Thursday, May 3, 2007

How Vulnerable is Inhofe in 2008?

Sen. Jim Inhofe has long been a winner in Oklahoma politics. He's been Tulsa mayor, First District Congressman, and U.S. senator. In 2002, he won reelection to the senate by a whopping 21 percentage points.

Yet Inhofe's record of zealous support for the Bush administration, an unpopular war in Iraq, and repeated criticism of global warming may have tarnished Inhofe's record, even among conservative Sooner state voters.

This week a national political journal, Congressional Quarterly, reported on Inhofe's perceived weaknesses and Democratic plans to defeat the senator. At the top of their list: state Senator Andrew Rice, described by Democratic state party chair Lisa Pryor as an "up-and-coming name" in Oklahoma politics. We don't know much about Sen. Rice, but he does sound like a breath of fresh air compared to the increasingly combative and tiresome Inhofe.

In recent months, Inhofe has lived up to his reputation for thin-skinned paranoia, striking out at real and imagined political opponents. No wonder he turns up regularly as the punch line on The Daily Show.

1 comment:

OkieLawyer said...

Hmm, I had heard names like AG Drew Edmondson, Governor Henry and a few other officeholders rumored to be considering entering the race.