Okie Report: Shadid Using Unorthodox Political Playbook
The 2014 Oklahoma City mayoral race between the popular incumbent Mayor Cornett and challenger Councilman Ed Shadid is still in its early stages, but observers are noting that Shadid’s campaign continues to follow an unprecedented playbook for Oklahoma politics. And by unprecedented we mean bizarre and unorthodox.
The Okie previously reported Shadid’s “unique” views as a Green Party candidate for the Oklahoma House in 2010, and Shadid’s lengthy online attack on incumbent Mayor Cornett the day after Cornett announced his re-election campaign.
Shadid’s unorthodox choices since Cornett’s announcement have left many political observers wondering whether a candidate with Shadid’s ideological profile can possibly win such a prominent office in such a conservative state.
Soon after Shadid’s kick-off rally on August 15th, The McCarville Report published an in-depth examination of the rally, calling it “perhaps the most left-of-center political event in Oklahoma City mayoral history.”
Since that time, Shadid has continued the pattern.
On September 1st, an Oklahoma atheist leader who describes himself on Twitter as the co-host of the “Oklahoma Atheists Godcast” revealed that Shadid is actively and personally courting the atheist vote.
On September 10th, in a story in The City Sentinel headlined “Ed Shadid has new ideas for city revenue and spending,” Shadid came out in support of using property tax for municipal operations, which would result in a massive property tax increase.
And this past weekend, Shadid Tweeted a photo of himself with a group of children wearing t-shirts that said “penis” or “vagina”.
Says one longtime Oklahoma politico of Shadid’s campaign so far, “It’s as if Shadid thinks he’s running for mayor of Berkeley. Promoting himself as the candidate for atheists and advocating property tax increases are things that I would normally consider political suicide. I have never seen a supposedly credible candidate break so many rules of Oklahoma politics.”
According to his own leaked campaign memo Shadid intends to spend $750,000 to $1.5 million on his campaign, a sum far beyond that which was spent in Oklahoma City’s last contested mayoral campaign in 2004. The credibility that comes with Shadid’s self-funding may have been among the factors that recently led the Oklahoma City police union to endorse him. But many political observers wonder whether Shadid’s unorthodox messages can find a broader audience in Oklahoma’s largest city.
OKC’s urban core may be changing, but has it changed enough for the unorthodox playbook of Ed Shadid? The Okie will continue to monitor the race…
Suggested future The Okie headline: Shadid defeatED in landslide.
I was born and raised in Oklahoma, and in my years as a landscape designer, I designed the landscaping for all of Okla. City’s McDonalds Restaurants, more residences than I can count, and did work on the Cowboy Hall of Fame, as well as Crossroads Mall. I no longer live in the state, but mention this only as proof that I’m a bona fide Okie. I am also an atheist, and I would gladly support any candidate who would consider our interests, along with those of the religious. I don’t care to convert anyone to my belief system, only to ask for equal rights for all.
It makes perfect sense for Ed Shadid to speak to the members of Oklahoma Atheists. We’re a 1,500+ member group who is active, both as a group and individually, in local affairs. We’re organized, dedicated to reason and logic, and we love our state and city. We have proven ourselves to be good fundraisers too, just ask Rebecca Vitsmun. We are not shameful secrets best left hidden in some dusty closet somewhere.
AOK is the seventh largest atheist group organized on the MeetUp website, and our reach is not just statewide, but nationally. FreeOk, another local non-believer group, recently hosted their third statewide convention where a record number of participants enjoyed learning from speakers from across the country, including Dr. Lawrence Krauss. This community is growing, it’s active, it’s organized, and to ignore that is bad politics.
Good on Mr. Shadid for recognizing a growing and influential group of dedicated OKC citizens. It shows he has the pulse of the community and understands that all of us, especially the normally marginalized communities, have a stake and a say in how this city is to move forward.
The atheists that he is courting are also citizens of the city. They deserve to be heard and cared about by their mayor just as much as anyone else.
The thing is, the atheists don’t want any unreasonable changes in the city. They don’t want religious groups banned or churches shut down. They want the same things as everyone else: a clean city with lower crime and more opportunity for everyone. If Ed is the one to provide that for everyone, then that’s great.
Are we going to give the guy flack for not spitting in their faces and calling them devil-worshippers?
In reference to the ‘unorthodox’ photo of children with the words penis and vagina on their shirts:
You may want to research the program, perhaps read the shirts in full or, heaven forbid, talk to the director of the program before you decide it is not what people in Oklahoma want.
Maybe people in Oklahoma are tired of our state ranking 4th (highest) in the nation for the teen birth rate (just below Arkansas, Mississippi and New Mexico and above Texas). Maybe people in Oklahoma are tired of our state spending $190 million each year reacting to births to teens. Certainly fiscal conservatives must be frustrated by that fact.
The shirts are a health campaign, not a shock campaign. Too long, we have told our children they have pee pees, wee wees or cookies or whatever makes us comfortable, rather that using correct terminology. They learn all of their lives they should be ashamed and then we are surprised when they make mistakes based on limited knowledge. The backs of the shirts ask citizens to Stop the Shame and Start the Talks (not ‘The Talk’). The shirts actually read “Penis is not a bad word, it is a noun” and “Vagina is not a state on the East Coast”.
One middle school (6th to 8th grade) experienced 14 pregnancies the school year before we implemented our research-based, effective program in that school. Each of the five years we have taught there since, reports of pregnancies have dwindled to no more than two and most often zero pregnancies in a school year- as it should be.
Maybe, just maybe, Okie blogger, Oklahomans want to see more teens wait until they are adults and prepared to be parents before they have children. So does Dr. Shadid.
Note: We seek ‘active permission’ for program participation. All young people involved in our program, whether they are teaching lessons on peer pressures, social pressures, being assertive (ways to say ‘no’), or those being taught by their older peers, are required to have written parent / guardian consent before participating.
Could it be that it is Oklahoma politics, not Ed Shadid, that needs to change? It’s time my beloved state recognized certain realities in the world; realities which it has long been lacking in recognizing, and move into the 21st century, and do so without shame. Without shame over the sale and consumption of alcohol; without shame over what is not shameful, such as the legal use of marijuana, the calling of body parts what they are, and not worrying that someone is going to be embarrassed or shocked.
It’s time our state and our cities recognize this is the United States of AMERICA, not the United States of the First Baptist Church! I am not an Atheist. I am a faithful Christian. But I refuse to live in anyone’s theocracy, or under laws created in beliefs that we do not all share. EVERYONE is subject to the law. Not everyone goes to church, nor to those who do go to the same church. It’s time we recognized reality and stopped denying it. Ed Shadid would make Oklahoma City a great Mayor. Don’t let your own shame cause you to fail to recognize that.
I do not know much about Shadid, but your comment on the group of kids who are wearing shirts that say Penis and Vagina is unnecessary. The Teen Empower group is a teen organization that teaches sexuality education without judgment, shame, blame or guilt. The kids in the photographer are great kids!!! The organization did not need your comment. Clearly you are a reporter who do not get all your facts before writing a story.
Okie, are you ashamed of your body? Do you call a penis a “ding-dong” or a vagina a “girly part”, or perhaps only know female breasts as “boobs”? If you had to go to the doctor, would you feel comfortable talking to him about your genitals, or would you hang your head and whisper that there was a problem “you know… down there”?
Shame on you, Okie. The teens that he posed with are a non profit group aimed at decreasing the teen pregnancy rate of our children. They do this by teaching awareness, and that your body is not something to be ashamed of. If you are too embarrassed to say the word “penis” or “vagina”, then you are less likely to talk with your parents or doctor about sexual issues. Even more, if teens are taught to be ashamed of their bodies and feeling, they will not make wise decisions when it comes to their sexual activity. This group helps teens to know what the realities of sex are and how to be strong and make smart decisions that affect their health and future. Would you rather that we hide our knowledge of the human body from our students, show shame in discussing our bodies, and have our children make, quite bluntly, stupid decisions that get them pregnant or infected with STDs?
And while we’re here, where in the world does educating people about their bodies ever correlate with atheist views? I don’t see how his support of “penis” and “vagina” t-shirt wearing teens has any involvement with atheists. Unless, of course, you are saying that Christians prefer to be uneducated people, too embarrassed of their bodies to talk about the reality of teen pregnancy and sexual health? I, as a strong Christian, am not ashamed of the body God gave me. I am aware of how to take care of it, protect it, and talk about it. Every bit of it, vagina and all.
My suggestion is that you do some actual investigations before writing your next column so that you know at least the minimum amount of information before making negative comments.
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Since when did atheists become bad people? Just because they don’t attend a religious service I suppose to the Okie’s logic that must mean they worship the devil (Psst, Okie.. those people are Satanists, not atheists), or people who like to do mean things (those people are called jerks and infest all religious organizations) . Atheists just don’t believe in a religious doctrine. It doesn’t mean they don’t have similar morals to most of the Oklahoman community. Every atheist I have ever met has been a fine person, with a strong sense of justice, fairness, and humanity for all people.
But, if we think like the Okie, then Fred Phelps is a strong Christian, so he must be a fantastic guy. Should we ask Ed Shadid to support Fred Phelps? It sounds like the Okie doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Next thing you know, it’ll be unorthodox for ladies to wear pants.
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Ed Shadid is a truly independent and progressive voice in Oklahoma City. He will not be owned by any special interest group, but wants all groups of people to have a voice. Oklahoma City is poised to become a truly great city beyond the greatness of the NBA and high-dollar projects downtown. Ed believes in building the urban fabric of our city and wants to move the city forward without leaving anyone behind.
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Although I am an orthodox theist who doesn’t share Councilman Shadid’s economic policy preferences, I too find nothing wrong with his choice to speak to a gathered group of folks whose reason for gathering is perfectly ethical, legal and honorable even if it is different than my own way of thinking.
I admit I know little about the group with whom the picture was taken, nor about its overall goals or the goals of the T-shirts and the gathering, but I am willing to take on good faith the above commenters who suggest those goals are sensible and in the best interests of Oklahoma children unless someone shows me a good reason to believe otherwise.
Which is why, if I were still living in Oklahoma City, I would not vote for Councilman Shadid, as he has removed the photos from his own Twitter feed and may have asked for his appearance at the atheists’ meeting to be stricken from theirs. Since there is in fact nothing wrong with either of the incidents described in the blog entry, there is no reason to remove their mention except cowardice. Even Mayor Cornett’s slick grin would be preferable.
I know where I’m not moving. You amoral dbags can’t find your own pe*nis with both hands.
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Thank you very much, Kathy, for explaining the purpose and history of the t-shirts mentioned in the article. The author(s) should feel ashamed for implying the t-shirts said nothing but “penis” or “vagina,” and giving no other information about the reason children were wearing them for a photo with Shadid. A link to the picture with a simple statement that Shadid supported an unorthodox but hugely successful sex education program would have been appropriate.
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