Is TrumpCare Toxic Enough To Help Tom Guild Win The Oklahoma City Congressional Seat?

One of the states the DCCC isn’t looking at at all for 2018 is red, red Oklahoma. Trump won there, overwhelmingly 949,136 (65.3%) to 420,375 (28.9%). It was one of Trump’s best performances anywhere-- although that probably had more to do with the dislike many Okalhomans have for Hillary. Bernie beat her in the primary 174,228 (51.9%) to 139,443 (41.5%). And Trump came in a distant second in the GOP primary that same day, winning just 130,267 votes (28.32%), far fewer votes than Bernie got. Bernie’s message resonated with a lot of voters in "red, red Oklahoma." Trump’s weakest area, of course, was the district with the highest education level, OK-05 (Oklahoma City), where he only beat Hillary 53.2% to 39.8%. Trump did 6 points worse than Romney had in the district, but Hillary under-performed Obama as well. (If only…)

In the OK-05 congressional race, right-wing incumbent Steve Russell crushed a very weak establishment Democrat, Al McAffrey, 57.1% to 36.8%. Russell did better than Trump and McAffrey did even worse than Hillary. The Democratic primary for that nomination was the closest in the country. It pitted the wishy-washy careerist establishment guy against Berniecrat Tom Guild. There were two rounds. First:

• Al McAffrey- 10,013 (36.8%)
• Tom Guild- 10,000 (36.8%)
• Leonora Leonard- 7,190 (26.4%)

And the runoff:

• Al McAffrey- 8,032 (50.1%)
• Tom Guild- 7,988 (49.9%)

McAffrey wasn’t even a serious candidate, just the establishment’s pawn to keep the nomination from going to an outspoken progressive and Berniecrat. Once he won the primary, the DCCC didn’t come in to help their guy take on Russell-- quite the contrary; they never gave OK-05 a second glance. McAffrey didn’t campaign at all and only raised $134 to the $847,193 Russell spent. What a tragedy, but that’s how the DCCC works-- keep a progressive out of the race and then… whatever.

Tom Guild is running-- hard-- again and he’s determined to knock on every door in the district. This time EMILY’s List will try to play the role of spoiler for their DCCC allies, the same way they're doing in WI-01. A local EMILY’s List ally, Kendra Horn will be announcing right after the 2nd quarter filling deadline, the kind of phony timeline crap establishment candidates controlled by DC consultants always do. She was executive director of Sally’s List in Oklahoma (renamed Women Leading Women), a pure identity politics play. It’s never about who the best candidate is on policy-- always about personal identity. But while she headed the organization, it was an utter failure even on their own terms. Horn’s stated goal was to increase the number of women in the Oklahoma State Legislature, a reasonable goal. But in her three years as ED the number of women in the legislature went down, not up. Her brittle, officious personality turned off everyone-- except the DC people at EMILY's List.

Blue America has endorsed Tom Guild-- not because of any identity stuff, but because he’s a stalwart, dedicated progressive with a populist approach to politics and a fierce platform for working families. Yesterday, for example, he sent the letter below to his Oklahoma supporters. Please give it a look and if you would like to see Tom go up against a very vulnerable Russell in 2018, consider contributing what you can by tapping on the Blue America thermometer on the right. Remember, a swing in OK-05 the size of the swing Democrats in Montana, Kansas and South Carolina just experienced in the special elections, would send Russell packing and finally turn this relatively swingy Oklahoma district blue. The DCCC isn't taking OK-05 seriously. We are. Here's the message Tom Guild, who has pledged to co-sign John Conyers' Medicare-For-All legislation as soon as he gets to Washington, sent out yesterday:

There they go again! The Senate GOP health care proposal severely cuts Medicaid, defunds Planned Parenthood, and eliminates the mandate that Americans have health insurance. The bill provides states the right to eliminate many of the benefits required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), such as maternity care, emergency services and mental health treatment. The proposal is hazardous to your health!

The Senate bill grants a huge tax cut to the wealthy, paid for by severe cuts in the Medicaid program. My opponent, incumbent Rep. Steve Russell (R-OK), who supported the “mean” bill passed by the House last month, is a reliable vote in the GOP’s quest to destroy health care in America. Stop Russell by donating to our campaign via Act Blue

The Senate bill takes money out of the pockets of middle and lower-class families who need health care the most. The bill shamelessly provides the nation’s wealthiest individuals with large tax cuts, while severely cutting Medicaid and eliminating health care coverage for millions. We must ensure that every individual has access to health care, regardless of his or her economic status or pre-existing medical condition. This proposal is a dream for insurance companies and the wealthy.

The bill repeals Medicaid over a longer period of time, but more severely than the disastrous House bill that Russell supported. The Senate bill imposes larger spending cuts on Medicaid and phases out its expansion over a seven-year period, in contrast to the House’s three-year phase out plan. Medicaid currently serves one in five Americans, with approximately two-thirds of those in nursing homes.

The Senate bill eliminates funding for Planned Parenthood. The bill blocks Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood, which provides a wide range of women's health care and abortion services. This would be devastating to millions of women who have Medicaid and whose insurance would no longer cover these services.

The bill allows states to drop essential consumer protections. It does not allow states to drop the protection of patients with pre-existing conditions. However, it does allow wider opportunity for carriers in states with less stringent rules to offer plans that provide minimal help to patients with extensive health issues. States would not be allowed to waive the ACA requirements to grant everyone coverage and charge the same rates.

The bill was drafted without a single public hearing. The Congressional Budget Office found the bill passed by the House last month, and supported by Russell, would leave 23 million more people without insurance in a decade. The CBO score for the Senate bill is expected to be released soon and will shed light on the millions and millions of people who will lose coverage as a result of this proposal.

If you would like to support our campaign and stop Rep Steve Russell (R-OK) and congressional Republicans from further destroying our health care system, you can contribute online via Act Blue. You can also mail contributions to P.O. Box 6621, Edmond, OK 73083.

Thanks for your support!
Yours in the cause,
Tom Guild, Democratic Candidate CD5-OK