OK-Sen: Sierra Club Endorses Rice

by Alex Thurston :: Filed Under Blue Heroes '08 :: February 28th, 2008 @ 7:59 pm EST

The Sierra Club endorses my boy Andrew Rice in its first Senate endorsement this year. Downwithtyranny has more.

I believe Rice can win. But it’s going to take an unusual coalition: progressive evangelicals, swing voters, young voters, conservationists, women, and others. As Rice said himself during an interview with Grist:

It’s definitely an uphill battle, but the political climate in Oklahoma this year, like in most of the country, is unique. There’s anti-incumbent sentiment. Inhofe is more vulnerable than he normally would be, because the electorate has moved away from him. He hasn’t taken any independent stances from Bush.

Some of the stuff he’s well-known for, like his comments on global warming, have happened since his last election. The famous comment about the hoax — that was in 2003.

We have our base votes of around 40 percent Democrats; he’s got about 40 percent of the electorate as Republicans; we’re going for that 20 percent swing vote in the middle. They tend to be angry with Washington, D.C., and anxious about the future of the country. They’re angry with him, and they really feel like he doesn’t get it. With that in mind, we’re running an outsider campaign against him.

So let’s hope the endorsements keep coming, and maybe the outsider can take down the craven, corrupt insider.

There’s no such thing as a long shot in 2008. 50-state-strategy-minded Dems should take a close look at Rice. So should conservationists and environmentalists from across the political spectrum. So should any Oklahoman whose economic livelihood has been threatened by Republican corruption and mismanagement - because unlike Inhofe, who seems skilled only at playing to the interests of his anticompetitive corporate buddies, Rice can lead the fight against climate change and help families put food on the table.