking points.

Trump said;

• "9/11 is GW's fault."
• "GW lied about WMDs and should be impeached."
• "Planned Parenthood does wonderful things and should be fully funded buy the federal government."

Can We Pass Extra Taxes On Disgusting Behavior?

Is a "sin" tax more justifiable as an oppression put upon the people?

Hurting smokers

Guest opinion by Jonathan Small.
  February 11, 2016.
  Session has begun and tobacco users are in bureaucrats’ crosshairs. Tax consumers desire a massive cigarette tax increase to maintain government spending that our private sector economy cannot sustain.

  The most prominent proposals increase cigarette taxes by nearly 150 percent. If enacted, Oklahoma would have a significantly higher cigarette tax than all surrounding states. This tax increase would make it so that if you traveled north from the south coast of Texas all the way to the beaches of Lake Michigan, no state would have a higher cigarette tax than Oklahoma.

  This “sin” tax increase is being sold as predominantly for the health of smokers and to decrease smoking. But state tax collection records reveal that it’s government that has the greatest addiction to smoking. Cigarette, tobacco and compact taxes generated more than $2.4 billion for state government from FY-2003 to FY-2013.

Tulsans Revolt Against New Tax Plan

Guest opinion, by George McFarlin

  On April 5th Tulsa voters will be asked to INCREASE the city of Tulsa sales tax rate by 6/10th cent. The question remains:

WHEN IS ENOUGH EVER ENOUGH FOR GOVERNMENT TAX AND SPEND PROGRAMS?

FACTS ABOUT THE VISION FOREVER SALES TAX

STATE ECONOMY TANKING

  The state economy is suffering a sharp and sustained decline.  Collectively, the Oklahoma oil patch economy and state government are suffering, with $113 BILLION in net worth extinguished from balance sheets of our Oklahoma publicly-held oil & gas production companies in the past 12 months.
  Chesapeake, Samson and Anadarko have announced significant layoffs and Samson has filed for bankruptcy. Others will follow.  All this compounded with the state budget projected at a $900 million shortfall for the upcoming year, and higher unemployment the taxpayers are being hit hard.

Middleground: Substantive Radio Enlightenment

NPR For The Rational Conservative.

  It's Tuesday morning, in February. Trent England of OCPA is on a small radio station in the rural outskirts of the OKC metro area. He's talking about the hypocrisy of government-run gambling ventures. The irony he explains is that the gambling venture was sold to our past Democrat-controlled legislature as a funding source for better education. But Trent's own children tell jokes about the foolishness of gambling as a solution for personal poverty.

Super Tuesday - Oklahoma Pride

Wikipedia refers to Super Tuesday as follows:

  In the United States, Super Tuesday, in general, refers to the Tuesday in February or March of a presidential election year when the greatest number of states hold primary elections to select delegates to national conventions at which each party's presidential candidates are officially nominated. The phrase "Super Tuesday" has been used to refer to presidential primary elections since at least 1976. More delegates can be won on Super Tuesday than on any other single day of the primary calendar; accordingly, candidates seeking the presidency traditionally must do well on this day to secure their party's nomination. In 2008, Super Tuesday was February 5; 24 states held primaries or caucuses on this date, with 52% of all pledged Democratic Party delegates and 49% of the total Republican Party delegates at stake.

Tulsa Sheriff Candidates Holding Sunday Forum

  The Tulsa affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness(NAMI) is set to hold a public forum on Mental Health and the Tulsa Sheriff's Office. The event is planned for 2-4pm, Sunday.
  All of the filed candidates are eligible to participate. Nine of the ten eligible candidates have stated their intent to participate. Hardesty Regional Library's Frossard Auditorium is the setting.
  Tulsa County Jail is now the second largest mental health treatment center in the state. Oklahoma City's jail is even larger.

Who Really Is A Reagan Republican?

Barry Goldwater relied on Ronald Reagan and William F. Buckley
to communicate the vision of 'Conservatism'.

  So many politicians who cloak themselves in Reagan's mantle, once trashed the icon, when it was politically advantageous.
  Ron Paul trashed the conservative movement in his 1988 Libertarian Party run for president. During the 1988 campaign, Paul called Reagan "a dramatic failure" and complained that "Reagan's record is disgraceful..." .

Rubio & CNN Created The Rumors About Carson.

The original talebearer and the false accuser.

Ben Carson falsely accuses Cruz For "pushing the narrative that Carson is dropping out".

  Marco Rubio is found to be pushing a drop out narrative well before the Cruz team was involved. And CNN went public with the rumor, attributing it to correspondent, Chris Moody's tweet. Carson had no idea that it was his own press statement which led to the speculation. But immediately upon the live report's airing, Chris Moody issued a clarification tweet.

  Team Carson Swatted Down Rumors well before there was any Cruz team communication.  Yes; Carson knew about the rumors and rebutted them even before Cruz's team said anything at all. Yet Carson never bothered to communicate to the other campaigns and help them disregard any of the rumors.

Carson Questions Cruz's Christianity

Dr. Ben Carson and Armstrong Williams made statements to the press.

  The Washington Post has been following the latest in the Ben Carson campaign. Carson has been in Washington for the past day or so, and made severe cuts in his campaign staffing. The article discusses several items and it becomes evident that Armstrong Williams (the controversial confidante who's campaign activities led to several December top resignations) is further entrenched in the role of speaking on behalf of the Carson campaign.

Former Rep. Porter Davis Declares OKGOP Vice Chair Candidacy

  Another Republican has stepped up to offer his leadership for the vacated office of OKGOP Vice Chairman.  Porter Davis has been an active GOP leader since the early 1980s. He emphasizes local and precinct party activism, constitutional reforms, and policies which reflect the liberties espoused in our nation's founding documents.

Carson Resorts To Blaming Others For Poor Showing

  Carson sounds uncharacteristic, with this complaint about precinct rumors. Ben has been a model of character and taking personal responsibility, during his 9 months on the stump.
  The Dallas Morning News reports that Carson is now attacking Cruz for sabotaging the doctor's effort.

Going to New Hampshire this weekend?

Establishment Politicians Tell Establishment Media That They Won Third!

Both CNN and Fox News Obsess About Rubio. 

  And print media is just as giddy about the 3rd place showing of Rubio.
Here's how the Washington Post framed it:

"  The headlines will show that Ted Cruz won the Iowa caucuses, but the more significant message out of Iowa was that Marco Rubio was neck-and-neck with Donald Trump for second place and within a few points of the lead: It showed that mainstream Republicans are, at long last, pushing themselves back into the 2016 presidential race.

 To see how, step into the caucus at the Waukee Middle School gymnasium, where 803 Republicans gathered for a showdown between the outsiders and the establishment...."

  What we have is an entire cartel controlling the GOP machine, and scared to death of the concept of democracy. Even state & local politicians are scurrying to stack up their only real stock in trade; the endorsements of self-obsessed elected officials.
  It's a remarkably opaque effort to spin a big rejection into something they can delude themselves with; and try to delude the public with.

Cruz Leads Republican Delegate Race

A New Record Set For Attendance

  Iowa has 30 delegates to the Republican National Convention, and all 30 were divvied up at the end of the caucus night tabulations.
  There was no threshold requirement, so a delegate was awarded for each 3.3% of the vote.

Cruz     27.7% Trump 24.4% Rubio  23.1% Carson 9.3% Paul      4.5%

  The reality is that there is nearly a 3-way tie, but every slim advantage adds up.
Cruz gets 8 delegates, Trump gets 7, and Rubio gets 6 (unless some recount changes the tight numbers).
  But Carson and Paul also get 2 & 1 delegate awards for placing 4th & 5th. Seven of the major candidates received no delegates.
  Huckabee has suspended his campaign, tonight. So did O'Malley (a Democrat).

Latest Iowa Results

with nearly all results in, at 9:16pm

Get your most up to the minute numbers at: http://www.cnn.com/election/primaries/states/ia

Trump Sends Iowans With Contagious Diseases to the Caucus Meetings.

Trump mulls launching contagions, as a campaign tactic.

Today, Billionaire, Donald Trump; told Iowans;

"You’ve got to go out and caucus,” 

Trump told them. “You’ve got to get out there. I don’t care what happens. If your wife leaves you for another man, if you leave your wife because you don’t like her, I don’t care what it is. If you’re sick, you’ve got to get out.  If you're sick... If you have a 104 degree temperature, Get to the caucus!"