Political Pulse

WASHINGTON (AP) - Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former Democratic
presidential candidate now supporting Barack Obama, said Sunday
John McCain’s military service does not automatically qualify him
to be commander in chief.
Underscoring during a national television appearance a position
he has been expressing for several weeks, Clark said performing
heroic military service is not a substitute for gaining command
experience.

“In the matters of national security policy making, it’s a
matter of understanding risk,” he said on CBS’ “Face the
Nation.” “It’s a matter of gauging your opponents and it’s a
matter of being held accountable. John McCain’s never done any of
that in his official positions. I certainly honor his service as a
prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands
and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war.
“He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee and
he has traveled all over the world, but he hasn’t held executive
responsibility,” Clark said. “That large squadron in the Navy
that he commanded - that wasn’t a wartime squadron.”
Moderator Bob Schieffer, who raised the issue by citing similar
remarks Clark has made previously, noted that Obama hadn’t had
those experiences nor had he ridden in a fighter plane and been
shot down. “Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and
getting shot down is a qualification to be president,” Clark
replied.
In a March conference call with reporters while he was still
backing Hillary Rodham Clinton, Clark said: “Everybody admires
John McCain’s service as a fighter pilot, his courage as a prisoner
of war. There’s no issue there. He’s a great man and an honorable
man. But having served as a fighter pilot - and I know my
experience as a company commander in Vietnam - that doesn’t prepare
you to be commander in chief in terms of dealing with the national
strategic issues that are involved. It may give you a feeling for
what the troops are going through in the process, but it doesn’t
give you the experience first hand of the national strategic
issues.”
He reiterated that position last week in an article on The
Huffington Post Web site.
“If Barack Obama’s campaign wants to question John McCain’s
military service, that’s their right,” McCain spokesman Brian
Rogers said after Clark’s appearance Sunday. “But let’s please
drop the pretense that Barack Obama stands for a new type of
politics. The reality is he’s proving to be a typical politician
who is willing to say anything to get elected, including allowing
his campaign surrogates to demean and attack John McCain’s military
service record.”
Clark won the 2004 Democratic Presidential Primary in Oklahoma before dropping out of the 2004 presidential campaign. He is a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - While Republicans have made inroads in the
Oklahoma Legislature in recent years, Democratic Gov. Brad Henry
has grabbed firm control of the state bureaucracy by making more
than 3,000 appointments to boards, commissions and other posts.
Nearing the halfway point in his second term, Henry has made
3,328 appointments to nearly 300 boards and commissions, everything
from the Oklahoma Peanut Commission to boards of regents that
oversee institutions of higher learning.
According to figures obtained from the governor’s office, Henry
now has named a majority of members to about 290 boards and
commissions that oversee government agencies and programs.
As only the third Oklahoma governor to serve consecutive terms,
Henry joins Democrat George Nigh and Republican Frank Keating as
the chief executives who have left the biggest mark on state
government through appointments.
Because of unusual circumstances, Henry will have appointed at
least four people to statewide elective offices before his second
term is up.
And Henry may well have appointed a majority of the members of
the Oklahoma Supreme Court before he leaves state government. Henry
has selected four justices on the nine-member panel so far.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Candidates for a seat on the Oklahoma
Corporation Commission say rising energy prices will place a new
emphasis on the panel’s duty to assure that Oklahomans have
reliable and affordable ways to power their homes and businesses.

State Representative Rob Johnson faces former administrative law
judge Dana Murphy next month in the Republican primary. The winner
will face Democratic Commissioner Jim Roth in the November
election.

Roth was appointed to the Corporation Commission by Governor
Henry to replace Denise Bode, who resigned to take a position with
a private foundation.
The race comes as the price of oil sits at a record high price
of more than $140 per barrel and natural gas is approching its
highest price ever.

WILSON, Okla. (AP) - Services are scheduled Wednesday for a state lawmaker from southern Oklahoma who was killed in a farming accident.
A funeral will be held at the Ardmore Convention Center at 2 p.m. Wednesday for former state Rep. Terry Hyman. Hyman was a Democrat seeking a third consecutive term in the state Legislature.
He died Friday night after being run over by his tractor while brush-hogging on his farm near Leon.
A family visitation is planned Tuesday night at the Alexander Funeral Home in Wilson.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol reports today that the 56-year-old Hyman was apparently standing beside his tractor when it lunged forward and knocked him to the ground.
Troopers say a brush hog then rolled over Hyman, who was discovered dead late last night at his farm near Leon.
State Democratic Party chairman Ivan Holmes says Hyman was one of the party’s more popular state representatives.
Hyman was a former club rodeo coach at Oklahoma State University and Love County commissioner. He was elected to the state House in 2004 with 60 percent of the vote and won re-election two years later with an even higher margin of 63 percent.
He was unopposed in the Democratic primary this year and was to face Republican Sean Oliver of Madill in the November election. His district includes parts of Carter, Love and Marshall counties.
The Oklahoma Democratic Party will hold a conference call on Tuesday, July 1, to pick a replacement for Hyman on the November General Election ballot.

Big congratulations to two student filmmakers from Jenks (OK) High School who recently received the top prize in C-SPAN’s 2008 StudentCam national video documentary contest. Nick Poss and Scott Mitchell’s short film, “Leaving Religion at the Door,” won the $5,000 grand prize and aired on C-SPAN on April 27. The film involves people from different religions discussing the role of their faith in politics. C-SPAN asked entrants to focus their documentaries on an issue that was important to them in this year’s presidential race.

[video:flv:http://jpscinema.com/movies/January_2008_Flash_Videos/CP_CspanGrand.flv]

To view Poss and Mitchell’s film, click on the link provided, and under Cinema Plus select “C-SPAN Grand Prize Winner": http://www.jpscinema.com/