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        <title>BatesLine</title>
        <link>http://www.batesline.com/</link>
        <description>Tulsa straight ahead</description>
        <language>en</language>
        <copyright>Copyright 2012</copyright>
        <lastBuildDate>Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:03:00 -0600</lastBuildDate>
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        <item>
            <title>Tulsa school board: For Bruce Niemi</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<img alt="Niemi_School_Board.jpg" src="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/09/Niemi_School_Board.jpg" width="240" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" />Although two Tulsa school board seats are expiring, only one has a contested election next Tuesday, February 14, 2012. That's in School Board Office 5, where <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bruce-Niemi-for-Tulsa-School-Board/102587706528424">former State Rep. Bruce Niemi</a> faces <a href="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2011/12/who-is-leigh-goodson-tulsa-schoo.html">Leigh Goodson</a> in a contest to replace incumbent Brian Hunt, who chose not to run for re-election.

Election DIstrict 5 can be described as 11th to I-44, Yale to the Arkansas River, minus everything northwest of 21st and Utica, and minus everything southeast of 41st and Harvard, plus a bit south of I-44 between Riverside and Peoria. (Here's a map showing all of <a href="http://www.tulsacounty.org/tulsacounty/ebmaps/tulsapublicschool.pdf">Tulsa School's election districts</a>.)

I wish I could tell you that a conservative Republican reformer is on the ballot, but both candidates are registered Democrats. One, Niemi, is an outsider running an issue-driven campaign fueled by a lifetime of involvement in education; the other, Goodson, is an insider running a personality-driven campaign -- pretty four-color pictures and glib generalities.

Without a doubt, Bruce Niemi is a liberal, and he and I disagree not only on national issues, but on some local and school issues as well. 

But Niemi is not afraid to deviate from the party line. He was a vocal and visible supporter of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, pointing out that state spending had doubled between 1992, his last year in office, and 2005, when the TABOR initiative petition was being circulated. Niemi also supports limits on eminent domain, backing a state proposal that would have expressly prohibited government from using eminent domain to transfer property to a private entity.

Often, on matters of government transparency, accountability, and openness, conservatives and liberals can be allies, working together to defeat the insiders who nominally belong to the left or the right, but whose real driving interest is working the system for their own benefit.

Bruce Niemi believes that the school board should act as the governing body of the school system, overseeing and holding the administration accountable. That seems obvious, but too often a school board serves as a rubber stamp for the current superintendent and administration. (That's when you wind up with a mess like the Skiatook school scandal.)

Niemi appreciates the importance of schools to the fabric of a neighborhood, and I trust him to ensure that whatever is done with our closed schools, like Barnard and Wilson, is respectful of the neighborhood and of the school's history. 

Niemi supports the expansion of charter schools, opposes the district's wasteful lawsuits against state school choice laws, and supports the idea of the "Tim Tebow" law, which would give homeschooled children equal access to extracurriculars at their local public schools.

Last Saturday morning, Republicans gathered at precinct caucuses across Tulsa County. Precincts in House District 70 had a joint meeting at the Herman & Kate Kaiser Library in LaFortune Park. Niemi took the time to come by and to introduce himself briefly. As an active grassroots Democrat, he could appreciate the importance of these little meetings. (Goodson didn't come by, nor did she send a surrogate.)

If you live in Election District 5, I encourage you to join me in voting for Bruce Niemi next Tuesday.

MORE: Tulsa Kids profiled <a href="http://www.tulsakids.com/February-2012/Getting-to-Know-Bruce-Niemi/index.php">Bruce Niemi</a> and <a href="http://www.tulsakids.com/February-2012/Getting-to-Know-Leigh-Goodson/">Leigh Goodson</a> in the February issue.]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/tulsa-school-board-for-bruce-nie.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/tulsa-school-board-for-bruce-nie.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tulsa::Education</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Bruce Niemi</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Tulsa Public Schools</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Tulsa School Board</category>
            
            <pubDate>Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:03:00 -0600</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <title>Send a singing valentine!</title>
            <description><![CDATA[The Augustine Christian Academy Show Choir will be <a href="http://www.acatulsa.org/news/2012/01/19/singing-valentines">delivering singing valentines next Tuesday</a>, February 14, 2012. 

<a href="http://www.acatulsa.org/news/2012/01/19/singing-valentines"><img alt="20120207-ACAShowChoir-Fox23.png" src="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/08/20120207-ACAShowChoir-Fox23.png" width="480" height="360" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" /></a>

<blockquote>Are you looking for something unique and extra special for the ones you love this Valentine's Day? Let them be serenaded by a group of very talented singers from Augustine Christian Academy's Show Choir. Prices range from $25 - $40. We'll deliver a song, a personalized card, chocolates, and a special dedication to a location of your choice within the Tulsa area. Deliveries will be offered from 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM on February 14th.  Order early to get your preferred delivery time!  All orders must be received by February 13th!  Get your Singing Valentine order form by <a href="http://www.acatulsa.org/sites/default/files/pub/Singing%20Valentine%20Order%20Form%202012.pdf">CLICKING HERE</a>, or pick one up in the school office.  Please call Mrs. Gale Post at 918-852-2040 for more information.</blockquote>

Here's the group singing "Unforgettable" this morning on Fox 23 Daybreak:

<iframe frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="http://eplayer.clipsyndicate.com/cs_api/iframe?pl_id=19874&page_count=4&wpid=9601&windows=1&show_title=0&va_id=3256124&auto_next=1&auto_start=0" width="425" height="330"></iframe>


The more you pay, the more precise you can be with the delivery time. Proceeds support the ACA performing arts program, which is producing <em>Hello, Dolly</em>, April 19 through 22, 2012.]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/send-a-singing-valentine.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/send-a-singing-valentine.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Family</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Music</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tulsa</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tulsa::Education</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">singing telegram</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Valentine&apos;s Day</category>
            
            <pubDate>Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:06:46 -0600</pubDate>
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            <title>Santorum Tulsa visit details</title>
            <description><![CDATA[Straight from presidential candidate Rick Santorum's Oklahoma campaign team, here's everything you need to know about his visit to the ORU campus tomorrow, February 9, 2012:

<blockquote><img alt="Santorum_Rally_Sign.jpg" src="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/08/Santorum_Rally_Sign.jpg" width="250" height="172" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" />The ORU College Republicans are holding a forum for Rick Santorum at 1:30pm in the Mabee Center Complex. Come to the East entrance of the "Baby Mabee" Auditorium entrance. The doors open at 1pm. The University has always had a "no signs" policy in their buildings and we ask all the supporters to honor their wishes. Political Tshirts and hats are just fine. Be prepared to undergo security screening.

The students of the Govt. studies dept will be sitting in a reserved section. There is a good amount of open seating for the public. We will not honor saving seats, when the auditorium reaches capacity. First come basis, period.

Rick will have some time in the program for questions from the crowd. Have your questions written out concisely and with brevity. Don't include statements; just ask your question. The College Republicans will coordinate this process, so submit your questions to them when you arrive.

The event will be televised live on the web, at http://www.kgeb.net/. Tell your friends that they can view it on the web, if they can't attend.
</blockquote>

The "Baby Mabee" is so called because it looks like a miniature version of the Mabee Center. Easiest access is from 81st Street east of Lewis Ave in Tulsa. The green arrow marks the entrance.

<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=36.047997,-95.9545&amp;aq=&amp;sll=36.047989,-95.954719&amp;sspn=0.006055,0.007682&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;t=h&amp;ll=36.048492,-95.954118&amp;spn=0.006072,0.00912&amp;z=16&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=embed&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=36.047997,-95.9545&amp;aq=&amp;sll=36.047989,-95.954719&amp;sspn=0.006055,0.007682&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;t=h&amp;ll=36.048492,-95.954118&amp;spn=0.006072,0.00912&amp;z=16" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>
]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/santorum-tulsa-visit-details.html</link>
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            <pubDate>Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:14:27 -0600</pubDate>
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            <title>Santorum coming to Tulsa, OKC on Thursday</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<em>UPDATE: Because of expected crowds, the Tulsa event has been moved to the "Baby Mabee", the TV production studio just to the east of the Mabee Center on the ORU campus, and the Oklahoma City event has been moved to the Magnuson Hotel and Meridian Conference Center, just south of I-40 on Meridian (this is several miles west of downtown OKC; Republicans will recognize it as the frequent location for state conventions).</em>

<img alt="santorum3.jpg" src="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/07/santorum3.jpg" width="202"  class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" />Republican presidential candidate <a href="http://app.streamsend.com/private/KEY0/yZ6/X2hkO6Y/browse/15574707">Rick Santorum will be in Oklahoma this Thursday</a>, February 9, 2012, for Oklahoma Republican Party "Victory 2012" events in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Here are the details:

Oklahoma City - 9:00 am
Magnuson Hotel and Meridian Conference Center 
737 S Meridian Ave
Oklahoma City, OK 73108
 
Tulsa - 1:30 pm
"Baby Mabee", east of the Mabee Center, Oral Roberts University
7777 S Lewis Avenue
Tulsa, OK 74136

Oklahoma GOP chairman Matt Pinnell writes: 

<blockquote>We are thrilled to welcome another Presidential candidate to the Reddest State in the Country! If you can win Oklahoma, you can win the conservative vote nationwide. We welcome our Republican candidates to Oklahoma over the coming weeks as they compete to win our "Reddest State" primary.</blockquote>

The state party hopes to see all the GOP presidential candidates appear at Victory 2012 events in the weeks leading up to the March 6 Oklahoma primary.

The <a href="http://app.streamsend.com/private/KEY0/yZ6/X2hkO6Y/browse/15574707">Oklahoma Republican Party is asking for you to RSVP</a> if you plan to attend either event.

Oklahoma has such a strong homeschool community (today is <a href="http://www.ochec.com/Categories.aspx?Id=Capitol_Day">Home Educators' Day at the State Capitol</a>), that I'd hope for a big turnout by homeschooling families for their <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/santorum-ill-home-school-in-the-white-house">fellow homeschooling dad</a>.]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/santorum-coming-to-tulsa-okc-on.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/santorum-coming-to-tulsa-okc-on.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Oklahoma::Politics</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Politics::Election 2012</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">homeschooling</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Oklahoma Republican Party</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Rick Santorum</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Santorum</category>
            
            <pubDate>Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:16:09 -0600</pubDate>
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            <title>Presidential roundup 2012/02/06: Nevada, Newt, narcissism</title>
            <description><![CDATA[Some links of interest regarding the presidential campaign:

Newt Gingrich had to know that he was not going to finish first in Florida and Nevada, so why not be prepared with statement that puts a positive spin on the results in preparation for likelier victories in the south on Super Tuesday? <a href="http://theothermccain.com/2012/02/05/newts-narcissism-problem-and-ours">Stacy McCain chalks it up to Newt's narcissism</a>:

<blockquote>The characteristic trait of the narcissist is his inability to accept responsibility for his own failures. Everybody likes to believe that they deserve credit for their successes, but no one wants to believe that they are at fault when they screw up. This is normal. Yet the damaged ego of the narcissist makes it impossible for him to acknowledge his own contribution to his failures. He cannot even <em>admit to himself</em> that he is at fault, which is why he attempts to focus blame on scapegoats.

And so when Newt starts pointing the finger, blaming others for his failures, portraying himself as the victim -- of Goldman Sachs, "money power," George Soros, "the elite media," Mormons (!) and a "blatantly dishonest" opponent -- even his supporters ought to recognize these unseemly eruptions as symptomatic of Gingrich's narcissistic tendencies.

Why do you think I warned you against jumping onto his bandwagon?
</blockquote>

Victor Davis Hanson thinks <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/290188/gingrich-s-speech-how-make-bad-night-worse-victor-davis-hanson">Newt should have stuck with what was working for him</a>:

<blockquote>Newt Gingrich's post-Nevada caucus speech included about three minutes of inspired moments about issues and ideas in his usual imaginative and intellectually robust style. So why does he not just stay with that -- given that he often seems more dynamic and glib than Romney in his attacks on Obama, and not long ago gained ground despite the attacks against him? Instead, he now turns ad nauseam to the tired reasons why he loses -- yes, including lots of Mormons in Nevada -- and ends up as Richard Nixon not going to get kicked around any more.</blockquote>

Hanson offers Newt a history lesson for perspective:

<blockquote>I don't understand why he thinks now losing to Romney in 2012 is solely due to Romney's innate deviousness in a way McCain beating Romney in 2008 was not -- given that Romney was about the same in both 2008 and 2012. Gingrich seems oblivious to the fact that McCain's style and history gave him advantages over Romney's money and hardball in ways Gingrich's own proven liabilities apparently do not. </blockquote>

Of course, it was McCain's Turn in 2008, and in 2012, it's Romney's Turn. The "It's His Turn" phenomenon partly reflects, on the part of Republican state and local leaders in places like New Hampshire and Florida, a preference for the familiar and a desire to get on the winning team early, but it also reflects four years of political capital building -- attending fundraisers for state and local parties and candidates, and collecting IOUs to be redeemed when the primaries roll around. Newt could have been doing that for the last 14 years, as the man who led the first Republican takeover of the House in 40 years, but I suspect he hasn't done much of it.

The <a href="http://www.nvgopcaucus.com/results">Nevada Republican Party finally has all the results in from its 1800 precincts</a>, and Romney, as expected, finished first without about 50% of 32,961 votes cast. Turnout in this binding caucus poll fell far short of 2008, when Romney won 51% of 44,315 votes cast in a non-binding caucus poll (for entertainment purposes only, as they say when they publish sports book odds in the paper). Unsurprisingly, Ron Paul's best showing was in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Bell">Kingdom of Nye, Art Bell's home county</a>, home to <a href="http://www.aliens-everything-you-want-to-know.com/AliensandArea51.html">Area 51</a>.

According to the <a href="http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/NV-R">Green Papers</a>, Nevada's delegates will be bound proportionally to the poll result, with no minimum threshold. They calculate the result to be Romney 14, Gingrich 6, Paul 5, and Santorum 3. The <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlTXCXtCK1LodDVNREo3Rnc0NmdVTTY4dUd3OTVlbnc">BatesLine delegate count</a>:

Romney 73
Gingrich 29
Paul 8
Santorum 3
Uncommitted 2 (Huntsman's NH delegates)

Romney still needs 971 delegates for the nomination, and no one can clinch the nomination before April 24.

MORE:

Buzzflash asks, "<a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/ron-pauls-caucus-strategy-didnt-work-in-nevada">Why didn't Ron Paul's caucus strategy work in Nevada?</a>" Likely answer: You can't win unless you have more supporters than everyone else, no matter how stealthy or strategic you are:

<blockquote>The Paul and Romney campaigns were the only ones to have a legitimate ground game in Nevada. The fact that Paul didn't easily outstrip Gingrich, who lacked Paul's months of preparation, doesn't bode well for his long-term strategy.</blockquote>

This news is likely to shock a few Ron Paul supporters: <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeedpolitics/ron-pauls-biggest-supporter-is-a-bilderberger">A Bilderberger is the biggest donor to Ron Paul's associated super PAC.</a>

<blockquote>The largest donor to a SuperPAC supporting Ron Paul is Peter Thiel, the sort of ultra-wealthy, super-national figure Paul and his supporters love to hate.

Thiel -- who gave $900,000 to the pro-Paul group Endorse Liberty -- made his fortune as the co-founder of PayPal; he was also an early investor in Facebook, and is now a major player in the world of high-tech venture capital. He's also a devoted libertarian and devoted Republican: He hosted a fundraiser for the confrontational gay conservative group GOProud at his grand apartment off Union Square in 2010.

Thiel is also a member of the <a href="http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/governance.html">steering committee</a> of the Bilderberg Group, the elite, invitation-only conference that's the frequent subject of conspiracy theories.
</blockquote>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/presidential-roundup-20120206-ne.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/presidential-roundup-20120206-ne.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Politics::Election 2012</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Mitt Romney</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Nevada caucuses</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Newt Gingrich</category>
            
            <pubDate>Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:25:11 -0600</pubDate>
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            <title>Tulsa County GOP precinct caucuses tomorrow (mostly)</title>
            <description><![CDATA[Your opportunity to shape the Republican Party's principles, personality, and personnel begins with tomorrow's Republican precinct caucuses.

Republican caucuses for most Tulsa County precincts will be held tomorrow morning, Saturday, February 4, 2012, at 10 a.m. Most of the rest of Oklahoma will hold precinct caucuses on Monday evening, February 6, 2012.

For the sake of convenience and efficiency, most Tulsa County precincts will be gathering at central meetings grouped by State House district. Some, however, will be held in individual homes, as was the tradition in years past. 

Here is the current list of <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=dHVsc2Fnb3Aub3JnfGhvbWV8Z3g6NDI2NjQ2ZTQzZjdkNTY5Ng&pli=1">Tulsa County GOP precinct caucus locations and precinct officers</a>.

This is not a comprehensive list, but here are the default locations for the House District central meetings. <strong><em>There are many, many exceptions.</em></strong> Saturday at 10 a.m. is the default time, but again, there are many exceptions. Consult the link in the previous paragraph or contact Tulsa County GOP headquarters at 918-627-5702 for definitive information about a specific precinct:

HD 11: New Life Assembly of God, 12215 N. Garnett, Collinsville
HD 23: Martin Regional Library, 2601 S. Garnett, Tulsa
HD 29: Crossroads Church, 2525 W. Main, Jenks
HD 36: New Life Assembly of God, 12215 N. Garnett, Collinsville
HD 66: Charles Page Library, 551 E. 4th St, Sand Springs
HD 67: Hardesty Regional Library, 8316 E. 93rd St, Tulsa
HD 68: Crossroads Church, 2525 W. Main, Jenks
HD 69: St James Presbyterian Church, 11970 S Elm, Jenks (at 1:00 pm Saturday)
HD 70: Kaiser Library, 5202 S. Hudson Ave., Tulsa
HD 71: Brookside Baptist Church, 3615 S. Peoria Ave, Tulsa (at 2:00 pm Saturday)
HD 72: Kendall-Whittier Library, 21 S. Lewis, Tulsa 
HD 73: Kendall-Whittier Library, 21 S. Lewis, Tulsa 
HD 74: New Life Assembly of God, 12215 N. Garnett, Collinsville
HD 75: Southpark Community Church, 10811 E. 41st St, Tulsa
HD 76: Arrow Heights Baptist Church, 3201 S. Elm Pl, Broken Arrow
HD 77: Kendall-Whittier Library, 21 S. Lewis, Tulsa 
HD 78: McKay Law Office, 2301 S. Sheridan, Tulsa
HD 79: Memorial High School, 5840 S. Hudson, Tulsa
HD 80: Arrow Heights Baptist Church, 3201 S. Elm Pl, Broken Arrow
HD 98: Southpark Community Church, 10811 E. 41st St, Tulsa

In Oklahoma, the main job of a Republican precinct caucus in a presidential year is to elect delegates to the county convention and to consider issues to include in the party platform. You can also put your name forward for consideration to serve on the county convention's platform, rules, and credentials committees.

On March 24, the county convention will elect delegates to the 1st congressional district and state conventions, and will approve a county platform.  The 1st congressional district convention (on April 14) and state convention (on May 12) will elect delegates to the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa.

There will also be, at least in Tulsa County, a presidential straw poll that has as much weight and significance as the Iowa caucus presidential straw poll in January -- which is to say, it's non-binding. (Oklahoma delegates to the national convention will be bound by the results of the March 6 primary.)

Although precinct officials are scheduled to be elected only in odd numbered years, this year many precincts will also be filling vacant precinct officer positions, as the redrawing of precinct lines has moved some officers out of their old precincts and left some precincts without officials.

I'm hopeful that grassroots conservatives will show up to these caucuses to ensure that the Republican platform stands firm on conservative principles at all levels of government, rejecting on the one hand a squishy, apologetic, and barely conservative party and rejecting on the other hand a party in thrall to wacky conspiracy theories.]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/tulsa-county-gop-precinct-caucus.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/tulsa-county-gop-precinct-caucus.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Politics::Election 2012</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">precinct caucuses</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Republican Party</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Tulsa County Republican Party</category>
            
            <pubDate>Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:57:17 -0600</pubDate>
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            <title>Newt&apos;s Florida challenge and the GOP&apos;s sloppy rules</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/flas-gop-delegates-should-it-be-50-romney-or-23-romney-16-gingrich">Newt Gingrich is challenging the plurality-takes-all allocation of Florida's 50 delegates to the Republican National Convention.</a> Mitt Romney finished first in the January 31st primary with 46% of the vote, which means, according to rules adopted by the Florida state party rules, Romney gets all 50. 

<a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/if-gop-fight-drags-on-so-could-argument-over-floridas-delegates/1212342">Republicans in Florida and from other states were complaining about the rule violation long before last Tuesday's primary.</a> From January 25, in the <em>Tampa Bay Times</em>:

<blockquote>
All it takes is a registered Florida Republican to file a protest with the RNC, and the party's contest committee would have to consider the issue when it meets in August just before the convention.

"August is going to be a very tense month for those of us on the committee on contests. We could be the group that everybody loves or everybody hates," said Fredi Simpson, an RNC member from Washington state who sits on that committee and also helped write the rules.

Like other RNC members, Simpson thinks the rules clearly bar Florida from being winner-take-all. At an RNC meeting in August, members of the Presidential Nominating and Selection Committee passed a resolution calling for the RNC to enforce its rules for proportional delegates on states like Florida that set primaries earlier than April.

"Florida ought to be proportional, and it is up to the RNC legal office to figure out how they do that. That was absolutely the intention when we wrote that rule," said Pete Ricketts, an RNC member from Nebraska who served on the RNC committee appointed in 2008 to draw up delegate selection rules for 2012....

Marc Cross, a GOP state committeeman from Osceola County, has already written to the RNC, urging it to review the matter, but the RNC has taken no action.</blockquote>

If Florida were allocated proportionally, Gingrich would be leading in delegates, by a big margin, and that lead would be guaranteed all the way to February 28, even if Romney got every single delegate in Nevada. 

What's more likely to happen is a big mess that won't get cleaned up until right before the national convention in Tampa, and maybe not even then. The rules adopted by the RNC for the 2012 presidential primary process have succeeded in slowing down and lengthening the primary season, but the new rules failed to cover a number of scenarios, and the result could be a pre-convention mess involving a key swing state.

So let's explain the numbers first and then the rules mess.

In a statewide proportional allocation, Romney would have 30 Florida delegates, Gingrich would have 20, as Romney received roughly 60% of the combined Romney-Gingrich total. I'm assuming here the use of the typical 15% threshold, which a candidate would have to exceed in order to receive any delegates at all. Under that scenario, Santorum, Paul, et al., would not receive any delegates. 

It should be noted that RNC rules don't mandate a maximum threshold to be considered proportional. Democratic Party rules mandate 15%, and many state Republican parties (including Oklahoma) have followed suit. New Hampshire uses 10%. Theoretically, Florida could've set 40% as the threshold; Romney would have received all the delegates under that scenario.

The two states combined, under the Florida GOP's existing rule: Romney 52, Gingrich 23. (Romney won 2 South Carolina delegates by winning a single congressional district.)

The two states combined, under a proportional rule for Florida: Gingrich 53, Romney 22.

Add in the New Hampshire results, and the revised total would be Gingrich 53, Romney 29, Paul 3, Huntsman 2. 

(A combination of proportional allocation statewide and proportional allocation by congressional district would give yet a different total, but without results by congressional district, it's impossible to calculate.)

Florida has already been penalized for holding a primary prior to March 1. According to the rules of the Republican National Committee that govern the 2012 presidential nomination process, a state that binds delegates in any way prior to the March 1 loses half their allotted delegates, and their RNC members (state chairman, national committeeman, national committeewoman) won't be seated at the convention. 

Florida's rules originally called for some of its delegation to be allocated winner-take-all by congressional district, and the remaining delegates winner-take-all based on the statewide primary result. But they also approved a rule that said, essentially, that if the RNC takes away half our delegation because of our early primary, we'll treat the remaining delegates as "at large" and will give them all to the statewide winner.

But there's also a rule requiring any state (except the four "carve-out" states) binding delegates prior to April 1 to allocate delegates proportionally. The rule doesn't specify how that should be done. 

The four "carve-out" states are Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. They're allowed to bind delegates as early as February 1, and they're not subject to the proportionality rule. That's why Newt's challenge to the Florida allocation won't cost him any delegates in South Carolina, which was allocated winner-take-all statewide and by congressional district. Two of the carve-out states, New Hampshire and South Carolina, lost half of their delegates by going before February 1. (Iowa lost nothing, because they didn't allocate any delegates as a result of the caucus night straw poll. The real Iowa delegate decisions are made at the June state convention.)

The <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/flas-gop-delegates-should-it-be-50-romney-or-23-romney-16-gingrich">response by the RNC's general counsel to the question about Florida says</a>, in effect, there's not much more we can do to them:

<blockquote>By holding its primary on January 31, Florida has violated Rule 15(b).  Like the other states in violation, Florida is suffering the mandatory penalties under Rule 16: loss of fifty percent of its delegates and alternates, and the RNC members from Florida cannot serve as delegates.  In addition, the RNC Rules Committee imposed every available discretionary penalty - penalties related to convention seating, guest privileges and hotel location.  Thus, all of the penalties authorized under the Rules have been imposed on Florida.</blockquote>

The rules governing the 2012 process were the product of a committee appointed after the 2008 convention. Rather than have a fight at the 2008 convention over a new primary calendar, the convention rules committee <a href="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2008/08/rules-committee-preview.html">rejected the recommended plan by the RNC rules committee</a>, <a href="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2008/08/rules-committee-a-republican-com-1.html"> approved a rule creating a special committee</a> to present a <a href="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2008/08/rules-committee-a-synopsis.html">proposal for an up-or-down vote by the Republican National Committee</a>. 

Here is the <a href="http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/2010-07-01-RNC-Memo-on-TDSC-Proposed-Recommendation.pdf">rule change recommended by the Temporary Delegate Selection Committee in June 2010</a> and <a href="http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/republican_national_committee_approves_2012_presidential_nominating_process">approved by the RNC in August 2010</a>:

<blockquote>Rule No. 15: Election, Selection, Allocation, or Binding of Delegates and Alternate Delegates

(b) Timing. 

(1) No primary, caucus, or convention to elect, select, allocate, or bind delegates to the national convention shall occur prior to the first Tuesday in March in the year in which a national convention is held.  Except Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada may begin their processes at any time on or after February 1 in the year in which a national convention is held and shall not be subject to the provisions of paragraph (b)(2) of this rule.

(2) Any presidential primary, caucus, convention, or other meeting held for the purpose of selecting delegates to the national convention which occurs prior to the first day of April in the year in which the national convention is held, shall provide for the allocation of the delegates selected on a proportional basis.

(3) If the Democratic National Committee fails to adopt a presidential primary schedule with the dates set forth in Rule 15(b)(1) of these Rules (February 1 and first Tuesday in March) by December 31, 2010, then the dates in Rule 15(b) shall revert to the dates set forth in the Rules as adopted by the 2008 Republican National Convention.
</blockquote>

You'll notice that they don't define the term "proportional basis."

The enforcement clause is Rule 16, which calls for the 50% penalty, loss of automatic seats for RNC members, and other potential penalties to be imposed by the RNC's standing committee on rules. That rule doesn't negate the "proportional basis" rule, but it also doesn't provide for additional penalties in the event a state violates both the proportional basis and calendar rules.

(You can read the complete <a href="http://www.gop.com/images/legal/2008_RULES_Adopted.pdf">Rules of the Republican Party</a> here.)

Newt Gingrich is right to say that Florida has violated the proportionality rule. We'll see whether the Committee on Contests has the guts to enforce it.]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/newts-florida-challenge-and-the.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/newts-florida-challenge-and-the.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Politics::Election 2012</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">delegate count</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">presidential primary</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Republican Party</category>
            
            <pubDate>Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:32:01 -0600</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <title>Nominated, again, for a Newsie</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.tulsapressclub.com/?p=1005"><img alt="Newsies-Logo-color-300x253.jpg" src="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/01/Newsies-Logo-color-300x253.jpg" width="300" height="253" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" /></a>I've been nominated, once again, for the <a href="http://www.tulsapressclub.com/">Tulsa Press Club</a> <a href="http://www.tulsapressclub.com/?p=1005">Newsie awards</a>, in the category of Favorite Blog. 

This is the second year for the Newsie awards, and categories cover news, weather, and sports in print, online, and on the radio and TV airwaves. (Here are the <a href="http://www.tulsapressclub.com/?page_id=163">results from the 2011 Newsies voting</a>.)

This year, they're differentiating between independent blogs like BatesLine and bloggers who work for mainstream media outlets (the Favorite Blogger category). The other entrants in the Favorite Blog category are <a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com">TashaDoesTulsa.com</a>, <a href="http://www.artofmanliness.com">ArtOfManliness.com</a>, and <a href="http://tulsafood.com/">TulsaFood.com</a>. 

That's tough competition, and I wouldn't expect to finish in the top three, but I'm honored by the members of Tulsa Press Club who saw fit to nominate BatesLine, and, if you're so inclined, I'd be honored by your vote.  Voting is open to the public, and you can vote daily through February 6. Here's a direct link to the <a href="http://app.fluidsurveys.com/s/newsies/">2012 Newsies ballot</a>.

The awards ceremony will be March 1st at the Broadway, an event center on the east edge of downtown, at 720 S. Kenosha. (The building was formerly the home of <em>Urban Tulsa Weekly</em>, which moved last year.)  Tickets are $15 for members, $20 for non-members.  For reservations, call (918) 583-7737 or email mail AT tulsapressclub.com.]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/nominated-again-for-a-newsie.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/nominated-again-for-a-newsie.html</guid>
            
            
            <pubDate>Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:44:20 -0600</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <title>Republican cumulative delegates by date</title>
            <description><![CDATA[Florida turned out as expected, but as I wrote right after South Carolina, there's <a href="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/flat-february-no-need-to-head-fo-1.html">no need for anyone of the remaining candidates to head for the exits</a>. Mitt Romney's campaign is restarting the inevitability bandwagon. Pundits are falling over each other to be the first to declare that it's all over, that there's no path to victory for anyone else. (Haven't the pundits ever heard of suspense? That people stay interested only until they know the final outcome?)

Those of us who bother to read the rules by which the game is played know that the 2012 campaign has just begun. Only 87 of a possible 2286 delegates have been bound to a candidate at this point. 59 delegates -- 7 in New Hampshire, 2 in South Carolina, and 50 in Florida -- have been bound to Mitt Romney. He needs 1,085 more to clinch the nomination, and the earliest possible date he can mathematically accomplish that (assuming all other candidates drop out now) is April 24. More likely, because of many proportionally allocated states, it would be late May or possibly June 5 before anyone could cross the finish line. (Click the graph to see it full-size.)

<a href="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/01/BatesLine-2012-GOP-Cumulative-Delegates.PNG" target="blank"><img alt="BatesLine-2012-GOP-Cumulative-Delegates.PNG" src="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/01/BatesLine-2012-GOP-Cumulative-Delegates.PNG" width="500" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" /></a>

The Associated Press includes Iowa in its count, but Iowa doesn't elect delegates until June, and, as I noted before the caucus, there's <a href="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2011/12/iowa-caucus-how-ron-paul-can-win.html">no necessary or mechanical connection between the caucus straw poll results and whom the delegates will support at the Republican National Convention</a>. 

The AP count also includes certain "super-delegates" as pledged to candidates, presumably based on public declarations of support. The members of the Republican National Committee -- state party chairman, national committeeman, and national committeewoman from each state and territory -- are ex-officio convention delegates. A few states require their RNC members to be bound by the result of the primary, but most send their RNC members unbound. RNC members from states that have been penalized for holding a primary too early -- New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Michigan -- won't have a vote at the convention.

The basis for the above chart is in the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlTXCXtCK1LodDVNREo3Rnc0NmdVTTY4dUd3OTVlbnc">BatesLine GOP Delegate Count spreadsheet</a>. I've followed the comprehensive information on delegate allocation found at <a href="http://www.thegreenpapers.com">the Green Papers</a> website, differing only in treating any delegates elected based on their declared presidential preference as bindable delegates. For example, the Green Papers treats all <a href="http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/R-PU.phtml">66 Ohio delegates as unpledged</a> because they aren't legally bound to vote for a particular presidential candidate at the national convention. My count treats all the Ohio delegates (except  the three RNC members) as bindable delegates, since the delegates are nominated by a presidential campaign and would have a significant personal stake in voting for the candidate who made it possible for them to attend the national convention.

<iframe width='500' height='300' frameborder='0' src='https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AlTXCXtCK1LodDVNREo3Rnc0NmdVTTY4dUd3OTVlbnc&single=true&gid=0&output=html&widget=true'></iframe>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/republican-cumulative-delegates.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/02/republican-cumulative-delegates.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Politics::Election 2012</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">delegate count</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">presidential primary</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Republican Party</category>
            
            <pubDate>Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:58:34 -0600</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <title>Riders in the Sky at Cain&apos;s, April 14, 2012, for National Fiddler Hall of Fame Gala</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.protixonline.com/View_Event.asp?id=1045"><img alt="riders_in_the_sky-2009.jpg" src="http://www.batesline.com/archives/assets_c/2012/01/riders_in_the_sky-2009-thumb-302x241-490.jpg" width="302" height="241" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" /></a>The world's premier cowboy band, <a href="http://www.ridersinthesky.com">Riders in the Sky</a>, will perform at this year's <a href="http://www.nationalfiddlerhalloffame.org/">National Fiddler Hall of Fame</a> gala on April 14, 2012, at Tulsa's historic Cain's Ballroom. The Riders' fiddler, Woody Paul, the King of the Cowboy Fiddlers, is one of this year's inductees into the hall of fame, along with championship fiddler Herman Johnson, from Shawnee; the late Keith Coleman, who performed with Leon McAuliffe and His Cimarron Boys and Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys; and the late Kenny Baker, of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. <a href="http://www.protixonline.com/View_Event.asp?id=1045">Tickets for the gala are on sale.</a>

Riders in the Sky is one of our family's favorite musical groups: Beautiful harmonies on authentic songs of the west, classics from western movies, and original songs in the same genre, seasoned with comedy. I wish their weekly show, Riders Radio Theater, with its weekly western serial, were still on the air here. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Go-Commercial-Riders-Sky/dp/B000008K0B/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_18"><em>Riders Go Commercial</em></a> has been played often at our house lately. (The thought of attending geezer training school seems more and more appealing every day.)

Here's Riders in the Sky, with Woody Paul playing and singing his original tune, "The Arms of My Love" (not a great recording here, but a beautiful song):

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/m02pQNwRf8I?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Here's Keith Coleman with a smoking solo on "Leon's Boogie," from an Ozark Jubliee appearance with Leon McAuliffe:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pX_UR7UeJzA?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Here's a YouTube audio and still photo mix of Herman Johnson playing "I Don't Love Nobody."

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KacWHWVQSVo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

And here's Kenny Baker with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys from 1971:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fEq2jFswcgs?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

MORE: The National Fiddler Hall of Fame offers a "<a href="http://www.nationalfiddlerhalloffame.org/Education/lickoftheweek.html">Lick of the Week</a>," a weekly video demonstration of a fiddle lick you can add to your bag of tricks. Elsewhere on the site, you can find <a href="http://www.nationalfiddlerhalloffame.org/Education/LessonSheetMusic.html">sheet music and audio for a few dozen traditional tunes</a>.]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/riders-in-the-sky-at-cains-april.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/riders-in-the-sky-at-cains-april.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Western Swing</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">bluegrass</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">fiddle</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Keith Coleman</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Riders in the Sky</category>
            
            <pubDate>Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:15:18 -0600</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <title>Bakeries, coffee houses, and economic development</title>
            <description><![CDATA[Julie R. Neidlinger has written a moving account of her <a href="http://www.loneprairie.net/2012/01/goodbye-to-the-patisserie/">final farewell to the Patisserie on Fourth</a>, a bakery in downtown Bismarck, North Dakota, where she worked as a baker for a couple of years. The <a href="http://patisserieonfourth.wordpress.com/">Patisserie on Fourth</a> closed permanently on Tuesday.  

As she helped the owner clear out the store, Julie remembered the good and the bad of working there:

<blockquote>I think of my co-workers and feel sad. Elizabeth, and the funny moments with her. Kristin, who was quick to laugh at my stupid jokes. Courtney's delicious Italian wedding soup. Nathan's spotless sink. The jokes, the Disney  music and crazy dancing when no one was around. The dough pets and bagel fights and my imitation of a shrieking monkey. We had some fun sometimes.

She locks the door as the man walks away, and we return to packing and cleaning.

I think of the angry emails, the cruel comments, and the critiques people left online, and I wonder what place these last two years will have in my life once I put in some distance from them.

We are almost finished.

I think of the regular customers I grew to enjoy -- Beverly, Connie, David, Peter, Emily, the Raspberry Scone guy, the Molasses Cookie Guy, the Roast Beef Provolone Guy, Mr. Coffee and Caramel Roll, and Quiche Grandma -- so many, and so many more. I realize how I will miss those regulars who were so kind and so patient with three very tired and very broke workers who didn't always come with their game face.
</blockquote>

In May 2009, a local TV station ran a story about the <a href="http://www.kfyrtv.com/news_stories.asp?news=30378">Patisserie adding a lunch menu to its breads and desserts</a>, in response to popular demand:

<blockquote>But then, another downtown business pointed out that the area could use another place with a lunch menu, and they decided.

"Yeah, we can throw some sandwiches together, one thing led to another and then we have a full lunch menu," Dockendorf says.

Nearly every day of the week, a line forms in front of the counter.

"Usually whoever comes in for pastries end up with lunch, and those who come in for lunch get dessert," says Dockendorf....

The owners say both the lunches and the pastries have been wildly successful, and the whole business has been a lot of fun.

The owners say they plan to rearrange the dining area so it can seat more customers and hope to be able to expand, add more display shelves, and have more room to work.</blockquote>

Small businesses have high failure rates. You can make an excellent product, build a supportive clientele, and it still may not be enough. You may not be able to make a living at it.

For all the chamber of commerce focus on convention centers and arenas, it's a place like the Patisserie that can sell outsiders on the value of a city. 

Recently I attended a presentation by a couple of urban planners from out of town. A short while after the presentation ended, I bumped into them again at the Coffee House on Cherry Street. They said they had discovered the Coffee House on a previous visit to Tulsa and regard it as their office away from home. Their affection for CHoCS was apparent, and it wouldn't surprise me if, when they tell people about Tulsa, they mention that "there's this wonderful coffee house...," just as I mention my <a href="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2010/04/wichita-wifi-and-coffee.html">favorite coffee houses when I talk about my work visits to Wichita</a> a couple of years ago.

Someone visits a city for the first time and finds a cozy place for coffee and dessert --particularly one right next to a historic neighborhood like Swan Lake -- and suddenly they see the whole city in a positive light. They could imagine living there and liking it, knowing that there's a place with great coffee and food where they could hang out with neighbors and friends. If banks and lawyers and assorted Chamber of Commerce big shots would use locally-owned cafes instead of chains to cater their meetings and lunches and events, it would help boost the city's uniqueness and appeal to newcomers.

The next time you start to order sandwiches from McAllisters or coffee for the office from Starbucks or a birthday cake from Sam's Club, stop and ask yourself: Can I help a great locally owned business stay in business by giving them my business today? 

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/batesline/2806093642/" title="Linden Street Coffeehouse, Lamoni, Iowa, by Michael Bates, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3276/2806093642_6755e4e577.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Linden Street Coffeehouse, Lamoni, Iowa"></a>

<em>Above: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lindenstreetcoffeehouse?sk=wall">Linden Street Coffeehouse</a>, Lamoni, Iowa, a great place for breakfast, coffee, and wifi that <a href="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2008/08/live-from-lamoni.html">left me with a great impression of the town</a>.</em></div>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/bakeries-coffee-houses-and-econo.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/bakeries-coffee-houses-and-econo.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Cities</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">bakeries</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">coffeehouses</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">economic development</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">small business</category>
            
            <pubDate>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:44:03 -0600</pubDate>
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            <title>Oklahoma school choice event a big success</title>
            <description><![CDATA[State of the Union Address notwithstanding, hundreds of Oklahomans turned out for tonight's National School Choice Week event at UCO. We heard remarks by State Superintendent Janet Barresi, former Congressman J. C. Watts, State Sen. Gary Stanislawski, Jeff Reed of the Friedman Institute, and political reporter John Fund (on book leave from the <em>Wall Street Journal</em>). 

Photos and a detailed report will have to wait, as I need to eat something and get home before too late, but here are a few notes:

Fund said he'd been covering school choice issues for 25 years, but he believes we are on the verge of a breakthrough. The internal contradictions on the anti-choice are becoming impossible to ignore, even for honest liberals. 

Fund quoted the late president of the American Federation of Teachers, Al Shanker, as saying, "When children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of children." 

Watts told advocates for school choice to be prepared for a battle, as the left defends its judiciary and education turf more vigorously than any other.

Stanislawski focused on opportunities in the field of online education. Oklahoma already has several online charter schools, and there's proposed legislation that would expand those opportunities to make it possible, for example, for children to use online schools to supplement what their own school offers.

In mentioning her involvement as a parent, Barresi said she could have afforded to write a check for private school tuition or hired a moving van to go to a different district, but instead she and her husband opted to stay and fight, working to establish the state's first charter school.

I spoke to Oklahoma State Rep. Elise Hall, a homeschool and TeenPact alumna, who told me she's working on a <a href="http://timtebowbill.com/">"Tim Tebow" bill</a>, that would make it possible for homeschooled children to take advantage of extracurricular offerings at their local public school. That's especially important outside the metro areas, where there may not be the critical mass of homeschoolers needed to offer sports, band, drama, and other extracurriculars that need a large group of students.

It was an upbeat, positive event, and I'll have more to share about it when it's not so late, and I don't have a two hour drive in the rain ahead of me. Thanks to Americans for Prosperity Foundation and OCPA for putting together a great event.]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/oklahoma-school-choice-event-a-b.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/oklahoma-school-choice-event-a-b.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Education</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tulsa::Education</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">charter schools</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">J. C. Watts</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Janet Barresi</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">John Fund</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">school choice</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">school vouchers</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">teachers&apos; unions</category>
            
            <pubDate>Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:41:25 -0600</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <title>National School Choice Week forum in Edmond tonight, January 24, 2012</title>
            <description><![CDATA[A reminder that tonight, Tuesday, January 24, 2012, is Oklahoma's National School Choice Week event, <a href="http://st.blogads.com/171000004662/551000004661/click?d=http%3A%2F%2Fschoolchoiceoklahoma.eventbrite.com%2F&c=e9975160c47359b166a5dadbd1b158e5">"Restoring American Exceptionalism, an Oklahoma Town Hall,"</a> at UCO in Edmond, tonight at 7 p.m.

Speakers include John Fund from the Wall Street Journal, State Superintendent Janet Barresi, former Congressman J. C. Watts, and Tulsa State Sen. Gary Stanislawski.

John Fund is always a provocative and entertaining speaker, and J. C. Watts is always inspirational, but it will be especially wonderful to hear those, like Superintendent Barresi and State Sen. Gary Stanislawski, who are directly involved in reforming Oklahoma education. It's wonderful at long last to have a State Superintendent who understands that the focus of government support for education should be teaching children effectively, not propping up and making excuses for ineffective institutions.

<blockquote>American 15-year-olds rank 35th out of 57 countries in math and literacy! America shouldn't be 35th in anything.  It's time to Restore American Exceptionalism! 

Rather than protecting and promoting failure, let's put our kids first. Let's do even more to support the teachers and the schools that are succeeding, but let's hold those that are failing firmly accountable. Whether it's a private school, a charter school, or a traditional public school, parents should have the right to choose the school that will do the best job educating my children. Every child deserves the best education we can give them - and every family has a right to choose the education that's best for their child. 

Restoring American exceptionalism to our schools and putting kids first isn't a Republican issue or a Democrat issue.  It's an American issue.  Join the conversation today!
</blockquote>

<a href="http://st.blogads.com/171000004662/551000004661/click?d=http%3A%2F%2Fschoolchoiceoklahoma.eventbrite.com%2F&c=e9975160c47359b166a5dadbd1b158e5"><img alt="NationalSchoolChoiceWeek_Banner_Ad_2012.jpg" src="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/10/NationalSchoolChoiceWeek_Banner_Ad_2012.jpg" width="400" height="90" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" /></a>

Click the ad or <a href="http://st.blogads.com/171000004662/551000004661/click?d=http%3A%2F%2Fschoolchoiceoklahoma.eventbrite.com%2F&c=e9975160c47359b166a5dadbd1b158e5">this link</a> for event details and free registration.

<strong>What:</strong> Restoring American Exceptionalism -- An Oklahoma Townhall

<strong>Who:</strong> Former Congressman J. C. Watts, Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund, State Superintendent Janet Barresi, State Sen. Gary Stanislawski, and Jeff Reed of the Friedman Foundation.

<strong>When:</strong> Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 7 p.m.

]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/national-school-choice-week-foru.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/national-school-choice-week-foru.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Education</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tulsa::Education</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">charter schools</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">school choice</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">school vouchers</category>
            
            <pubDate>Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:42:43 -0600</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Putting blinders on TGOV: What&apos;s Bartlett Jr trying to hide?</title>
            <description><![CDATA[Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr is pushing for a policy change to Tulsa's local government cable channel that would hinder public transparency and accountability in city government. 

Today, Monday, January 23, 2012, at 2 p.m., in City Hall room 411, the <a href="http://www.cityoftulsa.org/our-city/meeting-agendas/display.aspx?ID=000243FD">TGOV Coordinating Committee will meet to discuss</a>:

<blockquote>Whether or not to continue broadcasting meetings of Authorities, Boards, and Committees, including recommending entities, such as Tulsa Metropolitan Planning Commission, Transportation Advisory Board, HUD grant committees. etc. 11.451-14</blockquote>

<img alt="tgov_header.png" src="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/23/tgov_header.png" width="500" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" />

From KTUL's story, "<a href="http://www.ktul.com/story/16575399/tgov-content-up-for-debate">TGOV Content Up For Debate</a>":

<blockquote>The mayor's administration told News Channel 8, they're all for transparency but that concern arose when the Transportation Advisory Committee suddenly appeared on TGOV without going through the process of appearing before the TGOV committee, and that the administration wants to make sure everybody follows the same process.  </blockquote>

I asked Council Administrator Drew Rees, via email, who and what prompted this agenda item. His response:

<blockquote>The issue arose when the Mayor's office requested that TGOV not broadcast the Transportation Advisory Board meetings, because they did not believe TGOV should broadcast committees which were purely "recommending bodies."  (Other such recommending bodies are the TMAPC, and various CDBG committees.)

To answer your next question, it is my understanding the Mayor does not want these meetings filmed or broadcast in any manner by TGOV.  And finally, the TGOV Coordinating Committee approves all policies and all major operating decisions.  The Chairman of the TGOV Coordinating Committee makes all day-to-day operating decisions.  (see Title 12, Chapter 7, section 703.) 

I hope this helps.  Monday is a public meeting and you are welcome to attend.  If you cannot, you are welcome to send me an email and I will distribute it to the other Committee members at the meeting.</blockquote>

In reply, I wrote:

Much of the substantial discussion about a city decision takes place in the recommending body, with the decision maker (City Council or Mayor or both) often deferring to the recommending body's judgment without comment or discussion. For this reason, video recordings of Tulsa's authorities, boards, and commissions are central to the public understanding of the official actions of city government. TGOV should work to its maximum capacity to record these hearings, should make all of them available online, unedited in the original format, and should broadcast as many of them as the schedule allows. Not to record, post, and broadcast these meetings is a violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of Oklahoma's Open Meetings and Open Records laws.

If there is a shortage of budget or personnel to record these meetings, I feel certain that many civic-minded Tulsans with video experience would volunteer to man the cameras.

TGOV exists for the same reason that C-SPAN does -- to let the sunlight of public awareness, which Justice Brandeis called the best disinfectant, illuminate city government's inner workings so that the citizens of Tulsa can intelligently exercise their rights to free speech, to petition the government, and to vote.

There are four members of the coordinating committee: Council Administrator Drew Rees, City Council Communications Director Matt Martin, Mayor Bartlett Jr's designee Lloyd Wright, and Information Technology director Tom Golliver (or his designee). Rees, as committee chairman, makes day-to-day decisions on TGOV content. 

<a href="http://www.tgovonline.org/">TGOV</a> began its life as a dedicated cable channel for city government in 2004, but the local cable company (Tulsa Cable Television, now Cox Cable) had been broadcasting City Commission or City Council meetings for decades before that. Here's the <a href="http://www.tgovonline.org/tgov_resolution.pdf">2004 resolution establishing the rules for TGOV</a>.

A dedicated TGOV channel allows for broadcast of other meetings and events important to the citizens of Tulsa. TGOV regularly broadcasts the City Council's committee meetings, the meetings of the City of Tulsa Board of Adjustment (which handles zoning variances and special exceptions), the meetings of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission (which hears  changes to the zoning map and the zoning code and approves subdivisions), and occasionally other boards like the Tulsa Authority for the Recovery of Energy (TARE, aka the trash board, which isn't in the energy recovery business any more). 

TGOV isn't just a cable channel any more. In late 2009, <a href="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2009/12/tgov-online-at-last.html">TGOV began offering online streaming</a> at tgovonline.org of the same content that Cox Cable customers see on channel 24 and on-demand access to previous meetings. This development means you don't have to wait for the replay to roll around on TGOV; you can watch when you want, and you can easily point others to key moments in meetings.

That's why it's silly for anyone to be concerned about eating up broadcast time with committee meetings. With the ability to serve video from its website, TGOV isn't limited to 168 hours of content a week. 

In July of 2010, the City Council <a href="http://newords.municode.com/ReadOrdinance.aspx?OrdinanceID=490766&DataSource=">passed an ordinance (22305) codifying the policy for TGOV</a> (now Title 12 Chapter 7 of Tulsa Revised Ordinances); <a href="http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=13201000">Bartlett Jr vetoed the ordinance</a>, and the <a href="http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=13209212">Council overrode his veto</a>. 

Bartlett Jr wanted to use TGOV as an economic development tool, according to <a href="http://www.newson6.com/story/13271749/tulsa-city-council-restates-position-on-tgov?clienttype=printable&redirected=true">this KOTV story from 2010</a>. Who does he think watches TGOV? You can't get it in Atlanta or Sacramento or Dallas. It's there to give Tulsans insight into the what is being done in their name by city government. 

I can't shake the feeling that the mindset from the Mayor's Office is: "If we keep meetings off of TGOV, then people won't know hear about issues that would disturb them, and everyone will think everything is just fine."

If you can't attend the meeting at 2 today, send your comments by email to <a href="&#109;&#97;&#105;&#108;&#116;&#111;&#58;&#100;&#114;&#101;&#101;&#115;&#64;&#116;&#117;&#108;&#115;&#97;&#99;&#111;&#117;&#110;&#99;&#105;&#108;&#46;&#111;&#114;&#103;" title="&#100;&#114;&#101;&#101;&#115;&#64;&#116;&#117;&#108;&#115;&#97;&#99;&#111;&#117;&#110;&#99;&#105;&#108;&#46;&#111;&#114;&#103;">&#100;&#114;&#101;&#101;&#115;&#64;&#116;&#117;&#108;&#115;&#97;&#99;&#111;&#117;&#110;&#99;&#105;&#108;&#46;&#111;&#114;&#103;</a>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/putting-blinders-on-tgov-whats-b.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/putting-blinders-on-tgov-whats-b.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tulsa::CityHall</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Open Meetings Act</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">open records</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">TGOV</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">transparency</category>
            
            <pubDate>Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:21:10 -0600</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Flat February: No need to head for the exits</title>
            <description><![CDATA[The Wall Street Journal has a fascinating interactive graphic, with stair-steps showing how <a href="http://graphicsweb.wsj.com/documents/GOPPRIM1111/">allocated Republican delegates accumulate over time</a> in 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012. It's striking to see how far to the right everything has moved this year. The massive step up on Tsunami Tuesday (February 3, 2008) has moved a month to the right for 2012 and is not nearly as tall. (It's even shorter now that Texas's primary has been moved from Super Tuesday to April, delayed by a redistricting lawsuit.)

What's especially striking is how flat February is. From February 1 to February 27, only 119 delegates will be allocated, according to the WSJ's graphic. But they're including, incorrectly, <a href="http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/CO-R">Colorado</a>, <a href="http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/ME-R">Maine</a>, <a href="http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/MN-R">Minnesota</a>, and <a href="http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/NV-R">Nevada</a> in that total. Those states hold precinct caucuses to elect delegates to county or state legislative district conventions. A presidential straw poll will be held, but, as in Iowa, it won't be binding. 

<a href="http://graphicsweb.wsj.com/documents/GOPPRIM1111/"><img alt="2012-GOP-Delegates-WSJ.PNG" src="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/22/2012-GOP-Delegates-WSJ.PNG" width="500" height="281" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" /></a>

The Green Papers uncharacteristically gets one wrong, stating that Nevada's delegates will be bound, proportionally by the results of the presidential preference poll. (That appears to be based on <a href="http://frontloading.blogspot.com/2011/12/republican-delegate-allocation-rules.html">this Republican National Committee summary of all allocation rules</a>, which also gets Nevada wrong.) But the <a href="http://www.nvgopcaucus.com/faqs">FAQ page on the official Nevada GOP caucus website</a> makes it clear that the final result is contingent on the multi-stage process of electing delegates to the county, district, and state conventions:

<blockquote>All Delegates and alternate delegates elected at the precinct caucus will meet in March at their county conventions. The county convention will then elect delegates to represent them at the State Convention on May 5-6th. And it's at the State Convention where the delegates and alternates get elected to the Republican National Convention on August 27-30th.

Since delegates generally vote for other delegates who support the same candidate as they do, it's advantageous for a candidate to elect as many people as possible as delegates at the precinct caucuses. The more delegates a candidate has after the precinct caucuses in February, the greater the chance they will have the most delegates from Nevada to the National Convention on August 27-30th.
</blockquote>

<em>(UPDATE 2012/01/23: <a href="http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/flat-february-no-need-to-head-fo-1.html#comment-40261">In the comments</a>, <a href="http://crankyhermit.blogspot.com/">Nevada blogger Michael P. Chamberlain</a> mentions that he spoke to a state party official about the allocation rule:

<blockquote>I received confirmation today from the [Nevada Republican Party]'s Caucus Director that Nevada's delegates to the National Convention will be allocated (and bound for the first ballot) by the state-wide results of the Presidential Preference Poll that is part of the caucus on February 4.</blockquote>

I've asked Michael to see if he can get some additional details: The text of the basis (rule, resolution) that defines how delegates will be allocated, whether there will be a threshold, and how rounding is handled.)</em>

So where does that leave the race?

Romney still has a poll lead in Florida, and money matters because of the <a href="http://dishuser.org/TVMarkets/">ten media markets</a> that a candidate must cover, so let's figure that he wins. Given that, what will the pledged delegate count be on February 28, going into Arizona and Michigan?

<table  width="200" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Romney</td>
      <td align="right">59</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Gingrich</td>
      <td align="right">23</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Paul</td>
      <td align="right">3</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Huntsman</td>
      <td align="right">2</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

In this scenario, Romney will have only 59 of the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination. 

Remember that Iowa's delegates are not pledged. New Hampshire's were allocated proportionally. It appears that Romney won a single South Carolina congressional district, and with it, two delegates. 

On to February 28:

Michigan's 30 delegates would have been allocated by congressional district (3 each, winner take all) and statewide (proportionally with a 15% threshhold), but it has lost half of its delegates for jumping the gun, and it's unclear how that will affect allocation. Arizona, in the same boat, opted to shift to Winner-Take-All statewide. Romney's father George was governor of Michigan and an auto executive, so he's likely to win nearly all the delegates either way.

I've already seen a couple of tweets suggesting that Santorum may as well get out of the race now. That would be silly. As former White House Press Secretary <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/AriFleischer/status/160895793132339200">Ari Fleischer tweeted on Saturday night</a>:

<blockquote>Santorum's thought bubble: I can win this because Newt will blow up Romney, & Newt will also blow up Newt. That leaves me.</blockquote>

Were I in Rick Santorum's inner circle, I'd suggest he spend most of February raising money and focused on winning Arizona and preparing for a few Super Tuesday states (like Ohio, Oklahoma, and Tennessee). A good showing in some of the February non-binding caucuses would be a good thing, too. 

Santorum has an entire month to promote his recent endorsements by evangelical leaders. They came too late to affect the Stop-Romney tactical move to Gingrich in South Carolina, and they haven't yet arrived in a way that connects with  the targeted voters.  An email in a homeschooling mom's inbox about an endorsement by a particular leader she admires, forwarded by another mom in the homeschool co-op, will have far more impact than the 10-second generic mention of "evangelical leaders" on CNN a week earlier.

February also gives Santorum plenty of time to position himself as the most electable candidate remaining in the race. Romney doesn't excite the party's core voters. Democrats and Independents already think they know Newt, from the 1990s, and they don't like him. The phrase "First Lady Callista Gingrich" may begin to sink in and worry Republican voters, too.

If Santorum were to win Arizona and Romney win Michigan, Santorum would pass Gingrich for second place in the delegate count going into Super Tuesday:

<table  width="200" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Romney</td>
      <td align="right">89</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Santorum</td>
      <td align="right">29</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Gingrich</td>
      <td align="right">23</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Paul</td>
      <td align="right">3</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Huntsman</td>
      <td align="right">2</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

By my count, 420 bound delegates will be allocated on Super Tuesday, March 6, and by GOP rules it has to be done by some proportional method.  It would be mathematically impossible for anyone to reach a majority of bound delegates until after the April 24th primaries, and that's only if someone sweeps the board. Since many of the April states also use proportional allocation, that's unlikely. 

The good news for those of us not in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, or Florida is that we'll still have a meaningful choice to make when it's our turn to vote. If nothing else, we can keep voting to frustrate the front runner of the moment, to ensure no one locks up the nomination before Tampa.

And if it turns out that we're still not happy with our choices in a month's time, there are some interesting scenarios. I haven't checked, but I suspect there are still many late-season primaries for which the filing deadline has not yet passed, meaning someone new could get in, take a bunch of delegates, and be in a strong position to contend for unpledged delegates leading up to the national convention. Many early states will still have dropped-out candidates on the ballot; one of them could revive their campaign, or people could use one of the ex-candidates as a place for none-of-the-above supporters to vote their preferences.
]]></description>
            <link>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/flat-february-no-need-to-head-fo-1.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/01/flat-february-no-need-to-head-fo-1.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Politics::Election 2012</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Mitt Romney</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Newt Gingrich</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">presidential primary</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Republican Party</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Rick Santorum</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">Santorum</category>
            
            <pubDate>Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:52:57 -0600</pubDate>
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