No Truth in Fallin's RGA Ad

By genius M. Scott Carter in ever so brilliant The Journal Record

It if wasn’t so poorly done, the television advertisement by the Republican Governors Association that tries to paint Jari Askins as a clone of president Barack Obama would be funny.

Claiming Askins, the Democrat’s nominee for governor, is too liberal for Oklahoma, the ad goes on to tell those who bothered to watch it that Askins and the president both support immigration laws that the GOP considers to be a bad idea.

Funny thing, though, that proposal they’re talking about was written by a Republican state representative. Look closely and you’ll see the 2003 legislation the ad mentions was written by then-state Rep. Kevin Calvey.

Yeah, that Kevin Calvey.

Say what you want about Calvey, but the last thing in the world anyone can accuse Calvey of is being a liberal; seriously, this is the guy who filed a lawsuit against the federal health care plan. Liberal is not a part of his DNA.

Despite what the RGA would have you believe, the legislation in question allowed undocumented students (who were required by the bill to begin the process of becoming legal residents) to pay in-state tuition and apply for state financial aid.

The bill didn’t give the students anything; it allowed them to apply and it wasn’t targeted at students who were here illegally – it was an attempt to help those students who were establishing legal residency.

Seriously, I doubt that Calvey is going to stretch very far for an undocumented, illegal resident.
But what the GOP governors would have you believe is that Askins somehow joined forces with Darth Vader, the Evil Emperor, Ming the Merciless, and a sinister group of intergalactic meanies to give away our tax dollars.

The GOP governors – who remind me of the “Swift Boat” boys – also failed to mention that the 2003 bill they’re talking about passed by an overwhelming bipartisan vote in both houses of the Oklahoma Legislature.

Further, U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin didn’t do herself any favors with her campaign’s lukewarm “it wasn’t our fault” response. Fallin, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, was serving as lieutenant governor when the measure passed and I don’t remember any public statements from her concerning the 2003 bill.

Certainly, if it was an issue then, why didn’t she raise Cain about it?

If Fallin is as serious as she claims to be about running an issue-oriented campaign, then she could easily flip open her cell phone, and call the RGA and ask it to stop running the ad; I’m pretty sure that hasn’t happened yet.

So it’s come to this: A group of people you don’t know, who have no idea about what’s going on here and who have very little invested in this state, want you to believe that Askins is the bad guy.
Well, she’s not.

Askins – and her opponent – are decent, honorable people who, I believe, are trying to do the right thing – even though a really lame television ad by RGA wants you to think otherwise.