From OCPAC'S John Michener: Election Analysis Legislative Races. Demonrats are almost extinct in the Oklahoma Legislature. It is becoming ever more important to focus the hunt on RINOs (Republicans In Name Only). We do not need more Republicans; we need better Republicans. So, how did we fare? Overall, it was a successful election for OCPAC. Eighty-one percent of candidates endorsed by OCPAC won election. In the state Senate, all three of our endorsed candidates won. In addition, we p

From OCPAC'S John Michener: Election Analysis Legislative Races. Demonrats are almost extinct in the Oklahoma Legislature. It is becoming ever more important to focus the hunt on RINOs (Republicans In Name Only). We do not need more Republicans; we need better Republicans. So, how did we fare? Overall, it was a successful election for OCPAC. Eighty-one percent of candidates endorsed by OCPAC won election. In the state Senate, all three of our endorsed candidates won. In addition, we picked another four candidates, all of whom won. In the state House of Representatives, nine out of twelve OCPAC endorsed candidates were victorious, and eighteen out of twenty-six of our picks won. What impact did Libertarians have on these contests? OCPAC-endorsed candidate Molly McKay came up short against a Demonrat by 623 votes, while the Libertarian took a total of 941 votes. In this race it is safe to say that one liberty-loving candidate prevented another liberty-loving candidate from winning. Therefore, a collectivist and crony capitalist Demonrat took the seat. This dynamic explains why we encourage Libertarians to work within the Republican Party so that their ideas can influence our majority party to be more serious about personal liberty and free markets. The split vote in this race was a net negative for liberty. Similarly, in another three-way race, the Libertarian candidate took 981 votes, which caused Republican Bruce Lee Smith to come in second by 431 votes. In this case the Libertarian did liberty a favor by preventing a RINO from being elected. With a strong majority of Republicans in the House, liberty is better served by throwing a few seats to Demonrats, rather than continuing the corruption of the Republican caucus. The split vote in this race was a net gain for liberty. In both of these cases, we see a strong argument for a playoff when no candidate obtains more than fifty percent of the votes. In summary, OCPAC candidates did well. The people voted for liberty, free markets, and smaller government. Now, will these elected officials follow through on setting us free? Legislators who understand the principles of liberty will still be a minority within the majority party. They will need encouragement, fortitude, and practical support from us. Why did SQ 790, repealing the Blaine Amendment, fail? Some would have us believe the reason is because Christians were afraid of a satanic monument on the capitol grounds. This explanation falls short of a full understanding of the problems. It only describes one small symptom of a much deeper sickness in the soul of our society. The first problem that SQ 790 could not overcome was a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of our republic. Everyone, Christians included, has been taught in our government schools that we have a "separation of church and state," an un-crossable divide between God and government. The vast majority of our population believes that we should erect and aggressively defend an impenetrable wall between God and government so that the two shall never touch. Government must not interfere in the internal workings of religious institutions, but more importantly, God and his followers must never influence or affect the policies of our civil institutions. This was never the intent of our founders, and certainly God cannot expect us to be salt and light without engaging the culture. The design of our founders and the natural law rights of man demand a different understanding of the separation of church and state. The wall was originally designed to be a prison wall around the state to keep it from dictating, controlling, or enslaving people of faith. It was to be a one-way hedge of protection. It was never intended to keep God or his followers from influencing public policy or serving civil society, from living and working behind the iron curtain of the state. With God absent from the state, evil will fill the vacuum. I predict we will now see progressive groups go to work in the courts, using the Blaine Amendment to strike down services provided by people of faith and to discriminate against faith-based organizations. The second problem goes to the soul of society. We value liberty and freedom of choice; we do not want know-it-all, government busybodies butting into our lives and telling us what to do. This in itself is a worthy quality and one which leads us to reject authoritarian forms of government. The love of liberty and rejection of authority grows the Republican and Libertarian parties, and during this election, it manifested itself in the rejection of the Clinton's criminal empire and the rejection of Boren's new statewide tax (another huge victory!). We are in a time when more and more people are rejecting authority. For the most part, this is a good thing, since most authority structures are illegitimate means of controlling the masses. However, what we saw in the defeat of SQ 790 was the total rejection of all authority, including the ultimate true authority of God. Collectively, we have gone too far. We rejected Hillary, and we rejected crony capitalism, but we got carried away and rejected God, too. People want to be free to fornicate, murder their babies, and steal from each other to fund pet projects. Therefore, they would rather not be reminded by the Ten Commandments that those things are wrong. No one, not even God, should tell them what to do. This is the deeper, subconscious, reason SQ 790 was rejected: Our culture wants God out of government so people can be free to sin. SQ 777, the right to harm, was defeated. People are fierce defenders of their liberties when the attack is obvious and easy to explain. OCPAC cannot take all the credit for the defeat of SQ 777, but we were part of the team that highlighted the attack on our property rights. Our video on SQ 777 had over 33,000 views by election time, and we hit the airwaves with Pat Campbell during the morning drive-time on three different days. People eventually got the message that we should not rewrite our Bill of Rights to read like SQ 777: · Congress shall make no law prohibiting the exercise of religion, without a compelling state interest. · Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, without a compelling state interest. · The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, without a compelling state interest. · The right of the people to be secure in their persons and property shall not be violated, without a compelling state interest. · No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without a compelling state interest. Judging Justices. OCPAC waged a short campaign against two sitting Oklahoma Supreme Court justices. During the month leading up to the election, our members visited most major towns in the state to get the word out that these justices have blood on their hands. Were we successful? While the justices were not unseated, our efforts had a huge impact, sending a loud message to the courts and to the Legislature. During the presidential election of 2012, judges and justices across the board in Oklahoma received an average of 33.5%!N(MISSING)O votes. This year, judges and justices received an average of 39.5%!N(MISSING)O votes, a swing of six whole percentage points. In the case of Justice Combs, who was targeted by OCPAC, his NO votes increased 7.68 percentage points! Had this been an off-year election, with lower turnout, where informed, grassroots activists make up a higher percentage of voters, Combs very well could have been defeated. This tremendous impact should embolden the Legislature to give us judicial reform. We need better accountability for our highest court, the kind that competitive elections would bring. Given the impact that OCPAC had on the vote, imagine what a candidate for justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court could do with financial support and an extended campaign to unseat a bad justice like Combs

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