Keith Gaddie

Will Rogers observed that “I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.” To watch our own state government in action of late, I expect that Gov. Brad Henry is thinking a lesser-known Rogers aphorism: “There ought to be one day ” just one ” when there is open season on […]

Norman cleanly broke free of the long-term domination of local politics by developers to elect a “smart-growth” mayor, Cindy Simon Rosenthal, over local developer Trey Bates.   Why did the race turn out the way it did? The campaign pitted a strong grassroots-plus-mail effort by the smart-growth candidate (university, core-redevelopment type) against the top-down, targeted […]

The first presidential delegate selection contest in Iowa is just a year away, to be almost immediately followed by the Oklahoma primary. The march of the candidates is under way, as they selectively campaign the early primary states.   Throughout the coming year we’ll be watching these candidates’ adventures in Soonerland. For the moment, however, […]

Let’s take one last look over the shoulder to examine the smoldering wreckage of the 2006 campaigns. Lessons loom for all of us who watch politics or who try to make a coin or two off of the misery of others that is electoral democracy.   To wit: “The public is smarter that Karl Rove.” […]

The joy of politics is watching people freak out over polls. Pollsters perform them, the news outlets run them and the activist community freaks out over the results. The advantaged act as if Nostradamus had come from the 16th century with a forecast from his golden tripod. The disadvantaged seek some reason, any reason, for […]