Staff
Senate candidate Randy Brogdon appears headed for a “scorched earth” campaign against fellow Republicans Congressman James Lankford and former House Speaker T. W. Shannon.
In an email today, Brogdon unloads on both, painting them as tools of the establishment, the “Tall Buildings Crowd,” controlled by lobbyists.
In the most recent poll, Brogdon had just 7 percent support.
Here’s Brogdon’s email:
Dear Friend,
When I started this campaign, I knew I was going to be up against politicians who would be able to substantially out fundraise me. The recent reports confirm that I am now up against two professional politicians who have amassed nearly $2,000,000 in their political war chests.
I am not surprised, because I’m not popular with the “Tall Building Crowd.” I am not a favorite of lobbyists, nor of the people who hire lobbyists. I have always opposed their efforts to loot taxpayer money for corporate welfare. The Tall Building Crowd knows my record, and they are willing to spend money to keep me out of the U.S. Senate.
•When the Tall Building Crowd wanted to create the NAFTA Superhighway…I stopped it at the Oklahoma border. That didn’t win me any friends among the corporate welfare queens.
•When the federal government wanted to institute Real ID in Oklahoma, I led the fight and stopped it.
•When I realized the amount of government spending being hidden from the public, I authored the Taxpayer Transparency Act so each Oklahoman could see how taxpayer money was being spent – – thereby exposing the Tall Building Crowd with their hands in the cookie jar.
My opponents and I all have voting records during our tenures in office. During my eight years in the Oklahoma Senate, I voted with conservatives 93% of the time. Rep. Shannon voted with conservatives on 74% of votes he cast in the state House. Congressman Lankford only supported congressional conservatives a mere 71% of the time.
Rep. Shannon and Rep. Lankford hope money from their corporate overlords can wash away their bad grades. They hope slick production and repetitious advertising can distract Oklahomans from the abject failure of these two professional politicians to represent conservative principles with any consistency.
T.W. Shannon was quoted recently as saying: “This campaign is about something larger than a few votes at the state Capitol. It’s about the future of our country.”
I suspect Mr. Shannon would like to have those words back, because it shows how insignificant he views his voting responsibility. Since beginning his campaign for Senate Rep. Shannon has missed 80% of his votes in the state House. As a state Senator in Illinois, even Barack Obama bothered to vote “present.”
Do you want an employee who skips working for you to look for another job? An employee who does that lacks integrity and responsibility. There are enough people like that in Washington already, without adding T.W. Shannon to the mix.
When I was in the state Senate, my district was always represented, and it was represented with a conservative voice. Running for office is no excuse to leave your constituents unrepresented. When I ran for Governor in 2010, I didn’t miss a day of legislative work, and voted. It wasn’t that hard.
There is a real problem with Republican leadership in Congress. Despite holding a solid majority in the House of Representatives, Rep. Lankford joined John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi to pass a budget that increased spending and taxes – both!
That’s not even a compromise – that’s just giving up!
The problem for Republicans in the U.S. Senate is much the same – – weak leadership. I have called for Mitch McConnell to resign his leadership role, and pledged not to vote for Sen. McConnell’s return as leader.
This is not an unprecedented act of rebellion. In fact, just a year and a half ago, Oklahoma Congressman Jim Bridenstine refused to support Rep. Boehner’s reelection as House Speaker. Rep. Bridenstine bravely spoke truth to power. As your Senator, I will do the same.
Rep. Lankford voted for Boehner. Then he followed the Speaker down the path to three increases in the debt-ceiling, and another $4 trillion plus in government debt.
Rep. Lankford and Rep. Shannon have shown no interest in opposing McConnell and supporting conservative leadership. After all, they don’t want to have an office in the Senate boiler room. They’re apparently hoping for fancier accommodations doled out to the Senate lemmings who go along to get along.
As for me, I’m more than willing to take a lousy office if it means standing firm on our traditional Oklahoma values.
I will not vote for Mitch McConnell as Senate GOP leader, nor will I ever vote to raise the debt ceiling. It’s time for us to face our debt head on, and to stop kicking the can down the road. On that, you have my word, and my word is my bond.
It’s time the truth is told, Friend. There are huge differences between me and the other candidates. They will continue rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic while I will work to dismantle the mess in Washington D.C.
We can stop the debt from destroying our economy. We can repeal Obamacare. We can end the warrantless invasion of the privacy of U.S. citizens. However, we have a lot of work to do.
I will not go to Washington with a legislative agenda to pass a bunch of new laws. I will go there and work to end government that intrudes and stifles our everyday lives.
So friends, I need your help…it’s really that simple. As the old saying goes, It’s time to put our money where our mouths are.
My goal in life is not to go to Washington to be a U.S. Senator. I’m willing to go only if I can dismantle an intrusive federal government. But in order to get there, you have to help me financially…it’s that simple.
If you believe that I can be that person who will actually stop Washington, DC dead in its tracks and begin to lead the charge towards stopping the debt, repealing Obamacare and ending the NSA spy program, then I need you to contribute $5, $25, $100, $1000 or even $2,600 today.
Thanks once again for your support!
Yours for Liberty,
Randy Brogdon
Randy Brogdon
P.S. The “Tall Building Crowd” is feverishly raising money for my opponents instead of me because I’m not a favorite of lobbyists, nor of the people who hire them. That’s why I need your help today. Please click here to make a generous contribution now.
It’s so generous of Brogdon to give up his government job to run for another government job.
He sounds like a grumpy old man who knows he has no chance of winning. T.W. Shannon was obviously referring to the fact that the act of voting alone on Capitol Hill is not enough to defeat the powers that be.
This is something I’ve been arguing for, for a very long time. I’m tired of seeing Oklahoma’s politicians doing nothing but voting. I want to see them get in the mix on the Sunday Shows. Demand press conferences when the President is using his power to take over the media. I want someone who has the balls to push back.
This was my complaint against Tom Cole when he foolishly bashed Ted Cruz in the middle of the government shutdown. Instead of bashing Cruz and taking the side of the President, he should have taken Cruz’s side and pushed for the President to extend the individual mandate (which he did a couple of months later).
While voting is important, there is much more to be done by our elected officials once they reach Capitol Hill. In my opinion, Brogdon is no better than the establishment he claims to despise. In fact, the email smells very much like something that would be written by Karl Rove and his Crossroads group.
Get a life Mr. Brogdon, or at very least, grow up.
Bravo Randy. We don’t need to grow government, we need to dismantle government and Randy would work at that. Unfortunately for Oklahoma voters, Lankford went to DC and became a part of the problem. Shannon, oh how I wish he hadn’t step down from his speaker position. We’ve meet Randy, been around him, know his values and ideals and will vote for him.
And Steven…he’s not a grumpy old man, he’s just someone who isn’t working with the rhino’s and special interest. He’s the kind of man with leadership qualities we need in DC and in our capital building. It’s time we stood up to those who lead us down this debt filled path.
He should have started his ‘Dear Friend’ letter by saying, “When I started this campaign, I was actually running for governor, but when I realized I couldn’t beat Mary, I changed my race to US Senate.” Laughable.