It was reported recently that State Senator Andrew Rice, currently running against odious republican Jim Inhofe, has raised more than $1 million dollars thus far in the campaign. This is, obviously, good news for Oklahomans and Americans, as Sen. Rice is the kind of progressive candidate that we should all hope for on the ballot.
The problem is that it was also reported today that Inhofe has out-raised Andrew by more than 2-1, with a whopping $2.2 million in cash on hand. Inhofe has long been in the pocket of various special interests and industry lobbyists and it appears he is calling in some favors. It has always been said that Sen. Rice would have an uphill fund-raising climb against Sen. Inhofe. This merely underscores that point.
I know that the national primary season has taken its toll on both our emotions and our pocketbooks. However I believe that the dKos community has it in them to help out a true progressive Oklahoman in his time of need. For some reason, Andrew wasn't included in Kos' Blue Majority pitch, but I know that he is nonetheless behind Andrew 100%. So, I've decided to help out Andrew in whatever small way I can:
If you feel strongly that we have a chance to turn back the tide of right-wing Republicanism in some of the Reddest of states, if you believe that Sally Kern does not speak for America or Oklahoma, or, most of all, if you believe we need to take real steps against climate change, then Andrew Rice is your guy.
You can check out his proposals, legislative record, causes, and more info at his website here. If your inclination is to contribute to a candidate directly, then that's the place to do it.
If you want to help Andrew by supporting the ActBlue movement, then that would be great too. I've created my own ActBlue page to help him out here. I know it might be a little self-aggrandizing to pitch my own page, but hey, I'm an artist and we're all egomaniacs.
Now, if you want some great reasons to contribute to Andrew, then you can either laugh your head off or be sick to your stomach here, here,or here. All of it is absurd and most of it should make you cringe with anger. Or bitterness. It's up to you.
All I'm asking is that you throw some support Andrew's way. Oklahomans need him, even if the majority don't know it. My hope is that if we can get him elected, then we Okies might wake up to the kind of leadership we've been without for so long.
Can we match Inhofe's $2.2 million of Big Oil Money? I don't know, but I sure hope so.