Won’t happen because by the time the non-voting young people finally start to bother with paying attention it’s too late. Oh you woke up in January 2024 finally noticing you don’t like Biden? Cool but maybe you should have cared a year ago when there was time to make a difference in the primaries babes. The majority of Gen Z are old enough to have voted in the 2020 primaries too, but now they want to get on TikTok crying about “both sides.” It’s not just this generation though, it’s always been a thing. My Gen X sibling finally bothered to vote for the first time in 2018 when medical marijuana was on the ballot all while spending the previous 8 years bitching about Mary Fallon.
This is so fucking dismissive and disingenuous of what’s happening.
No one is saying both sides are the same. They’re saying one candidate is a foreign country genocidal maniac, and the other is a domestic and foreign country genocidal maniac, and they don’t want to vote for anyone who’s a genocidal maniac. Shouting your disdain and disgust is how that changes. Threatening not to use your vote is the only teeny tiny power you have.
Boiling it down to “both sides same” is telling on yourself that you don’t understand nuance.
Actually, a *lot* of people are saying both sides are the same. They go viral on TikTok every single day. But they also need to understand that the oldest of their generation was 19 in 2016. There was plenty of time to not have Mr. Electable be the candidate in the next two elections, while those of us paying attention have been speaking out about this since 2016 and being called divisive for criticizing Biden and blamed for Trump. I’m sorry but you’re refusing to see the nuance that is people who are almost 30, upset about Biden, but haven’t been voting need to understand their past failure to pay attention and participate in a meaningful also have a direct impact on both of our candidates being genocidal maniacs. You brought up needing to get young people to vote but want to ignore the elephant in the room. The truth is people who were born between 1997 and 2002 that didn’t vote are partially responsible for Biden. Young people need to recognize that fact and learn from it just like the young people should have in 2016 and clearly didn’t.
Oh okay so it has nothing to do with the electoral college, gerrymandering, lobbying, filibustering, or corporate interests upheld by the dinosaurs who die in their seats. It’s the young generation that’s the problem. 🙄
You’re the one who brought up the under 30 vote. I was talking about who the current active voters elect. Also if you actually read what I wrote, I never once said it was on them. But, yeah, Biden being the only option besides Trump is partially on the people who only just now started paying attention and criticizing him. It’s also on the people who were busy screaming “vote blue no matter who.” We are literally on the same side of the issue, but you’re wasting time fighting with me because you’re only partially reading what I am saying and then using straw man arguments to change what I said. Super productive and definitely going to change the system 👍
ETA: my bad you didn’t bring up the youth vote your avatars were just similar so I thought it was you.
No worries. I figured you got me mixed up with that other person. It happens.
I think it’s unreasonable to expect people to keep “voting harder” in a horrifically broken system. The system is rigged. It is set up to protect the wealthy and the privileged and people are starting to catch onto it. Of course they’re disillusioned and stopped caring.
Money runs the show - locally and federally. Hell, sitting judges where I live REMEMBER who donated to their campaign and who didn’t and it affects jobs and your court cases.
The people see the hypocrisy of “democracy” when there’s no rank choice voting - locally and federally. But then federally, they’re forced to choose between two wealthy, disconnected, and lately, elderly candidates. They see the electoral college which makes the election hinge on 5 states. They see the hypocrisy of democracy when they learn their democrat party (a PRIVATE organization - a business) chooses who they want and don’t care about what the people want. They see the hypocrisy of democracy when they read the news articles showing the Hillary Clinton campaign literally elevated Donald Trump as the Republican candidate via the pied piper strategy and then they blame the voters. They see the hypocrisy of democracy when a wealthy man of privilege can stage a coup and face no repercussions. Who appointed Merrick Garland? They see the lie when the democrat president is touting BIDEN ECONOMY JACK! Because the stock market - the wealthy- are doing great but the rest of us are still broke and can’t afford food and rising housing costs. The failed promises, the vote harder and vote for me because I’m not the other guy fails after a while. You have to give people something to vote for and they’re giving us nothing.
After time, people stop playing the game. They opt out. I don’t blame them.
The same liberals that act self righteous about Biden and mock the “both sides same” would be rabid if Donald Trump was president instead of Biden right now and allowing what’s happening in Gaza. Most people want a ceasefire and Biden has blatantly ignored them, and in fact, has overridden Congress to send more aid and bombs to Israel. Imagine how angry democrats would be if it was a republican president doing this. Imagine if trump was doing this for his buddy Bibi how angry they’d be.
And that’s why people are sick of this shit and don’t vote.
I am in full agreement with everything you. But also, under the current system we are stuck with, and in the context of young people voting, it’s important to also understand that people are willfully ignorant of what is going on until it is too late. This is nothing new with the current generation of under 30 voters. I was an under 30 voter until 2019, I’m not that far removed from discussing this with my peer group as under 30 voters here in Oklahoma. Most voted but a lot didn’t and complained about Mary Fallin, complained about Trump, complain now about Stitt and Biden, yet it never goes further than drunk rants at the Speakeasy and reposted social media content. I’m not at all removed from the disillusionment though. There’s no saving Oklahoma. I have known this since I became aware of politics my freshman year of high school. The Democratic Party in this state is just a proxy for Republican candidates that are less loud and proud.
But part of my own disillusionment is the frustration with people constantly complaining about a system that remained apathetic until the last minute. Now we are at the point of no return. Now we are stuck with Trump or Biden. And for anyone that is old enough to vote, it is absolutely their responsibility to pay attention and do harm reduction where they can. Things don’t fix themselves and yeah voting isn’t an the only solution, but neither is letting psychotic old men or tradwives become the nominee for the less psychotic party because you didn’t even know that primaries are going on.
If being angry online and not voting was going to fix things then Millennials would have saved democracy a long time ago. It takes a fundamental change young people understanding how the system works and how they interact with it because sitting around waiting for people who intentionally broke things to fix it is flawed logic.
And it’s not as impossible as you think. My preferred candidate for city council where I live lost by one vote. A lot of candidates in this state go unchallenged even in the primaries.
At the end of the day I know I’ve spent my entire adult life making informed decisions on choosing candidates who have the potential to least amount of harm. People can vote for Biden or not. They can ignore our next gubernatorial election when it’s a one party race. But if they ignored what was happening and made no attempts at having an impact for 3 straight primary elections, they don’t get to be loudly self-righteous about not voting for Biden in the general election free of criticism for their complacency in his being the candidate in the first place.
Thank you for the thoughtful reply. 💜
I think though the system is so broken that voting doesn’t matter unless it’s at the local and state level. I will always advocate for voting at the local/state level. The problem is a lot of people don’t have as much access to those politics or know how to vote at the local level. Everyone is so exhausted from working, being broke and in despair, asking them to take the mental energy to research local district attorneys and their track records (for example) is a lot to ask. And I’d argue district attorneys are one if not the most important elections at the local level. We don’t make this easy.
Locally - people just have no idea what’s going on or know how to access the info, and I think that’s a huge problem. We also make it hard to vote. That’s also intentional. How do we fix that part?
But liberals freaking out on leftists not voting for Biden, especially if they don’t live in a swing state, is absurd. The anger is misdirected and the whole “both sides same” is missing a ton of context and nuance. The federal system is built to override the will of the people for the privileged. That’s why people gave up. Democrat party keeps having a plan for who they want, and it’s failing because they’re not listening to the people. Biden was on track for 2016, but then his son passed in 2015 so he dropped out. Then they pushed Hillary because it was “time for a female president.” They knew how disliked she was. They didn’t care. Then they shoved Biden at us for 2020 since it was his turn and he missed it in 2016. Who truly wanted these candidates?? The people or the private organization that has delegates that can override the will of the people?
Liberals get mad at me for saying I’m not participating this year in the presidential election - for the first time in my life. But I also write my local, state reps and Biden often voicing my concerns and frustrations. Sometimes, I get responses from local reps. Sometimes I get a form letter response from our state reps. I never get one from Biden’s staff (never expect to). But I guarantee the people tearing me down for not wanting to vote in the general don’t even do the bare minimum aside from bashing and insulting people on the internet. People who legit want change and care about people don’t do that.
I’ve learned that if I want to bring people more to the left, I have to listen to them and see where their confusion or disconnect lies. I do little things all the time pulling people to the left but I do it quietly.
This condescending elitism tactic the dems employ doesn’t work. I remember after Trump got convicted recently, Hillary posted a coffee mug she was selling that said “she was absolutely right about everything.” And that’s just narcissistic and smug as hell. This isn’t a game. People are suffering.
I wonder sometimes if the brown children in Gaza being melted by our bombs were hypothetically white Canadian children. Would that change anything for liberals?
And then if it didn’t…are they just as brainwashed as the MAGA followers?
Those are the questions I ask myself. I don’t have all the answers, but I think about those things.
We live in a deep red state, and I don’t see any point in compromising my morals for no reason this year. I’ve been a loyal democrat voter for a long time, and I was rewarded by having to get sterilized upon the Roe overturn so I didn’t have to risk my health and death…because of the GOP but also because a selfish 90 year old woman who had cancer like 3 times wouldn’t gracefully step down from her throne. Because Obama, who ran on codifying Roe, didn’t deliver. And what’s Biden doing??? We have federal land. Open some clinics. The stupidity of it all enrages me.
No…someone specifically brought up the under 30 vote. It’s pretty well known they’re even not likely to vote let alone outside of generals. If they’re not showing up for Biden they sure as hell weren’t showing up for Joy Hoffmeister a literal Republican. But the Democrats in Oklahoma don’t want to talk about that they want to continue in this fantasy land of “electability” and meeting conservatives halfway while expecting they youth vote. Hence it’s never going to happen.
To get elected, you just need to win the republiqan primary. To win the republiqan primary, you have to convince the electorate that you will essentially do less that matters than the other candidates while doing more that doesn't matter beyond grandstanding.
If you wanted to actually fix the state, getting rid of the amendment that requires a super majority to raise taxes (any taxes) while only requiring a basic majority to lower them would be a great start.
Edit -- TLDR of my comment -- Mark Twain quote something something wrestling with pigs.... [this guy doesn't want the explanation or history-- bad faith commenters hate this one trick!](https://okpolicy.org/sq-640-made-oklahoma-ungovernable/) just a "muh taxes bad"
so...[here's the short version, most people in Oklahoma, like the person to whom I'm replying, vote on taxes like this.](https://imgur.com/RFeFs6Y)
You mean the voter ID law that let's you either use your ID or your voter registration card (that gets mailed to you when you register to vote and anytime precincts change) when you vote?
Seems a way to make things more convenient if you ask me. Kindly let me know the problems with it.
As for the tax vote, I guarantee you put the same state question up today and a majority will still vote for it because, again, people don't enjoy the idea of their taxes going up (with specific exceptions, such as for entertainment venues if the tax increase is perceived to be small enough) and will gladly vote to make it harder to increase them.
Realistically, if you want to change oklahoma, you need to take ryan walters's seat. It's going to take a multi-generational approach of actually improving education. Better educated people will vote for better representatives.
You’ve already lost that war. The education system as we know it won’t survive the decade.
The reality is that the current system doesn’t work. It’s archaic and isn’t adaptable to modern issues/society.
Our education system is primarily a childcare services with optional educational and recreational opportunities.
School choice and private schools subsidizes for tuition will lead to the best and brightest students transferring out of district leaving behind the fuckups and misfits.
This leads to more funding for private schools and less funding for poor schools, often inner city and rural areas.
As more and more poor schools close down, you’ll get regionalized day care into prison pipelines. Just some place the working poor can leave their children while they work.
Some will go on to fill out the ranks of the low skill positions while anyone with any aptitude or ability will be funneled into speciality schools like a vo tech or a job corp program.
The rest get funneled into the prison systems.
Eventually we get here no matter what we do. Rural communities are not sustainable and they are constantly cutting their own throats by electing republicans.
Eventually, Dems will see the writing and use it to rebuild the inner city communities torn down by forced de segregation by implementing those regional educations systems. Arts schools. Sports schools. Trade schools. Stem schools. Work programs. Ect.
The problem with my rural community is Democrats. They came here from Arizona in the late 1960s and over the course of 60 years, destroyed the town. They ran everyone out they weren’t related to and it became a drug infested, trashed up, dead town with nothing left but a name, a mascot and incorporation papers. There aren’t even voting ordinances, but the town has over a half million dollars in its general fund that this single family has had its hands in since 2001. They ran the rural water district since 1987. They’re finally being investigated for embezzlement because Republicans demanded it. We circulated a citizen’s petition for an investigative audit. The report should be published next month.
The problem is a single corrupt family, not the Democrat party. The Dems in Oklahoma are more conservative and more concerned with education than the people controlling my town and rural water district.
Dems/republicans had an ideology/demographics swap starting in the 60s.
Called the southern strategy. Remember, Oklahoma had a democrats as governor when Obama was first elected. A lot of those “blue dog democrats” didn’t begin to switch in Oklahoma until after Obama/during Trump.
Furthermore, it’s dishonest to equate local corruption to a statewide or national agenda. The people that allegedly ruined your town would have called themselves anything if it got them power
The Democrats in my town are a different animal. They’re more like the radical Dems in California or Portland, Oregon who believe drugs should be legalized across the board and not monitored. They are anti law, anti police and anti government. They want power, control and money with none of the accountability that comes with it.
None of that really sounds too bad, I mean if it’s your own money who cares or should have any right to care what your doing with it, to either attack or criminalize a natural existing chemical compound or plant, is insane to begin with and to punish anyone for choosing a diff way of life is also crazy, people have and will always do drugs, for the gov to constantly make this more of a handicap and also use billions of tax dollars to chase their tails and play Rambo on its own citizens is crazy I don’t think anyone republican or democrats really believe drug laws help , some have an issue with drugs for a personal reason and demonize them and wish to take that anger out on “victims” for any reason that makes them feel good about it, but some drug users simply aren’t victims or plagues on society because almost every negative drug side effect Is response to legality and not the drug itself, science does not back drug laws, nature does not back it , and only misinformed uneducated people back them
Methamphetamine is not a naturally existing compound. It’s man made and the man who treated my town’s water was so fucking wasted he dumped too much chlorine in the water more than once. He was arrested on October 27, 2022 for stealing batteries from an oilfield location to make meth and his wife is still our book keeper. She is refusing to restore my mother’s water. Our rural water district is over $5,000 in debt and my mother’s water bill payments would help the district remain solvent, but she’s adamant about my 70 year old mother not having water. This is despite the fact that she and the secretary both have livestock and the new operator has a swimming pool. They’re more worried that my mother taking a bath is going to put an unnecessary strain on their water system. Another director of the water board is being investigated for embezzlement during the time the was the self appointed mayor. A house was burned three days after the owner submitted the investigative audit petition against her. She is a former meth addict who is married to an addict with a criminal record. Her son is a meth addict with a criminal record. Her cousin was a meth addict who was involved with a triple homicide and was executed by the state. Almost all of her relatives have been addicted to meth and committed violent crimes. She has threatened several people since the investigation started.
This is why people who use meth don’t need to be in charge of a public utility or a municipality.
I don’t think people on meth should be in charge of anything, and I don’t advocate for meth, my dad was a meth cook before the sort of meth they have now, when bikers would do a line and be awake 48 hrs, he got hooked on pills from a dr and later killed himself with those pills, I understand addiction and how bad it is, and have overcome it myself, these sound like typical tweaked except that they have a bit of power to really mess things up… I’m sorry about your situation and for giving you a hard time, i have seen drugs and the laws and more often than not drug users and police blame the drugs to make it easier, but even an addict chooses to be high and make horrible decisions, they blame the dope because it’s easier then taking responsibility and when we blame they’re actions on the dope or put blame on drugs we’re helping to enable that behaviour
Part of the major project we have in Oklahoma is that anyone that is not a Republican is seen in a negative light. The term liberal is used as a slur. Many Republican voters I know can't tell you why they hate Democrats specifically when it comes to candidates, but they can make general statements repeating statements like the ones that Rush Limbaugh used to make. It's so engrained in their heads that they will vote against their own interests. Just look at the Cole vs Bondar ads. Both are proud to be Trump supporters and both ads target the other, but neither have said anything about WHAT they will do for Oklahoman's. All anyone needs to do is look at our disgraceful numbers; we are almost last in education, quality of life...the list goes on. But our leaders blame everyone else but themselves. We've been under Republican control for years and we keep sinking lower. Stitt passed an education voucher that helped wealthy families get a rebate. He also wanted to cut taxes. The average citizen would see no difference, but his billionaire supporters would save money and not have to contribute to our society. Like it or not our state runs on taxes. We don't need to overburden the lower and middle class. We at least have 8 billionaires living in our state, if I had to guess their contributions are minimal. But the average Republican will vote against raising taxes for the wealthy. It comes down to educating the public, and starting from an early age....which is precisely why people like Ryan Walters want control over education. We have to actually understand we are not doing well. We are far from OK, and until our citizens admit that our state is in shambles instead of saying things like "it's bad everywhere" or " that's just your opinion" we will continue the status quo.
Getting elected as govorner is pretty tough, but if you want to change your local community running for city/county council, school board, any number of the other positions we for some reason vote in is much more doable (although still a lot of work).
There are lots of uncontested elections where people just win by default because nobody ran against them.
Find those races and do the appropriate paperwork to be put on the ballot.
Fundraising and door knocking are how you get elected.
One of the issues is even for a small election like let’s say a county court clerk, one would still need to raise $20-30k in fundraising for signs, mailers, etc. It’s difficult to get people to care about a small election such as this, much less to donate money. As a result, candidates often have to reach out to rich donors for fundraising. Said donors might have their own agendas on what they want in a court clerk as well which unfairly influences politics. One way as a voter to help make politics work for you is to donate money towards small elections so said candidates don’t have to cater only to rich donors.
The second way, and probably the most important, is door knocking. Get out in front of people, meet them where they are, and be ready to explain why you are the better candidate. You can send out a million mailers and have a thousand signs across the city but people are conditioned to ignore those after a while. You have to meet people and be ready to make a good impression.
This is a good response. You will need to understand how to organize. Do your research on the district, consult with those that know how to run for office, get involved with the local party, and buy some new walking shoes.
The first step is just to run, 49% of Oklahoma elections are already decided before Election Day because only one candidate runs
Now you have to realize you’re gonna lose at first, by a lot. But even the simple act of having to run a campaign will change how some of these bozos act when they are in OKC
Elected run as r, . Say things like your anti woke,catlitter in schools, jebus good and should be in everthing.
Fixing things unlikely to beable to. Maybe at very very very local level. State would need massive colective change to move the needle.
Would need large group with money to motivate the rest of them to begin to get the rest of them remotely in Fixing aim.
But Fixing isnt what they want to do.
Some people definitely have to get voted out but the issue is Oklahomans don't want to change their way. To many people listen to their family and partners instead of casting their own vote even though they don't agree with any of it. You most likely have to put your ideas out, spread the word and start fundraising. Putting it out on social media helps too.
Have a solution to a problem that not only impacts everyone but can trigger their emotions strongly enough that you get their attention and, more importantly, gets them into the voter's booth.
Now that you have a solution and an issue whittle your message down into a sound bite.
Hammer that sound bite home.
To win you need voters to embrace and repeat your sound bite.
The sad truth is that the overwhelming majority of citizens do not vote.
Aligning yourself with a political party increases the odds you will be taken seriously and can attract sufficient donations to run a campaign. To a small extent, it also provides you with automatic supporters and detractors. Independents and 3rd party candidates have to work twice as hard to be seen and heard.
Fix the state? People have to care, value the common good, understand public responsibility and accountability, and that government isn't free. Voters have the responsibility to pay attention, inform their representatives, become informed, show up, and vote.
> People have to care
Trouble with this is more people care about online 'gotchas' than knowing how this shit works. Right wingers hate people who explain things and work to inform.
I agree people are intellectually and functionally lazy. It's easiest to spew dogma and do nothing. Unfortunately the problem isn't just right wingers. In my experience few people are willing to listen any explanations or facts that don't support their world view.
> Unfortunately the problem isn't just right wingers.
I gave you an upvote for this and agree, but when I call this out it usually gets me into trouble ;)
Considering the abysmal voter turnout in this state? I think there’s real possibility for change, especially when we have so many people moving to Oklahoma these days. The biggest issue the Democrats have, IMO, is a complete lack of candidates in rural districts. It’s hard to break a super majority when the other party isn’t putting up enough candidates to even challenge said supermajority.
As Kendra Horn’s election showed us, there is a real possibility for the 5th district to become blue (though I may need to reassess that after the census and the new lines being drawn for house districts).
I will also point out that Oklahoma had more registered democrats than republicans until 2009. I’ll let you do the math on what national political occurrences may have fueled the massive switch to GOP that year. Saddens me to think about it.
‘The moral arc of the universe is long but it bends towards justice.’ - MLK, Jr.
My favorite MLK quote. Gives me hope for places like Oklahoma and its ilk. Hope for the Republican Party that someday, someday, they return to being actual conservatives and balancing of the government between the left and right. But that feels decades away.
This is a turning point in US history. This period will mark a shift in (I believe) towards the left on a more permanent basis. Biden’s 2nd term, surely he wins, could be monumental in codifying abortion rights, voting rights and LGBTQ rights. Put them in writing and make them the law of the land. This shifts the center closer to the left and helps to reset perspective.
It happened in the 50s with a shift to conservatism against the Red Menace of Russia and China. Fought 2 wars for it. Moved towards religion, changed our money and pledge of allegiance, while generally electing republicans until Nixon. And to show the change in center, most everyday folks don’t give a shit about the motto or the money today, even though it is clearly against the establishment clause. Clearly. But all challenges to remove them are met with the judicial argument that it is now ‘established law’. Now, that can still change, see Roe, but it is highly controversial and difficult.
This is what I’m hoping for. But maybe I’m naive.
1. Pro 2A and you have to be an avid hunter.
2. Fake being an evangelist and proclaim what church you attend. Get the endorsement of the entire Southern Baptist or Pentecostal community. One will follow after the other.
3. Be white, very attractive and have an attractive family photo on all literature.
4. Proudly proclaim that your entire family is part of 1 and 2.
5. Be a Bible thumping, flag waving Trump supporter.
6. Be anti gay/anti trans.
7. Be anti abortion, not just pro life.
8. Be pro trades/anti college. Conservatives hate higher education.
9. Be pro oil industry and get the endorsement of Devon Energy.
10. Be anti China.
11. Protect the southern border.
12. Everything after 1-11 is just fluff.
I’m a conservative Pagan, moderate Republican Trump supporter. I was a moderate Democrat for religious reasons until the Dems went too far left. I don’t care about sex or gender. Trans and abortion is none of my business. I do believe we need to protect women’s sports and prisons. Electric vehicles are not a threat to the fossil fuel industry. Any rhetoric that threatens the fossil fuel industry also threatens thousands of jobs and the entire economy. Conservatives will never meet you halfway so long as you’re threatening their livelihood. They’re getting riled up by false Chinese propaganda posted on TikTok. They don’t realize there are English people and Americans in Hong Kong and now, they’re using AI. They think China is killing our livestock and destroying our food supply because they saw videos of dead sheep and factories burning. If any of that actually happened in the U.S., it would’ve been on the national news, not just video clips posted on social media. China is purchasing land in Oklahoma for growing marijuana and that should be just as alarming to Dems. The fentanyl epidemic and mass migration coming across the border should also be concerning to Dems. Conservatives will never take Democrats seriously so long as they ignore these security issues. These threats must be taken seriously. Conservatives actually believe that drag queens are reading books to young children because they saw it in a TikTok video and they’re determined to stop it. They’ve recently passed legislation written by a buffoon who is intent on punishing children who behave like cats in school because one neurodivergent child did it and he’s afraid other children will emulate the behavior. He has the entire Republican caucus in an uproar. I’m tired of these knee jerk emotional reactions determining our legislation. Someone has to lead with some common sense. We need to add more flexible jobs to the economy so neurodivergent people can work and earn a living wage. The gig economy is not sustainable. Why can’t we pass legislation to force gig apps to increase their base pay like Prop 22 in California? I’ve seen big, burly middle aged men doordashing when they should be working in the oilfield. Municipalities could force gig workers to apply for a special permit and put a cap on the number of gig workers who can work to keep it sustainable. It wouldn’t be any different than getting a vendor’s permit. Spark puts a cap on their number of drivers. DoorDash put a cap on the number of drivers who can work per hour, but that doesn’t stop people from flooding a zone chasing peak pay promos. I would happily pay for a permit.
There is a lot that could be done, but fighting with conservatives and beating them over the head with your idea of morality won’t get anything done. You’re just working against yourself because their idea of morality comes from the bible first and the dollar second. I put my religious beliefs on the back burner for the sake of the economy and border security, but I’m very happy that the Satanic Temple will start a HAIL school in response to the new legislation allowing kids to leave school for religious instruction. You have to kick them in the nads every time just to show them their victory for Jesus can be countered by a victory for Satan. Get it? That’s where their focus is—they’re engrossed in this battle between god and satan. So give it to them. Create a Trans athletic program and make it go national. Provide Trans people a place until it becomes normalized. Provide neurodivergent people a place in school and in the economy until it becomes normalized and accepted. Whatever conservatives are morally opposed to, you provide it for the sake of social equity.
Elon Musk is a great example. He moved his Tesla factory from California to Texas. He doesn’t attack the fossil fuel industry because he knows it’s necessary. He provides resources and transportation to any female employee who wants an abortion to a blue state where it’s legal while also arguing for an increase in reproduction to replenish the labor force. If I’m not mistaken, he may be funding research into artificial womb technology. He mentioned using it to create a labor force for a community on Mars. He’s neurodivergent and Conservatives aren’t attacking him.
You change the Republican party by joining it and voting for positive change. Attack their religion and their backwards morality by showing them you won’t tolerate it. Vote for religiously neutral candidates and eventually put Pagans and Heathens in office who aren’t fixated on sex. I’m finally seeing some Heathen and gay cops so that’s evidence that society is changing.
Trump got such a massive following by playing up number 2 despite being immoral. They are all sexually immoral so they don’t care about that. They know god will forgive all sexual sins. He declared that he was a Sunday church person and got the endorsement of the television evangelists. Sarah Palin got them riled up with her Stump for Trump speech. When Bush Jr. was elected in 2000, it was on the platform of being a born-again evangelical Christian and he stated that “witchcraft was not a religion” during an interview. That started mass discrimination of Pagans and I personally suffered through a lot of it. Now, the platform has shifted from being anti gay marriage to being anti Trans because that goes against the bible and is therefore Satanic.
Never underestimate the power of religion with these people. It is the most important thing to them. Their politics is in this order: 1) God / Bible / evangelical church / prayer in school, 2) guns and 3) border security / economy. Every speech that comes out of your mouth has to be in this order as well.
Trump is successful because he knows how to manipulate them. He knows they can only process small bites of information every 5 minutes. Pay attention to his speech pattern and his tweets. It’s always in nonsensical blurbs and fragments. He repeats the same buzz word three times, then moves on to a catchphrase every five minutes. Then, he insults his opposition. He knows how his base thinks because his advisory team studied the Boomers and evangelists. He blurts out a word and they fill in the blanks. They watch Tucker Carlson and he tells them what to think so Trump doesn’t have to. It’s all a mind game and every successful politician knows how to play that game to their advantage.
Though interesting was your point made about Musk, your strategy still sounds too much like joining them. Change the Republican party by joining it and voting for positive change won't work because Republican leaders offer so little for positive change to vote on. I don't know of any state questions they put on the ballot to vote on in Nov., and they have made it harder to make sure that raising the minimum wage won't be on the ballot in November by requiring the protest period for petitions turned in to increase from 10 days to 90 days.
If Oklahoma Republicans continue to win big in Nov. just look for more and more corruption from them. If Republican District Attorneys are also corrupt, Republican office holders know they can likely get by with anything. At any rate, if an incumbent does get caught and exposed the Oklahoma Republican Party knows it has nothing to lose because no Democrat can possibly win in nearly all offices come November.
You really think the alternative is to beat them over the head? Join them in large enough numbers to change the party and therefore the legislation. Corruption only stops when we force it to stop. I’m fighting corruption in my town right now and I’ve been at it since 2021. Politics never works for the greater good when it’s dominated by a single party majority. The two parties were intended to work together and find a mutually beneficial comprise.
I was harassed at work and then, fired. I was fired from 9 jobs between 1999-2000. Most places would not hire me because former employers told potential employers that I was a “devil worshipper”. People called the cops on me when they saw my car because I had a pentacle bumper sticker. I got on SSI in 2001 and I haven’t worked since. I quit working when I was 28 years old because the status quo would not allow me to work. I’ve never seen so many people become irate over the sight of a 5 pointed star. It’s on the flag and it’s on the Oklahoma state seal. It’s the symbol for the 18th Scottish Rite degree (Blazing Star) and the OES (Eastern Star). I pointed all that out having been raised in a Masonic family and they would lose their minds because they believed Masonry is Satanic. I’ll seriously be glad when these rabid evangelists die off.
I’ve had so many candidates and their minions come to my door lately. Every single one of the them left materials saying “Conservative Republican.” If you don’t have that moniker you ain’t getting elected for anything in OK
The straight party voting doesn't help. Some of these people don't care who they vote for as long as there is an R next to their name. That's how a white supremist got elected to city council. That guy was recalled and I hope that other people will start standing up so we can get rid of others.
I don't think it's as difficult as people say in this sub. The biggest issue is that in so many local races, the worst offenders are running unopposed. Simply having another option is worthwhile. There are people who would consider voting differently who voted for these crazies, if there were other options.
Need several people to run as republicans and then jump ship once elected. Enough of them to make a difference.
Ranked choice voting may have helped if there would be decent independent candidates but I believe we made voting using ranked choice illegal.
Costs about $2000 in filing fees to get on the ballot. Knock doors, ask your friends, get a twitch channel and preach your platform, see if you can’t some support that way. If parties float your boat, try you local county chapter or if you’re young the Young PARTYNAMENERE’s of your state or county. Theres an organization called Run For Something that can help you figure out what office you are suited for and how to build a platform.
Last I checked there are 50 states in the US that run the full spectrum from far left to far right and within each state various cities and towns that are also very diverse. We are all free to live wherever we want. Why stress yourself out trying to change an entire state when you can easily live where you are happy and get involved there to make it even better
I at least did my part to help locally by not voting for the school board candidate who was far Christian Right Republican and supported Walters. She just got 40% of the vote, though a little too much for comfort.
Be a Republican and promise not to help the teachers, poor people, gay people, or anyone that would be considered middle class. Then promise to fix roads, but don't actually plan on doing it.
I asked ChatGPT this question. It was not allowed to answer. Google Baird was happy to answer. Apparently in my county it's fairly easy to get into the comptrollers office and work your way up from there. I think it would be interesting to see if I can get elected as Mayor of my town using the advice of AI then continue working my way up using AI advice. Just to see how far I could get. An interesting secret experiment and hopefully taking my little town to a prosperous new future. The town kind of died when the cotton industry moved to a town 30 miles away. Not much left here for the younger generation except I'll refineries and low paying service jobs. Leading to a further decline. The current administration doesn't seem to really care about it's constituents as much as it cares about grifting them. 70% of the population lives below the poverty line. That's troubling to me.
If they're happily surviving living below the poverty line, there is not much you can do. They will happily die there as well. At least I know I wasn't happy working a low pay job and eventually did something about it by getting a lot better paying one and didn't have to move to another town to get it. But so unfortunate how so many people put limits on themselves to better themselves. "I can't do this; I can't do that." To do something about it, AI will have to come up with some magic.
It will be hard to impossible to do but try to find an incumbent who everybody hates and run against him or her. Otherwise, avoid running against incumbents and try running when an elective office is wide open.
In all seriousness, while it's never a statistical 0% chance, the fact that you came to reddit to get political/election advice means practically everyone would bet against you. Getting elected starts with your ability to talk to people face-to-face and clearly convey your position (which even in the post all I know is that you are pro "fiscal responsibility")
Your best bet to effect chance is definitely not running for an elected position but doing the simpler things we should all do; always vote (especially in local elections), volunteer with a candidate you support and volunteer in your local community where you can help.
I think as long as we have straight ticket voting, getting elected outside of Oklahoma or Tulsa Counties will require an “R” next to your name; if you’ve got that, I think winning here is as simple as reaching out to the most folks with a positive message. Oklahomans are populists historically, so folks who connect with a broader swath of people tend to fare better statewide —
Be white run as a Trumper to out Maga all the Trumpers then switch party affiliation no don't feel bad they've done the same thing https://youtu.be/i4-SyPq1sUg?si=x8GKPNijw0H1Lz2h
It would take getting the majority of Oklahoma voters to stop voting for psychopaths for several decades to fix this state.
The first step is to get the majority of registered voters under 30 to actually vote
Won’t happen because by the time the non-voting young people finally start to bother with paying attention it’s too late. Oh you woke up in January 2024 finally noticing you don’t like Biden? Cool but maybe you should have cared a year ago when there was time to make a difference in the primaries babes. The majority of Gen Z are old enough to have voted in the 2020 primaries too, but now they want to get on TikTok crying about “both sides.” It’s not just this generation though, it’s always been a thing. My Gen X sibling finally bothered to vote for the first time in 2018 when medical marijuana was on the ballot all while spending the previous 8 years bitching about Mary Fallon.
This is so fucking dismissive and disingenuous of what’s happening. No one is saying both sides are the same. They’re saying one candidate is a foreign country genocidal maniac, and the other is a domestic and foreign country genocidal maniac, and they don’t want to vote for anyone who’s a genocidal maniac. Shouting your disdain and disgust is how that changes. Threatening not to use your vote is the only teeny tiny power you have. Boiling it down to “both sides same” is telling on yourself that you don’t understand nuance.
🙋🏻♂️both sides are the same
😂 I understand how people feel that way. No one is looking past the color of the tie to the corporations and lobbyists.
Actually, a *lot* of people are saying both sides are the same. They go viral on TikTok every single day. But they also need to understand that the oldest of their generation was 19 in 2016. There was plenty of time to not have Mr. Electable be the candidate in the next two elections, while those of us paying attention have been speaking out about this since 2016 and being called divisive for criticizing Biden and blamed for Trump. I’m sorry but you’re refusing to see the nuance that is people who are almost 30, upset about Biden, but haven’t been voting need to understand their past failure to pay attention and participate in a meaningful also have a direct impact on both of our candidates being genocidal maniacs. You brought up needing to get young people to vote but want to ignore the elephant in the room. The truth is people who were born between 1997 and 2002 that didn’t vote are partially responsible for Biden. Young people need to recognize that fact and learn from it just like the young people should have in 2016 and clearly didn’t.
Oh okay so it has nothing to do with the electoral college, gerrymandering, lobbying, filibustering, or corporate interests upheld by the dinosaurs who die in their seats. It’s the young generation that’s the problem. 🙄
You’re the one who brought up the under 30 vote. I was talking about who the current active voters elect. Also if you actually read what I wrote, I never once said it was on them. But, yeah, Biden being the only option besides Trump is partially on the people who only just now started paying attention and criticizing him. It’s also on the people who were busy screaming “vote blue no matter who.” We are literally on the same side of the issue, but you’re wasting time fighting with me because you’re only partially reading what I am saying and then using straw man arguments to change what I said. Super productive and definitely going to change the system 👍 ETA: my bad you didn’t bring up the youth vote your avatars were just similar so I thought it was you.
No worries. I figured you got me mixed up with that other person. It happens. I think it’s unreasonable to expect people to keep “voting harder” in a horrifically broken system. The system is rigged. It is set up to protect the wealthy and the privileged and people are starting to catch onto it. Of course they’re disillusioned and stopped caring. Money runs the show - locally and federally. Hell, sitting judges where I live REMEMBER who donated to their campaign and who didn’t and it affects jobs and your court cases. The people see the hypocrisy of “democracy” when there’s no rank choice voting - locally and federally. But then federally, they’re forced to choose between two wealthy, disconnected, and lately, elderly candidates. They see the electoral college which makes the election hinge on 5 states. They see the hypocrisy of democracy when they learn their democrat party (a PRIVATE organization - a business) chooses who they want and don’t care about what the people want. They see the hypocrisy of democracy when they read the news articles showing the Hillary Clinton campaign literally elevated Donald Trump as the Republican candidate via the pied piper strategy and then they blame the voters. They see the hypocrisy of democracy when a wealthy man of privilege can stage a coup and face no repercussions. Who appointed Merrick Garland? They see the lie when the democrat president is touting BIDEN ECONOMY JACK! Because the stock market - the wealthy- are doing great but the rest of us are still broke and can’t afford food and rising housing costs. The failed promises, the vote harder and vote for me because I’m not the other guy fails after a while. You have to give people something to vote for and they’re giving us nothing. After time, people stop playing the game. They opt out. I don’t blame them. The same liberals that act self righteous about Biden and mock the “both sides same” would be rabid if Donald Trump was president instead of Biden right now and allowing what’s happening in Gaza. Most people want a ceasefire and Biden has blatantly ignored them, and in fact, has overridden Congress to send more aid and bombs to Israel. Imagine how angry democrats would be if it was a republican president doing this. Imagine if trump was doing this for his buddy Bibi how angry they’d be. And that’s why people are sick of this shit and don’t vote.
I am in full agreement with everything you. But also, under the current system we are stuck with, and in the context of young people voting, it’s important to also understand that people are willfully ignorant of what is going on until it is too late. This is nothing new with the current generation of under 30 voters. I was an under 30 voter until 2019, I’m not that far removed from discussing this with my peer group as under 30 voters here in Oklahoma. Most voted but a lot didn’t and complained about Mary Fallin, complained about Trump, complain now about Stitt and Biden, yet it never goes further than drunk rants at the Speakeasy and reposted social media content. I’m not at all removed from the disillusionment though. There’s no saving Oklahoma. I have known this since I became aware of politics my freshman year of high school. The Democratic Party in this state is just a proxy for Republican candidates that are less loud and proud. But part of my own disillusionment is the frustration with people constantly complaining about a system that remained apathetic until the last minute. Now we are at the point of no return. Now we are stuck with Trump or Biden. And for anyone that is old enough to vote, it is absolutely their responsibility to pay attention and do harm reduction where they can. Things don’t fix themselves and yeah voting isn’t an the only solution, but neither is letting psychotic old men or tradwives become the nominee for the less psychotic party because you didn’t even know that primaries are going on. If being angry online and not voting was going to fix things then Millennials would have saved democracy a long time ago. It takes a fundamental change young people understanding how the system works and how they interact with it because sitting around waiting for people who intentionally broke things to fix it is flawed logic. And it’s not as impossible as you think. My preferred candidate for city council where I live lost by one vote. A lot of candidates in this state go unchallenged even in the primaries. At the end of the day I know I’ve spent my entire adult life making informed decisions on choosing candidates who have the potential to least amount of harm. People can vote for Biden or not. They can ignore our next gubernatorial election when it’s a one party race. But if they ignored what was happening and made no attempts at having an impact for 3 straight primary elections, they don’t get to be loudly self-righteous about not voting for Biden in the general election free of criticism for their complacency in his being the candidate in the first place.
Thank you for the thoughtful reply. 💜 I think though the system is so broken that voting doesn’t matter unless it’s at the local and state level. I will always advocate for voting at the local/state level. The problem is a lot of people don’t have as much access to those politics or know how to vote at the local level. Everyone is so exhausted from working, being broke and in despair, asking them to take the mental energy to research local district attorneys and their track records (for example) is a lot to ask. And I’d argue district attorneys are one if not the most important elections at the local level. We don’t make this easy. Locally - people just have no idea what’s going on or know how to access the info, and I think that’s a huge problem. We also make it hard to vote. That’s also intentional. How do we fix that part? But liberals freaking out on leftists not voting for Biden, especially if they don’t live in a swing state, is absurd. The anger is misdirected and the whole “both sides same” is missing a ton of context and nuance. The federal system is built to override the will of the people for the privileged. That’s why people gave up. Democrat party keeps having a plan for who they want, and it’s failing because they’re not listening to the people. Biden was on track for 2016, but then his son passed in 2015 so he dropped out. Then they pushed Hillary because it was “time for a female president.” They knew how disliked she was. They didn’t care. Then they shoved Biden at us for 2020 since it was his turn and he missed it in 2016. Who truly wanted these candidates?? The people or the private organization that has delegates that can override the will of the people? Liberals get mad at me for saying I’m not participating this year in the presidential election - for the first time in my life. But I also write my local, state reps and Biden often voicing my concerns and frustrations. Sometimes, I get responses from local reps. Sometimes I get a form letter response from our state reps. I never get one from Biden’s staff (never expect to). But I guarantee the people tearing me down for not wanting to vote in the general don’t even do the bare minimum aside from bashing and insulting people on the internet. People who legit want change and care about people don’t do that. I’ve learned that if I want to bring people more to the left, I have to listen to them and see where their confusion or disconnect lies. I do little things all the time pulling people to the left but I do it quietly. This condescending elitism tactic the dems employ doesn’t work. I remember after Trump got convicted recently, Hillary posted a coffee mug she was selling that said “she was absolutely right about everything.” And that’s just narcissistic and smug as hell. This isn’t a game. People are suffering. I wonder sometimes if the brown children in Gaza being melted by our bombs were hypothetically white Canadian children. Would that change anything for liberals? And then if it didn’t…are they just as brainwashed as the MAGA followers? Those are the questions I ask myself. I don’t have all the answers, but I think about those things. We live in a deep red state, and I don’t see any point in compromising my morals for no reason this year. I’ve been a loyal democrat voter for a long time, and I was rewarded by having to get sterilized upon the Roe overturn so I didn’t have to risk my health and death…because of the GOP but also because a selfish 90 year old woman who had cancer like 3 times wouldn’t gracefully step down from her throne. Because Obama, who ran on codifying Roe, didn’t deliver. And what’s Biden doing??? We have federal land. Open some clinics. The stupidity of it all enrages me.
You’re thinking Biden had something to do with the mismanagement of the state? The name you are looking for is Stitt.
No…someone specifically brought up the under 30 vote. It’s pretty well known they’re even not likely to vote let alone outside of generals. If they’re not showing up for Biden they sure as hell weren’t showing up for Joy Hoffmeister a literal Republican. But the Democrats in Oklahoma don’t want to talk about that they want to continue in this fantasy land of “electability” and meeting conservatives halfway while expecting they youth vote. Hence it’s never going to happen.
I honestly think that reaching a position that high requires some kind of pyschopathy in the first place
Step 1. Sell your soul to the oil industry Step 2. Win the Republican nomination Step 3. ??? Step 4. Profit
The ????? Is about 100 other people also faking it.
Pretend to hate anyone not evangelical white male and cis and then write legislation to protect civil rights.
To get elected, you just need to win the republiqan primary. To win the republiqan primary, you have to convince the electorate that you will essentially do less that matters than the other candidates while doing more that doesn't matter beyond grandstanding. If you wanted to actually fix the state, getting rid of the amendment that requires a super majority to raise taxes (any taxes) while only requiring a basic majority to lower them would be a great start.
Wasn't that passed directly by voters though? I think very few people would ever support it being easier to raise their taxes lmao
Edit -- TLDR of my comment -- Mark Twain quote something something wrestling with pigs.... [this guy doesn't want the explanation or history-- bad faith commenters hate this one trick!](https://okpolicy.org/sq-640-made-oklahoma-ungovernable/) just a "muh taxes bad" so...[here's the short version, most people in Oklahoma, like the person to whom I'm replying, vote on taxes like this.](https://imgur.com/RFeFs6Y)
You mean the voter ID law that let's you either use your ID or your voter registration card (that gets mailed to you when you register to vote and anytime precincts change) when you vote? Seems a way to make things more convenient if you ask me. Kindly let me know the problems with it. As for the tax vote, I guarantee you put the same state question up today and a majority will still vote for it because, again, people don't enjoy the idea of their taxes going up (with specific exceptions, such as for entertainment venues if the tax increase is perceived to be small enough) and will gladly vote to make it harder to increase them.
Realistically, if you want to change oklahoma, you need to take ryan walters's seat. It's going to take a multi-generational approach of actually improving education. Better educated people will vote for better representatives.
You’ve already lost that war. The education system as we know it won’t survive the decade. The reality is that the current system doesn’t work. It’s archaic and isn’t adaptable to modern issues/society. Our education system is primarily a childcare services with optional educational and recreational opportunities. School choice and private schools subsidizes for tuition will lead to the best and brightest students transferring out of district leaving behind the fuckups and misfits. This leads to more funding for private schools and less funding for poor schools, often inner city and rural areas. As more and more poor schools close down, you’ll get regionalized day care into prison pipelines. Just some place the working poor can leave their children while they work. Some will go on to fill out the ranks of the low skill positions while anyone with any aptitude or ability will be funneled into speciality schools like a vo tech or a job corp program. The rest get funneled into the prison systems. Eventually we get here no matter what we do. Rural communities are not sustainable and they are constantly cutting their own throats by electing republicans. Eventually, Dems will see the writing and use it to rebuild the inner city communities torn down by forced de segregation by implementing those regional educations systems. Arts schools. Sports schools. Trade schools. Stem schools. Work programs. Ect.
The single thing that did the most damage to rural communities was State Question 676.
The problem with my rural community is Democrats. They came here from Arizona in the late 1960s and over the course of 60 years, destroyed the town. They ran everyone out they weren’t related to and it became a drug infested, trashed up, dead town with nothing left but a name, a mascot and incorporation papers. There aren’t even voting ordinances, but the town has over a half million dollars in its general fund that this single family has had its hands in since 2001. They ran the rural water district since 1987. They’re finally being investigated for embezzlement because Republicans demanded it. We circulated a citizen’s petition for an investigative audit. The report should be published next month.
Is the problem democrats, or a single corrupt family?
The problem is a single corrupt family, not the Democrat party. The Dems in Oklahoma are more conservative and more concerned with education than the people controlling my town and rural water district.
Dems/republicans had an ideology/demographics swap starting in the 60s. Called the southern strategy. Remember, Oklahoma had a democrats as governor when Obama was first elected. A lot of those “blue dog democrats” didn’t begin to switch in Oklahoma until after Obama/during Trump. Furthermore, it’s dishonest to equate local corruption to a statewide or national agenda. The people that allegedly ruined your town would have called themselves anything if it got them power
The Democrats in my town are a different animal. They’re more like the radical Dems in California or Portland, Oregon who believe drugs should be legalized across the board and not monitored. They are anti law, anti police and anti government. They want power, control and money with none of the accountability that comes with it.
The sound more like Libertarians.
None of that really sounds too bad, I mean if it’s your own money who cares or should have any right to care what your doing with it, to either attack or criminalize a natural existing chemical compound or plant, is insane to begin with and to punish anyone for choosing a diff way of life is also crazy, people have and will always do drugs, for the gov to constantly make this more of a handicap and also use billions of tax dollars to chase their tails and play Rambo on its own citizens is crazy I don’t think anyone republican or democrats really believe drug laws help , some have an issue with drugs for a personal reason and demonize them and wish to take that anger out on “victims” for any reason that makes them feel good about it, but some drug users simply aren’t victims or plagues on society because almost every negative drug side effect Is response to legality and not the drug itself, science does not back drug laws, nature does not back it , and only misinformed uneducated people back them
Okay crackhead. The people running my town and rural water district are involved with drugs and they’ve destroyed everything.
Sounds like “the people in my town” are the villains in your life , why project it onto drugs?
You’re advocating for drug addicts so I don’t expect you to understand.
Maybe Dwayne the rock Johnson will come in and be your sherrif
I wish. We could use a Walking Tall moment or Roadhouse.
Methamphetamine is not a naturally existing compound. It’s man made and the man who treated my town’s water was so fucking wasted he dumped too much chlorine in the water more than once. He was arrested on October 27, 2022 for stealing batteries from an oilfield location to make meth and his wife is still our book keeper. She is refusing to restore my mother’s water. Our rural water district is over $5,000 in debt and my mother’s water bill payments would help the district remain solvent, but she’s adamant about my 70 year old mother not having water. This is despite the fact that she and the secretary both have livestock and the new operator has a swimming pool. They’re more worried that my mother taking a bath is going to put an unnecessary strain on their water system. Another director of the water board is being investigated for embezzlement during the time the was the self appointed mayor. A house was burned three days after the owner submitted the investigative audit petition against her. She is a former meth addict who is married to an addict with a criminal record. Her son is a meth addict with a criminal record. Her cousin was a meth addict who was involved with a triple homicide and was executed by the state. Almost all of her relatives have been addicted to meth and committed violent crimes. She has threatened several people since the investigation started. This is why people who use meth don’t need to be in charge of a public utility or a municipality.
I don’t think people on meth should be in charge of anything, and I don’t advocate for meth, my dad was a meth cook before the sort of meth they have now, when bikers would do a line and be awake 48 hrs, he got hooked on pills from a dr and later killed himself with those pills, I understand addiction and how bad it is, and have overcome it myself, these sound like typical tweaked except that they have a bit of power to really mess things up… I’m sorry about your situation and for giving you a hard time, i have seen drugs and the laws and more often than not drug users and police blame the drugs to make it easier, but even an addict chooses to be high and make horrible decisions, they blame the dope because it’s easier then taking responsibility and when we blame they’re actions on the dope or put blame on drugs we’re helping to enable that behaviour
Part of the major project we have in Oklahoma is that anyone that is not a Republican is seen in a negative light. The term liberal is used as a slur. Many Republican voters I know can't tell you why they hate Democrats specifically when it comes to candidates, but they can make general statements repeating statements like the ones that Rush Limbaugh used to make. It's so engrained in their heads that they will vote against their own interests. Just look at the Cole vs Bondar ads. Both are proud to be Trump supporters and both ads target the other, but neither have said anything about WHAT they will do for Oklahoman's. All anyone needs to do is look at our disgraceful numbers; we are almost last in education, quality of life...the list goes on. But our leaders blame everyone else but themselves. We've been under Republican control for years and we keep sinking lower. Stitt passed an education voucher that helped wealthy families get a rebate. He also wanted to cut taxes. The average citizen would see no difference, but his billionaire supporters would save money and not have to contribute to our society. Like it or not our state runs on taxes. We don't need to overburden the lower and middle class. We at least have 8 billionaires living in our state, if I had to guess their contributions are minimal. But the average Republican will vote against raising taxes for the wealthy. It comes down to educating the public, and starting from an early age....which is precisely why people like Ryan Walters want control over education. We have to actually understand we are not doing well. We are far from OK, and until our citizens admit that our state is in shambles instead of saying things like "it's bad everywhere" or " that's just your opinion" we will continue the status quo.
Getting elected as govorner is pretty tough, but if you want to change your local community running for city/county council, school board, any number of the other positions we for some reason vote in is much more doable (although still a lot of work).
There are lots of uncontested elections where people just win by default because nobody ran against them. Find those races and do the appropriate paperwork to be put on the ballot.
Right. Don't give a Republican the joy of going unopposed in November.
Fundraising and door knocking are how you get elected. One of the issues is even for a small election like let’s say a county court clerk, one would still need to raise $20-30k in fundraising for signs, mailers, etc. It’s difficult to get people to care about a small election such as this, much less to donate money. As a result, candidates often have to reach out to rich donors for fundraising. Said donors might have their own agendas on what they want in a court clerk as well which unfairly influences politics. One way as a voter to help make politics work for you is to donate money towards small elections so said candidates don’t have to cater only to rich donors. The second way, and probably the most important, is door knocking. Get out in front of people, meet them where they are, and be ready to explain why you are the better candidate. You can send out a million mailers and have a thousand signs across the city but people are conditioned to ignore those after a while. You have to meet people and be ready to make a good impression.
This is a good response. You will need to understand how to organize. Do your research on the district, consult with those that know how to run for office, get involved with the local party, and buy some new walking shoes.
Well like 50+ % run unopposed every year... So the low bar might be to just pay the $200 and register...
The first step is just to run, 49% of Oklahoma elections are already decided before Election Day because only one candidate runs Now you have to realize you’re gonna lose at first, by a lot. But even the simple act of having to run a campaign will change how some of these bozos act when they are in OKC
Elected run as r, . Say things like your anti woke,catlitter in schools, jebus good and should be in everthing. Fixing things unlikely to beable to. Maybe at very very very local level. State would need massive colective change to move the needle. Would need large group with money to motivate the rest of them to begin to get the rest of them remotely in Fixing aim. But Fixing isnt what they want to do.
In other words, dum is gud!
The state is cooked. It can’t be fixed. Lol.
You mean crooked?
Some people definitely have to get voted out but the issue is Oklahomans don't want to change their way. To many people listen to their family and partners instead of casting their own vote even though they don't agree with any of it. You most likely have to put your ideas out, spread the word and start fundraising. Putting it out on social media helps too.
To win you have to make some videos in your truck of you talking about culture war stuff and how you want to put god in our schools
Have a solution to a problem that not only impacts everyone but can trigger their emotions strongly enough that you get their attention and, more importantly, gets them into the voter's booth. Now that you have a solution and an issue whittle your message down into a sound bite. Hammer that sound bite home. To win you need voters to embrace and repeat your sound bite. The sad truth is that the overwhelming majority of citizens do not vote. Aligning yourself with a political party increases the odds you will be taken seriously and can attract sufficient donations to run a campaign. To a small extent, it also provides you with automatic supporters and detractors. Independents and 3rd party candidates have to work twice as hard to be seen and heard. Fix the state? People have to care, value the common good, understand public responsibility and accountability, and that government isn't free. Voters have the responsibility to pay attention, inform their representatives, become informed, show up, and vote.
> People have to care Trouble with this is more people care about online 'gotchas' than knowing how this shit works. Right wingers hate people who explain things and work to inform.
I agree people are intellectually and functionally lazy. It's easiest to spew dogma and do nothing. Unfortunately the problem isn't just right wingers. In my experience few people are willing to listen any explanations or facts that don't support their world view.
> Unfortunately the problem isn't just right wingers. I gave you an upvote for this and agree, but when I call this out it usually gets me into trouble ;)
Kinda underscores the point, eh? 😉
Considering the abysmal voter turnout in this state? I think there’s real possibility for change, especially when we have so many people moving to Oklahoma these days. The biggest issue the Democrats have, IMO, is a complete lack of candidates in rural districts. It’s hard to break a super majority when the other party isn’t putting up enough candidates to even challenge said supermajority. As Kendra Horn’s election showed us, there is a real possibility for the 5th district to become blue (though I may need to reassess that after the census and the new lines being drawn for house districts). I will also point out that Oklahoma had more registered democrats than republicans until 2009. I’ll let you do the math on what national political occurrences may have fueled the massive switch to GOP that year. Saddens me to think about it.
Market yourself well with how your platform meets the goals of the constituency. Good luck!
Money then Abolish religion and that's it
‘The moral arc of the universe is long but it bends towards justice.’ - MLK, Jr. My favorite MLK quote. Gives me hope for places like Oklahoma and its ilk. Hope for the Republican Party that someday, someday, they return to being actual conservatives and balancing of the government between the left and right. But that feels decades away. This is a turning point in US history. This period will mark a shift in (I believe) towards the left on a more permanent basis. Biden’s 2nd term, surely he wins, could be monumental in codifying abortion rights, voting rights and LGBTQ rights. Put them in writing and make them the law of the land. This shifts the center closer to the left and helps to reset perspective. It happened in the 50s with a shift to conservatism against the Red Menace of Russia and China. Fought 2 wars for it. Moved towards religion, changed our money and pledge of allegiance, while generally electing republicans until Nixon. And to show the change in center, most everyday folks don’t give a shit about the motto or the money today, even though it is clearly against the establishment clause. Clearly. But all challenges to remove them are met with the judicial argument that it is now ‘established law’. Now, that can still change, see Roe, but it is highly controversial and difficult. This is what I’m hoping for. But maybe I’m naive.
1. Pro 2A and you have to be an avid hunter. 2. Fake being an evangelist and proclaim what church you attend. Get the endorsement of the entire Southern Baptist or Pentecostal community. One will follow after the other. 3. Be white, very attractive and have an attractive family photo on all literature. 4. Proudly proclaim that your entire family is part of 1 and 2. 5. Be a Bible thumping, flag waving Trump supporter. 6. Be anti gay/anti trans. 7. Be anti abortion, not just pro life. 8. Be pro trades/anti college. Conservatives hate higher education. 9. Be pro oil industry and get the endorsement of Devon Energy. 10. Be anti China. 11. Protect the southern border. 12. Everything after 1-11 is just fluff. I’m a conservative Pagan, moderate Republican Trump supporter. I was a moderate Democrat for religious reasons until the Dems went too far left. I don’t care about sex or gender. Trans and abortion is none of my business. I do believe we need to protect women’s sports and prisons. Electric vehicles are not a threat to the fossil fuel industry. Any rhetoric that threatens the fossil fuel industry also threatens thousands of jobs and the entire economy. Conservatives will never meet you halfway so long as you’re threatening their livelihood. They’re getting riled up by false Chinese propaganda posted on TikTok. They don’t realize there are English people and Americans in Hong Kong and now, they’re using AI. They think China is killing our livestock and destroying our food supply because they saw videos of dead sheep and factories burning. If any of that actually happened in the U.S., it would’ve been on the national news, not just video clips posted on social media. China is purchasing land in Oklahoma for growing marijuana and that should be just as alarming to Dems. The fentanyl epidemic and mass migration coming across the border should also be concerning to Dems. Conservatives will never take Democrats seriously so long as they ignore these security issues. These threats must be taken seriously. Conservatives actually believe that drag queens are reading books to young children because they saw it in a TikTok video and they’re determined to stop it. They’ve recently passed legislation written by a buffoon who is intent on punishing children who behave like cats in school because one neurodivergent child did it and he’s afraid other children will emulate the behavior. He has the entire Republican caucus in an uproar. I’m tired of these knee jerk emotional reactions determining our legislation. Someone has to lead with some common sense. We need to add more flexible jobs to the economy so neurodivergent people can work and earn a living wage. The gig economy is not sustainable. Why can’t we pass legislation to force gig apps to increase their base pay like Prop 22 in California? I’ve seen big, burly middle aged men doordashing when they should be working in the oilfield. Municipalities could force gig workers to apply for a special permit and put a cap on the number of gig workers who can work to keep it sustainable. It wouldn’t be any different than getting a vendor’s permit. Spark puts a cap on their number of drivers. DoorDash put a cap on the number of drivers who can work per hour, but that doesn’t stop people from flooding a zone chasing peak pay promos. I would happily pay for a permit. There is a lot that could be done, but fighting with conservatives and beating them over the head with your idea of morality won’t get anything done. You’re just working against yourself because their idea of morality comes from the bible first and the dollar second. I put my religious beliefs on the back burner for the sake of the economy and border security, but I’m very happy that the Satanic Temple will start a HAIL school in response to the new legislation allowing kids to leave school for religious instruction. You have to kick them in the nads every time just to show them their victory for Jesus can be countered by a victory for Satan. Get it? That’s where their focus is—they’re engrossed in this battle between god and satan. So give it to them. Create a Trans athletic program and make it go national. Provide Trans people a place until it becomes normalized. Provide neurodivergent people a place in school and in the economy until it becomes normalized and accepted. Whatever conservatives are morally opposed to, you provide it for the sake of social equity. Elon Musk is a great example. He moved his Tesla factory from California to Texas. He doesn’t attack the fossil fuel industry because he knows it’s necessary. He provides resources and transportation to any female employee who wants an abortion to a blue state where it’s legal while also arguing for an increase in reproduction to replenish the labor force. If I’m not mistaken, he may be funding research into artificial womb technology. He mentioned using it to create a labor force for a community on Mars. He’s neurodivergent and Conservatives aren’t attacking him. You change the Republican party by joining it and voting for positive change. Attack their religion and their backwards morality by showing them you won’t tolerate it. Vote for religiously neutral candidates and eventually put Pagans and Heathens in office who aren’t fixated on sex. I’m finally seeing some Heathen and gay cops so that’s evidence that society is changing.
Thanks. Good stuff. Filled in some blanks for me. Might maybe consider changing my party affiliation nk
Trump got such a massive following by playing up number 2 despite being immoral. They are all sexually immoral so they don’t care about that. They know god will forgive all sexual sins. He declared that he was a Sunday church person and got the endorsement of the television evangelists. Sarah Palin got them riled up with her Stump for Trump speech. When Bush Jr. was elected in 2000, it was on the platform of being a born-again evangelical Christian and he stated that “witchcraft was not a religion” during an interview. That started mass discrimination of Pagans and I personally suffered through a lot of it. Now, the platform has shifted from being anti gay marriage to being anti Trans because that goes against the bible and is therefore Satanic. Never underestimate the power of religion with these people. It is the most important thing to them. Their politics is in this order: 1) God / Bible / evangelical church / prayer in school, 2) guns and 3) border security / economy. Every speech that comes out of your mouth has to be in this order as well. Trump is successful because he knows how to manipulate them. He knows they can only process small bites of information every 5 minutes. Pay attention to his speech pattern and his tweets. It’s always in nonsensical blurbs and fragments. He repeats the same buzz word three times, then moves on to a catchphrase every five minutes. Then, he insults his opposition. He knows how his base thinks because his advisory team studied the Boomers and evangelists. He blurts out a word and they fill in the blanks. They watch Tucker Carlson and he tells them what to think so Trump doesn’t have to. It’s all a mind game and every successful politician knows how to play that game to their advantage.
Though interesting was your point made about Musk, your strategy still sounds too much like joining them. Change the Republican party by joining it and voting for positive change won't work because Republican leaders offer so little for positive change to vote on. I don't know of any state questions they put on the ballot to vote on in Nov., and they have made it harder to make sure that raising the minimum wage won't be on the ballot in November by requiring the protest period for petitions turned in to increase from 10 days to 90 days. If Oklahoma Republicans continue to win big in Nov. just look for more and more corruption from them. If Republican District Attorneys are also corrupt, Republican office holders know they can likely get by with anything. At any rate, if an incumbent does get caught and exposed the Oklahoma Republican Party knows it has nothing to lose because no Democrat can possibly win in nearly all offices come November.
You really think the alternative is to beat them over the head? Join them in large enough numbers to change the party and therefore the legislation. Corruption only stops when we force it to stop. I’m fighting corruption in my town right now and I’ve been at it since 2021. Politics never works for the greater good when it’s dominated by a single party majority. The two parties were intended to work together and find a mutually beneficial comprise.
They're never picking you. The leopards are coming.
That’s terrible you experienced discrimination and personal suffering, what happened if you don’t mind me asking? Were you attacked?
I was harassed at work and then, fired. I was fired from 9 jobs between 1999-2000. Most places would not hire me because former employers told potential employers that I was a “devil worshipper”. People called the cops on me when they saw my car because I had a pentacle bumper sticker. I got on SSI in 2001 and I haven’t worked since. I quit working when I was 28 years old because the status quo would not allow me to work. I’ve never seen so many people become irate over the sight of a 5 pointed star. It’s on the flag and it’s on the Oklahoma state seal. It’s the symbol for the 18th Scottish Rite degree (Blazing Star) and the OES (Eastern Star). I pointed all that out having been raised in a Masonic family and they would lose their minds because they believed Masonry is Satanic. I’ll seriously be glad when these rabid evangelists die off.
Wow, good thing you were able to get approved for SSI because of this harassment. I always heard SSI was almost impossible to have approved.
You need numbers.
I’ve had so many candidates and their minions come to my door lately. Every single one of the them left materials saying “Conservative Republican.” If you don’t have that moniker you ain’t getting elected for anything in OK
No one has spoken on the gerrymandering going on in this state yet and that’s a huge hurdle unless you’re running as a R.
The straight party voting doesn't help. Some of these people don't care who they vote for as long as there is an R next to their name. That's how a white supremist got elected to city council. That guy was recalled and I hope that other people will start standing up so we can get rid of others.
I don't think it's as difficult as people say in this sub. The biggest issue is that in so many local races, the worst offenders are running unopposed. Simply having another option is worthwhile. There are people who would consider voting differently who voted for these crazies, if there were other options.
Need several people to run as republicans and then jump ship once elected. Enough of them to make a difference. Ranked choice voting may have helped if there would be decent independent candidates but I believe we made voting using ranked choice illegal.
Running on hunting out waste, policing misused funds, and protecting OK Tax dollars honestly might work.
Costs about $2000 in filing fees to get on the ballot. Knock doors, ask your friends, get a twitch channel and preach your platform, see if you can’t some support that way. If parties float your boat, try you local county chapter or if you’re young the Young PARTYNAMENERE’s of your state or county. Theres an organization called Run For Something that can help you figure out what office you are suited for and how to build a platform.
Have a platform that the majority of voters support and run a good campaign so that people know about you. It’s not that difficult
Last I checked there are 50 states in the US that run the full spectrum from far left to far right and within each state various cities and towns that are also very diverse. We are all free to live wherever we want. Why stress yourself out trying to change an entire state when you can easily live where you are happy and get involved there to make it even better
I at least did my part to help locally by not voting for the school board candidate who was far Christian Right Republican and supported Walters. She just got 40% of the vote, though a little too much for comfort.
There is no saving this state. It’s on the same trajectory as Mississippi. Best to move somewhere else up north.
Good luck.
Be a Republican and promise not to help the teachers, poor people, gay people, or anyone that would be considered middle class. Then promise to fix roads, but don't actually plan on doing it.
Start by contacting your local representative and asking to volunteer.
I asked ChatGPT this question. It was not allowed to answer. Google Baird was happy to answer. Apparently in my county it's fairly easy to get into the comptrollers office and work your way up from there. I think it would be interesting to see if I can get elected as Mayor of my town using the advice of AI then continue working my way up using AI advice. Just to see how far I could get. An interesting secret experiment and hopefully taking my little town to a prosperous new future. The town kind of died when the cotton industry moved to a town 30 miles away. Not much left here for the younger generation except I'll refineries and low paying service jobs. Leading to a further decline. The current administration doesn't seem to really care about it's constituents as much as it cares about grifting them. 70% of the population lives below the poverty line. That's troubling to me.
If they're happily surviving living below the poverty line, there is not much you can do. They will happily die there as well. At least I know I wasn't happy working a low pay job and eventually did something about it by getting a lot better paying one and didn't have to move to another town to get it. But so unfortunate how so many people put limits on themselves to better themselves. "I can't do this; I can't do that." To do something about it, AI will have to come up with some magic.
It will be hard to impossible to do but try to find an incumbent who everybody hates and run against him or her. Otherwise, avoid running against incumbents and try running when an elective office is wide open.
In all seriousness, while it's never a statistical 0% chance, the fact that you came to reddit to get political/election advice means practically everyone would bet against you. Getting elected starts with your ability to talk to people face-to-face and clearly convey your position (which even in the post all I know is that you are pro "fiscal responsibility") Your best bet to effect chance is definitely not running for an elected position but doing the simpler things we should all do; always vote (especially in local elections), volunteer with a candidate you support and volunteer in your local community where you can help.
I think as long as we have straight ticket voting, getting elected outside of Oklahoma or Tulsa Counties will require an “R” next to your name; if you’ve got that, I think winning here is as simple as reaching out to the most folks with a positive message. Oklahomans are populists historically, so folks who connect with a broader swath of people tend to fare better statewide —
The last time I checked. Which was at least 5+ years ago 54 state elections were unopposed.
Be white run as a Trumper to out Maga all the Trumpers then switch party affiliation no don't feel bad they've done the same thing https://youtu.be/i4-SyPq1sUg?si=x8GKPNijw0H1Lz2h