Author Archives: The Senator's Wife

About The Senator's Wife

I started this blog on a whim thinking it would be fun to write about politics while my husband served in the OK State Senate. The jury's still out on that, but having a front row seat on the sideline of Oklahoma politics has been one big adventure.

Opening Ceremony

I have been tinkering with so many ideas on how to gracefully pick this blog back up. Really, I have crafted so many different thoughts,and disclaimers as to where the heck I have been since November in an attempt to capture all the chaos that has happened since then! But, the fact is really….I have just been pre-occupied. Busy with family, busy with this organization and obviously, too busy for clever excuses. I do plan on filling in the gaps here and there as best I can, but for now, we’ll just go with the present.

Next week is the start of yet another legislative session and once again things are about to get interesting. Tonight, in fact, is the Speaker’s Ball where the youngest Speaker of the House of Representatives ever in Oklahoma will be recognized. This event is like the opening ceremony for the legislative session. It is great if you are into people watching and tiresome if you bore with political speeches. However, I happen to really admire this up and coming politician and can’t wait watch it all blow down. Did I mention that Diana Ross is singing? I’m gonna try to Tweet about it, so if you follow me on twitter, don’t freak out and think I’ve just risen from the dead. Been a long time since I’ve posted over there too! Hopefully, I can make this as timeless as old friends, and we can pick right up where we left off!

In the meantime, here’s an old photo from a Speaker’s Ball a few years back….that one was fun, I think!

The Morning After

Since my last post on polls a few days…weeks…ok, months ago, I became really intrigued and engaged in this year’s presidential election. Big surprise, right! I have been fascinated by the semantics, the coverage, the demographics, the issues and the two men running for our nation’s highest office. Last night was a late one at my house.

As a citizen, I have to admit that I’m appalled at the spending, the rhetoric, the lack of respect for differences and the increased role of government in our American experiment. As a mother, I am concerned about the lessons we are inadvertently teaching our children…not just in tone and civility, but in economics, ethics and leadership.

However, my greatest challenge today is to create a positive environment for my children so they keep believing in America….because last night, their guy lost and losing at any age is never fun.

Polls

It’s no secret I live in a political environment, so naturally I’m engaged will all that’s happening amidst the current election cycle.

Lately, I’ve become obsessed with national polls and the various takes on the 2012 election from across the country. I would love opinions from any of my political friends out there as to which polls they think are reliable- and by that, I mean where the process is more important than a desired outcome.

Let me explain where I am going with this…..Four years ago, I always felt like polls were being used to manipulate the direction of the election instead of presenting an accurate picture of popular sentiment. There were polls who way over-sampled certain demographics, polls that questioned only registered voters and those who used likely voters (those who actually have a voting record of participation). There were even polls who completely ignored voter registration, which at the end of the day is a futile exercise if one is looking for reliable data.

Four years ago, most polling results were all over the place for a while, but in the last few months of the election cycle, seemed to show the same data and trends, regardless of their methodology. It would seem that in the end, they all managed to predict the final results.

Today, I think what we are seeing in the polling data is not necessarily what is happening on the ground. Most polls who use likely voters and don’t over sample, show a very close race….until another poll comes out presenting a completely different scenario. Hmmmmmmm.

Once again, I find myself questioning the polling process and the data which the media uses on a daily basis to generate momentum for one candidate over another…… jury’s still out on that one! So, I am conducting my own, not very scientific poll at all….just for the fun of it! Enjoy!