Ignoring Oklahoma

The presidential candidates aren't ignoring Oklahoma - several were in the state today - but the national media sure is. Since New Hampshire I've been watching to see if Oklahoma would be a topic but it seems like the media rushed to Missouri instead. Last weekend both the Tulsa World and the Oklahoman published polls showing Wes Clark in a big lead in Oklahoma. Now that's newsworthy - looks like Oklahoma will be the first or among the first states for Clark to win. But no, the media is too busy proclaiming Sen. Kerry as the frontrunner and all but telling us he'll be running against Bush.

I love it when the media gets it so wrong - as they did with Howard Dean and Iowa. The media - and the Democratic "leadership" had all but proclaimed the Democratic nomination over - it was going to be Dean. Gore, David Walters, Bill Bradley et al. told us to support Dean. Dean's not a bad candidate but I loved seeing the public shove the Iowa results right back in the faces of the media and the party leaders.

Well some newspapers are talking about Oklahoma. The Christian Science Monitor sez:

But the type of Democrat who can win over Democrats in South Carolina may be the type of Democrat who can pick up one, maybe even two Southern states.

They might also appeal to Oklahoma. The local filling station in Canadian, Okla., doesn't yet have automated credit-card machines. The pumps are the old kind - use, and go inside to pay. Senator Edwards has never been here - but he's visited the area. That sits well with the locals.

"I like John Edwards, a lot," says Mary Beth Jones, a short woman hunkering down in a blue windbreaker on a bitterly cold day. "He's been around these parts a lot, that means something. He talks about the economy. And he's cute."

This southeast region of Oklahoma, popularly known as Little Dixie, is Democrat-happy. People care about the economy, healthcare, education, and Iraq, especially since nearby McAlester has an ammunition depot the size of Washington D.C. that manufactures virtually all of the United States's nonnuclear bombs.

"He's cute."? So you're going to vote for someone because he's cute? With folks like Mary Beth representing Oklahoma maybe it would be best if the media did ignore us.