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Live Blog with State Sen. Andrew Rice, U.S. Senate Candidate in OK

It’s an Olympic year, so there’s a lot of torch-passing going around these days. But it’s also a watershed year in which the torch is being passed, once again, to a new generation.

Two years ago, when I ran for State Senate and won, I watched a wave of young progressives sweeping across the nation. I was not just watching history happen, I was part of it with all of you.

This year, however, is proving that 2006 was just a prelude to a national movement, a generational shift that makes our nation’s hope for the future incredibly bright. And once again, I’m honored to be a part of history as it happens. This wouldn't be a pivotal year without your work and your involvement, and I wouldn't be here without the support of young people in Oklahoma.

I’m running for U.S. Senate in Oklahoma in part because I’m inspired by these times. A new group of people who have grown up believing that government can be a force for good in people’s lives are working to make sure that it fulfills that mission. We’re changing our nation from the inside out, from the state house to Washington. And the need for well-qualified and hopeful people to serve in the public sphere has never been greater.

We have to shape our own future. If we want to have Medicare and Social Security available when we retire, we must protect it now. If we want to have clean air for our children and energy sources to fill the void left when oil supplies shrink, we must fight for renewable and clean alternatives now. If we want to have quality and affordable health care available for when we, or our children, get sick, we must change the health care system now.

When I’m in the U.S. Senate, I’ll be fighting for all of these issues, as well as protecting our troops and our veterans, keeping our nation’s security strong, spending our tax dollars responsibly, and ensuring a quality education for every child. My opponent, incumbent Sen. Jim Inhofe, has proven to be out of touch with his constituents on these subjects. Being a voice for the people you represent is the basic job of any legislator, and he’s failing to do even that.

I appreciate the opportunity to come on Future Majority and discuss the issues you care about, as well as my U.S. Senate campaign. If you want to find out more about me and about this race, please look at my website, www.andrewforoklahoma.com . I’ll be happy to take your questions below.

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July 31st, 2008 2:01pm
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Hi everyone

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:04.

glad to be here.

Thanks!

Submitted by Sarah Burris on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:05.

Hey Andrew,

Thanks so much for joining us here at Future Majority! We are excited to have another great young person running for office especially at the federal level!

A couple of quesitons

I'm curious about the turnout in Oklahoma, you had a primary for the presidential races earlier this year where a bunch of young people turned out to vote for Huckabee, but you also just had a primary for YOU just this past Tuesday, how did that fair in terms of turnout?

Also, what issues are young voters in Oklahoma concerned about? Is it the same as young voters nationally (the economy, the war ... etc?) What's your message to those young people?

I find that young voters here

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:19.

are particularly interested and concerned with the intersection of high energy prices, climate change, and the massive alternative energy transformation that our nation needs to pursue. They/we will be dealing with our actions and inactions on this issue.

And the local economy is the other big issue with youth voters here. They want to stay here and work here, but need to be reassured that we are diversifying Oklahoma's economy for the next generation.

Thanks for coming

Submitted by Kevin Bondelli on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:05.

What is your campaign doing to engage young voters in Oklahoma?

We are finding ways to invite

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:16.

young Oklahomans to become part of my campaign, not just trying to encourage them to vote for me. We want youth voters to take the initiative and find a way to spread our campaign message of changes and authentic leadership, and then go with it. We are building it from a very "bottom up" perspective.

Inspiration

Submitted by cassidenae on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:08.

Hello Sen. Rice,
I just wanted to let you know what an inspiration you are to many of us young people in Oklahoma. Watching you as an example, taking on Inhofe, is just great.
As a member of the Executive Committee of Young Democrats of Oklahoma, how do we tackle the task of reaching rural voters in your campaign? It was very encouraging to see the returns come back Tuesday with higher Democratic numbers than Republican...but I still think we are lacking in many of our rural communities. How do we as young people tackle that obstacle in your opinion?
Thanks!
-Cassi Peters

Hi Cassie

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:14.

Yes, we are excited about the youth vote here in Oklahoma. Getting out the rural vote is a bigger task. Turnout in rural Oklahoma keeps going lower and lower each year. I will need to continue to get out to small towns and meet people face to face. You cannot reach these communities effectively with TV ads and radio ads. I've been to about half the state, but still have many places to go. The response where I have been has been terrific.

Yes we had a

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:12.

primary here on Tuesday, and our turnout was unfortunately very low. In fact the lowest since 1952. We had a spirited turnout in Feb. for the presidential primaries. I was happy to get 60%despite still having pretty low name ID over much of ruraL Oklahoma.

Rural Broadband Access

Submitted by Kevin Bondelli on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:18.

Is the lack of broadband internet access an issue in the rural parts of Oklahoma? What are your ideas for expanding broadband availability to rural areas?

yes, we have a rural broadband

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:22.

and cellular access problem in rural Oklahoma. The cellular access problem is also a safety issue because of 9-11 service in very remote areas (something bad happening on a rural, remote road, and not being able to call 9-11 from your car). Broadband in-access is cutting off rural Oklahomans from the infinite information and opportunities that urban communities are thriving on.

I am very supportive of public investments into these areas.

broadband access

Submitted by cassidenae on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:26.

My mother is from rural Oklahoma (Marlow, I think you have a campaign event in Stephens County tonight!!) and she is one of the few people that I know of to have high speed internet access. Even though she has this access, she has to pay almost twice what people pay in urban areas of Oklahoma for this access. I definitely believe this is a problem because Marlow is not as rural as many other parts of Oklahoma. I highly doubt there are any options there as of yet.

I represent an urban area

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:47.

but, in my capacity of either a state senator, or obviously a US Senator, if development in rural Oklahoma is falling behind OKC and Tulsa, then I am not adequately providing public service to the level of professionalism and balance that I belief we need across the board. I believe in accountability. I need to walk the walk, not just talk well about what is needed.

Ok's young people

Submitted by Sarah Burris on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:23.

How are young people changing Oklahoma politics and what are you doing to involve young people in your campaign?
What are you doing to reach out not just on campus, but to rural (youth) voters as well?

BIG CHANGE NEEDED!

Submitted by DemocratMandy on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:26.

Hey Senator,

Mandy Winton here, and I was thinking this might be a great opportunity for you to share some of your key reasons for running. We all know that the incumbent is out of touch, not just with young voters, but with much of this country, especially as it relates to energy policies.

Also, What hurdles, if any, have you had as a candidate and/or elected official being in the "young" group? What Benefits have you seen as well?

Keep up the great work! I still get goosebumps when I see your tv commercials!

Mandy

Hi Mandy

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:34.

We think the TV ads are good too!
I am running because I think there are too many people in elected office right now who really do not have the adequate respect for public service and what it can unleash, for the good, in our country and the world. We have too many people like Inhofe who love their own extreme political ideology more than good government. Good government that could invest our tax money in massive wind energy farms in western oklahoma so we can meet our energy and climate change challenges head on. Good government that would find a way to provide basic health care for all Americans so we all can have the security of being healthy, and therefore in turn take advantage of our nation's innovative and diverse educational and economic opportunities. Government can open positive doorways, some of which we are not even aware of yet. But we have extremists in government that would rather win elections at the cost of effectively grinding good government to a halt. And I want to be elected to DC in order to reform that.

Its got to be hard for

Submitted by DemocratMandy on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:36.

Its got to be hard for Inhofe to see a need for wind farms when he refuses to admit there is a climate problem in the first place!

Keep up the great work!!!!

Mandy

New Media

Submitted by Kevin Bondelli on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:28.

How is your campaign utilizing new media (YouTube, etc.)?

We use youtube to spread our message

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:40.

to people who have not been able to meet me.

We use facebook to communicate with youth voters, and engage them in online political projects. We want to launch a facebook challenge for individuals to register a certain number of new voters by early October, and have them publicly chart their progress on their own facebook or myspace pages.

awesome idea

Submitted by Michael Connery on Thu, 2008-07-31 15:08.

This is a great idea, especially if you incentivize it. Like agree to have lunch with the top 10 registration getters.

Younger voters in Oklahoma

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:28.

are trending more moderate than our older generations. So urban voters are trending blue. The youth vote is more limited in rural Oklahoma because the youth population has decreased in some (not all) rural communities. We try to find ways to adapt our campaign to the ways that youth voters want to engage and go into action. If it means having people do their own youtubes, we ask them to do it. If it means a young professionals event after work where I can get together with people and listen to their ideas about student loan legislation, economic development, or environmental issues, then we do that. We are big on having youth voters dictate to us what they want out this campaign, which is in reality their campaign, along with other Oklahomans. My name just happens to be on the ballot.

Native American Voters

Submitted by Kevin Bondelli on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:40.

Oklahoma has a very vibrant Native American community. What are you doing to reach out to the tribes and get out their votes?

Initially, I am

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:44.

working through our tribal councils and their affiliated groups that are geared toward voter participation. Our larger tribes have very large and professional governments and affiliated NGO groups now. They have become more engaged in U.S. elections because it is in their interest to make sure pro-tribal sovereignty politicians are being elected to US congress and the Oklahoma legislature. I have a very good relationship with our tribal leaders.

Being a young candidate

Submitted by Kevin Bondelli on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:47.

Has being a young candidate affected your campaign? Do voters that you talk to mention your youth?

Actually, almost no one

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:50.

brings it up in a negative way. It may be that some Oklahomans have concerns but do not share them with me, but I find most Oklahomans are pretty up front and frank about their opinions.
I think my youth is a great advantage for me in this campaign, and especially this year with the unique political environment of change sweeping across the country.
And Oklahoma has a unique history of electing young leaders. I am 35. In 1980, which was another massive "change" year, Don Nickles was elected to the U.S Senate at the age of 32, and he too only had 2 years experience in the Oklahoma State Senate.

Your opponent is one of the

Submitted by Sarah Burris on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:48.

Your opponent is one of the worst global warming deniers in the Senate. What are your plans on energy and the environment and what does that mean for voters in Oklahoma?

one of the worst...??

Submitted by DemocratMandy on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:50.

I would go so far as to say he is THE WORST! :)

In short,

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:53.

Oklahoma is in a win-win situation as far as dealing with climate change is concerned. The massive transformation we need to pursue to: wind energy and natural gas for our vehicles, and biomass-fuels will means 1,000s of new jobs in Oklahoma and a more stable and clean environment.

Inhofe is vulnerable on this. He is in a minority of his own party on this issue. He is well known here in the state for being very unreasonable on these issues.

I have to run to a 2pm

Submitted by Andrew Rice on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:53.

meeting. It was wonderful to be here. Please send any other questions to info@andrewforoklahoma.com and I will answer them later.

Thanks!

-Andrew

Net neutrality

Submitted by Kevin Bondelli on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:54.

What is your opinion on the issue of net neutrality?

Net neutrality (statement from campaign)

Submitted by Kevin Bondelli on Thu, 2008-07-31 15:02.

"When I am U.S. Senator, I will support legislation similar to the Freedom Preservation Act, which aims to keep the Internet open and free for everyone, not just subscribers to large cable and phone companies. I am like millions of American who rely upon an open Internet on a daily basis. I will work to preserve broadband access for the general public so that all users have equal access to high speed Internet and are not dependent on commercial gatekeepers."

Thanks so much Sen. Rice for

Submitted by Sarah Burris on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:56.

Thanks so much Sen. Rice for being here today, and a special thanks to all the great people who asked important and thought provoking questions.

These are becoming a ritual at FutureMajority, come back every Thursday for a new liveblog with young candidates across the country who are stepping up to be leaders this election season.

Thanks again everyone!!
--Sarah

Thanks for being here Senator

Submitted by Kevin Bondelli on Thu, 2008-07-31 14:58.

We appreciate your time. Good luck!

Check out Sen. Rice's campaign site at http://www.andrewforoklahoma.com and consider donating to the campaign.