Posted on 06/23/2014 5:25:08 PM PDT by cotton1706
Four years ago, James Lankford was a Baptist minister making a long-shot first foray into politics and T.W. Shannon was a little-known state legislator.
Now, they are rising Republican stars who will square off in a competitive primary for U.S. Senate in Oklahoma Tuesday. The campaign is the latest pressure test for a coterie of national tea party groups with an eye on shaking up the midterm landscape. The national tea party machinery is squarely behind Shannon.
The contest, which could be headed to a runoff, also carries broader implications for a Republican Party looking to shed its image as a party led by mostly old, white men. Shannon, 36, is African American and a member of the Chickasaw Nation. He would become just the second sitting black senator.
But this is not a typical tea party versus establishment fight. It's a complicated struggle featuring two candidates who blur the lines between the competing corners of the GOP and are reluctant to identify exclusively with either one.
Lankford is a member of House GOP leadership who has a strong base of religious conservative supporters built from his time outside politics running the largest Christian youth camp in the country. Shannon is not a member of Congress, but he used to work for two of them.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Frankly, I think either one would make an excellent senator, especially considering what generally qualifies as senator material in the rest of the nation.
“He would become just the second sitting black senator.”
I know Booker looks kind of white, but he is ‘black’. Shannon would be the third.
I don’t think Lankford is a disaster, but he has been tainted by the establishment. Shannon would make a very good senator and be an ally to the Cruz-Lee-McDaniel caucus
I’m from Oklahoma. I have to choose tomorrow. From the outset I was for Shannon since he is as reliably conservative as lankford but has the added spice of being both black and Native American and I looked forward to unthinking leftist a calling him racist.
But for some reason he chose to go negative early with really scurrilous and untrue statements about lankford, like claiming he’s an Obama liberal.
I’m not sure what to do. But I do know that whoever gets the nod will be amongst the most conservative, freedom loving republicans in the senate. Suck on that, Arizona (kidding! Kidding!).
Lankford is pro-amnesty and thinks it is compassionate and will play word games about whether they are breaking the law.
I’ve noticed that most of the attack ads on both candidates are from PACs. Are those the attacks you are referring to?
I’m voting for TW tomorrow.
Yes, I think so. I’ve heard a lot of talk about evil dark money from outside Oklahoma backing Shannon but come on., he’s the speaker of the house. I think wifey and I are going to cancel each other out
What is Shannon’s stand on Amnesty for Illegal Alien Invaders from Mexico?
He opposes it. The Oklahoma legislature passed enforcement only. Lankford, McCain, Flake, Isaakson, Chambliss and others undermine their own state immigration laws.
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