By Theodore King

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum was far from perfect as a candidate, but he was a better choice than Mitt Romney. If former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich were not so obstinately selfish, he would have realized his was a lost race, and he would have abandoned the race, and Santorum would probably have beaten Romney in Romney's home state of Michigan and gone on to beat him in Ohio. With Gingrich in the race, the anti-Romney vote was split, thereby allowing the moderate Romney to win in those pivotal states. Mitt Romney will have a tough time this fall against Barack Obama. Congressman Ron Paul does not figure into any of this as his supporters are his alone and will not likely support any other candidate.

I met and interviewed some of the Texas Congressman's supporters in Oklahoma City when he was there, Saturday, February 25th, and spoke to about 3,000 of them in front of the Capitol. I was there to cover the event for a newspaper in Pryor where I work as a staff writer. The people with whom I spoke after his speech know exactly why they support Dr. Paul, and all of them are young -- their average age being about 30. Young parents with their children, and a man wearing patches on his jacket representing his favorite punk rock bands, were there to hear Dr. Paul's message for liberty. His crowd of supporters was quite different from those Santorum and Gingrich had at their appearances at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, theirs being much older. While Dr. Paul did not win the Oklahoma primary on March 6, his supporters could own the future of the Republican party and the conservative movement.

Musings on the second district campaign trail: Last year, Congressman Dan Boren dropped a bombshell when he announced he would not seek a fifth term in the House. Congressman Boren, the son of former Governor and U.S. Senator David Boren who is now the President of the University of Oklahoma, is the heir of a political dynasty. With Boren's departure and an unpopular Democrat in the White House, the race for the second district is wide open.

I had a chance to hear from all of the Republican candidates and find Wayne Pettigrew to be the most competent among them. Mr. Pettigrew was a state representative from central Oklahoma for many years; he was noted by the Oklahoma Constitution as one of the Top Conservative Legislators, based on the Oklahoma Conservative Index which is published every summer. He moved back to the second district in 2008. A native of McAlester, Mr. Pettigrew, a graduate of Central State University in Ada, has an accounting and finance background. While all the candidates on the Republican side are good, Wayne Pettigrew is likely the most knowledgeable candidate running in matters of finance and monetary policy.

State Representative George Faught of Muskogee is a good candidate, having been elected and re-elected in a strongly Democrat district. He is fairly conservative, having received a 73% score on Oklahoma Conservative Index last summer. He is not a very good speaker but fairly sharp in one on one discussions.

Dustin Rowe of Tishimingo is an attorney and was an aide to former Congressman Wes Watkins. Mr. Rowe sees our financial situation as a bipartisan evil. One of the things he pointed out is that the first stimulus package was actually from President Bush. He makes the case that Republican members of Congress should not always go along with their own party when it leads to further spending that goes unpaid.

If I were a Republican (I'm an Independent now), I would vote for Wayne Pettigrew. The next member of Congress from the second district must be prepared for budgetary battles.

In the first district race, I have heard many good things about Jim Bridenstine, who is a Republican challenging Congressman John Sullivan. He is a reserve Navy pilot who decided that ten years of John Sullivan in Congress were enough and that he could do better. This might prove to be an interesting race.

As you all know, the United States Supreme Court has taken up the case of The Affordable Health Care Act of 2010, otherwise known as Obamacare. Should this act, which forces the citizen to purchase health insurance, be deemed unconstitutional, which we think it is, our nation will be spared a terrible federal burden. A strange thing may result in its demise: a false sense of relief that Obama's monster (Affordable Health Care Act) will have been slain by the high court. It may be a relief that does not last because voters may be less inclined to want President Obama voted out in November because the fear factor brought on by Obamacare may no longer be an issue.

February 17, the House passed the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011 (the payroll tax cut extension for an additional year) by a vote of 293 to 132. Congressmen Boren, Cole, and Lucas, who was a cosponsor of the legislation, voted yes. Lankford and Sullivan voted no. The same day, the Senate followed suit, passing the tax cut extension by a vote of 60 to 36. Both Senators Coburn and Inhofe voted no.

This tax cut reduces the amount taxpayers making less than $110,100 a year, which is a majority of Americans, must pay into Social Security. The problem is that it is expected to add an additional one billion dollars to the debt. This bill also extends unemployment benefits and reimburses physicians for medicare payments.

One of the reasons for passing this bill was that taxes were expected to rise by $1,000 per year per family if this tax cut had not been extended. Had this been paid with a spending cut from somewhere in the budget, this would have been fine. Those who voted no were correct in voting that way. Passage of this bill, which was signed into law by President Obama, February 22, is just a "quick fix," in other words, kicking the can down the road a little farther. This is just one example of how conservatives in the state need to hold our elected officials accountable. Congressmen Cole and Lucas are examples of Republicans caving in on spending when they need to insist on budget cuts being made to offset passage of legislation like this tax cut extension.

Every year, the nonpartisan National Taxpayers' Union rates all 535 members of the Senate and the House. The ratings are based on every vote cast that involves spending and taxation. The National Taxpayers' Union Web site states:

"The 2010 election saw a wave of fiscal conservatives elected to Congress and it helped to push things in the right direction, but we've still got a long way to go. More than 200 of the 535 Representatives and Senators got "F" grades, compared with just 53 that secured an "A." The average Republican's score actually dropped by 10 points from a year ago. If we're going to fix Washington, we're going to have to demand more from our elected leaders."

Oklahoma scored well on this survey with Senators Coburn at 95% and Inhofe at 91%, each being awarded an A rating, and although House members from Oklahoma scored lower than our Senators, they scored higher than those from other states. District 1 Congressman John Sullivan scored a B at 77%, District 2 Congressman Dan Boren a C at 56%, District 3 Congressman Frank Lucas a C + at 65%, District 4 Congressman Tom Cole a C + at 69%, and District 5 Congressman James Lankford a B at 79%.