Shadid’s Unorthodox Campaign Examined

Staff

Oklahoma City Councilman Ed Shadid, who ran for the Oklahoma House in 2010 as a self-described member of the Green Party, officially kicked off his campaign for Oklahoma City mayor last week with a rally at the Farmer’s Market.

The McCarville Report has previously reported on Councilman Shadid’s unique political views (http://mccarvillereport.com/archives/13661).

True to his background, details have emerged from Shadid’s rally that depict perhaps the most left-of-center political event in Oklahoma City mayoral history and portend an interesting campaign ahead.

The crowd numbered approximately 600, according to The Oklahoman (http://newsok.com/shadid-kicks-off-campaign-for-mayor-with-rally/article/3872600). The Oklahoman illustrated its story with a photo of Councilman Shadid speaking to failed 2006 mayoral candidate Joe Sarge Nelson, one of the two opponents against whom Mayor Mick Cornett racked up a record-breaking 87-percent victory.

According to one attendee, many of the participants wore shirts that indicated they were members of the AFL-CIO or other city employment unions. Others spotted included local Hispanic activists, Muslim activists, and gay activists. One attendee, Jose Solis, as reported by the Red Dirt Report, wore a shirt that indicated he was an illegal alien (http://www.reddirtreport.com/Story.aspx/25986).

There are numerous reports of the event posted on social media and message boards; the crowd was entertained by numerous avant garde performers, including a mime who performed to a five-minute song, and a mariachi band.

One highlight was also a “performance poet” who said she was ashamed to be from Oklahoma City and that she often wants to move away, but that Ed Shadid would change that.  She then delivered a poem called “To The Oklahoma Progressives Plotting Mass Exodus” which declares that “anywhere is better than here.”   (http://okc.net/2013/08/16/ed-shadid-okc-mayoral-launch-rally-recap/)

According to The Oklahoman (http://newsok.com/shadid-kicks-off-campaign-for-mayor-with-rally/article/3872600), Shadid entered the rally to Pink Floyd’s“Run Like Hell”, a song with these provocative lyrics:

Run, run, run, run [repeat line four times] You better make your face up in Your favourite disguise With your button down lips and your Roller blind eyes With your empty smile And your hungry heart Feel the bile rising from your guilty past With your nerves in tatters As the cockleshell shatters And the hammers batter Down your door You better run
Run, run, run, run [repeat line four times] You better run all day And run all night And keep your dirty feelings Deep inside. And if your Takin’ your girlfriend Out tonight You better park the car Well out of sight ‘Cos if they catch you in the back seat Trying to pick her locks They’re gonna send you back to mother In a cardboard box You better run

The Oklahoman reported (http://newsok.com/shadid-kicks-off-campaign-for-mayor-with-rally/article/3872600), that Shadid’s biggest applause line of his speech was his claim that the police force has not increased, even though he and Cornett both voted to add police officer positions in 2012 (http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-police-get-22-new-positions-in-proposed-2013-city-budget/article/3672529) and 2013 (http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-budget-funds-more-police-officers/article/3844472).

Further, The Oklahoman reported (http://newsok.com/shadid-kicks-off-campaign-for-mayor-with-rally/article/3872600), that Shadid was relentlessly negative about Cornett in his speech.   This followed his unorthodox, negative rant posted a week prior on the NewsOK comments page and on Facebook in response to Cornett’s re-election announcement, as reported by The Okie (http://www.theokie.com/shadid-takes-to-facebook-with-unusual-anti-cornett-rant/).

Following the rally, one Shadid supporter named “krisb” posted about the rally on OKC Talk, a message board focused on Oklahoma City civic issues (http://www.okctalk.com/general-civic-issues/34251-okc-mayor-race-2014-a-16.html).

He said that “So much of (Shadid’s) campaign is about his own meaningful journey…”   He also posted that “Shadid certainly had an Obama flavor at his rally last night.”

Finally, “krisb” posted the top 10 positions he feels Shadid’s campaign stands for, including (http://www.okctalk.com/general-civic-issues/34251-okc-mayor-race-2014-a-17.html):

–      Opposition to City services for citizens who choose to live outside of downtown, which he calls “City-subsidized sprawl”

–      That the City should focus on addressing poverty, homelessness, and public health

–      That the City should reach out to immigrants

–      That the City should “affirm the LGBT community”