Then, inexplicably, the man disappeared from the campaign trail only to re-emerge in the last month before the election.  Unsurprisingly, no one is talking about Congressman Mike Thompson.

One theory we heard during the campaign was that Thompson wasn’t really thrilled when the primary field got as crowded as it did, which led him to seek another job as a “back-up.”  Thus, the lethargic campaign.   From one credible source within the business community, we know Thompson was inquiring about a potential lobbying job even as he ran for Congress.

Now that theory is gaining steam.  We’ve learned that Thompson is seeking lobbyist positions with several different organizations, including the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, several transportation organizations, including T.R.U.S.T., and at least one other group seeking a lobbyist.

It appears Thompson has cast a wide net in search for employment.  But that net only falls among groups looking for a professional lobbyist.  Of course, there’s not wrong with Thompson wanting to be a lobbyist or the groups seeking a lobbyist, but it does reinforce the widely-held notion that politician use their office in order to attain a high-paying lobbying job.

We’ll see which group chooses Thompson or which group Thompson chooses to lobby for.  It looks like he may have many options.

Until we resume our normal load, here’s something good stuff for you:

Doing the math for State Question 744.

Andy Spiropoulos shows how SQ 744 will destroy Oklahoma’s budget and require the state to raise taxes on basically everyone and cut several necessary services.

Do Class Sizes Matter?

Related to SQ 744 is the argument that smaller class sizes are better for education.  In fact,  there is little measurable benefit to decreasing class sizes.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Public Pensions. This is a warning for what’s to come in Oklahoma.  If you think the financial bust was big, the pension bust will make it look like a stroll through Disneyland.

The Medicare Reform Illusion.  Of course the Democrats lied to us when they spoke about Medicare reform. And of course the latest report showing Medicare’s fiscal outlook improved is a dream.  Bush’s HHS secretary dismantles the reform illusion here.

Calvey leads 5th District race, but who is 2nd?

That leaves us with James Lankford, the charismatic youth minister. Of the three main challengers to Calvey’s first place standing, Okie Pundit believes that Lankford is the one to watch. His main assets are his non-government/political background and his army of excited and involved volunteers.

…

Lankford will be able to separate himself from Calvey, Jett, and Thompson by running as a political outsider, where he can credibly claim no connection to the poisonous political atmosphere. He also doesn’t have the vulnerability of making, or having made, controversial votes.

If the race were held today, Okie Pundit predicts a surprising second place finish for Lankford. Watch him as the election approaches. If he can raise just enough money to compete with Thompson on air (we’re talking quality, not quantity of ads), Lankford is the one to watch.

June 11, 2010:

OP Prediction: James Lankford will be next Oklahoma Congressman

A few months back, we surprised a lot of people by predicting that James Lankford, a virtually unknown Republican candidate running for Congress in OK-5, would make a run-off with Kevin Calvey if the election were held at that time. Our prediction came on the basis of a close examination of important factors guiding the race: candidate enthusiasm, volunteer enthusiasm, status in the public eye, etc.

Calvey was one of the first GOP candidates to enter the race and he hasn’t stopped campaigning since. He’s attended and spoken at numerous events across the district and has buttressed these efforts by running compelling television ads on Fox News that highlight his pro-life views and military service.

We have been following this race closely from the beginning, so we get reports in nearly every day about the state of the campaign. Based on those reports, we are now confident in predicting that James Lankford will win the Republican primary, most likely in a run-off.

August 24, 2010:

The Oklahoman: Lankford Wins GOP’s 5th District Nomination

Political newcomer James Lankford completed his sweep on Tuesday of legislative veterans, easily dispatching former state lawmaker Kevin Calvey in the Republican runoff for the congressional district that includes Oklahoma City.

One of the criticisms we’ve heard return in recent weeks concerns the cost of the Iraq war. Democrats cite the cost of the war as proof that they are more trustworthy with the nation’s pocketbook. Of course, this talking point conveniently ignores the fact that they, by and large, voted in favor of the Iraq war, and when they were in control of Congress, passed every single war funding bill that came before them. Furthermore, now that they have full control of the government, they’ve even expanded the war in Afghanistan–the one of the two wars that virtually no one believes can be won through “nation-building.” These are inescapable facts.

Now, a CBO analysis has been completed that shows Mr. Obama’s “stimulus” bill cost our nation more than the entire Iraq war, and we probably got a whole lot less for it.

Obama’s stimulus, passed in his first month in office, will cost more than the entire Iraq War — more than $100 billion (15%) more.

* Just the first two years of Obama’s stimulus cost more than the entire cost of the Iraq War under President Bush, or six years of that war.

* Iraq War spending accounted for just 3.2% of all federal spending while it lasted.

* Iraq War spending was not even one quarter of what we spent on Medicare in the same time frame.

* Iraq War spending was not even 15% of the total deficit spending in that time frame. The cumulative deficit, 2003-2010, would have been four-point-something trillion dollars with or without the Iraq War.

* The Iraq War accounts for less than 8% of the federal debt held by the public at the end of 2010 ($9.031 trillion).

* During Bush’s Iraq years, 2003-2008, the federal government spent more on education that it did on the Iraq War. (State and local governments spent about ten times more.)

Just some handy facts to recall during coming weeks as Obama and his congressional Democratic buddies get more desperate to put the blame for their spending policies on Bush and the war in Iraq. For more from Hoven, go here.

Read more at the Washington Examiner.

You remember the late 20th-centry GOP, right? They were the rag-tag band of crazy dreamers who managed to take over Congress in 1994 and, with the help of a pliant but deft Democratic president, give us kinda-sorta balanced budgets within a few years. Then, when they got full control of the federal government, blew the doors off any semblance of spending, foreign policy, and regulatory constraint (yes, it’s all true).

And, arguably worst of all, they took what even Democrats in the mid-’00s conceded was looking like a “permanent Republican majority” into a series of slam-dunk wins for the party of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama and all the goddamn stupidity that that implies.

The best strategy in electoral politics is to let the other party drive the country into a ditch every once in a while. That way, you can take back the House or the Senate or 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue without actually doing any serious work. And by fiddling while Rome burns and playing to useless side issues rather than putting forth a serious counter agenda.

With that in mind, here’s three reasons why the Reps aren’t serious about advancing any sort of real reform when they get in office. Keep in mind it’s mere months before midterms when they just might take over one house of the gummint.

Click here to read the three compelling reasons why conservatives should worry that Republicans will simply revert back to their days of being Democrat-lite.

Oklahoma students’ average ACT score for 2010 was 20.7–the same as last year.  The national average is 21.

According to a report, Oklahoma’s ACT score remained stable due to an increase in science scores accompanied by a decrease in reading and English scores.  Mathematics scores were flat. 

But is the fact that scores haven’t improved bad news?  Not necessarily. 

This year 1,289 additional students took the ACT, an increase of nearly 5%.  When you consider this, the score trend doesn’t seem so disappointing.   Adding more students into the pool of test takers tends to lower the score average because you’re now likely getting a lot of students who are just thinking of attending college for the first time in their life.  Those students generally don’t perform as well as students who have been preparing for college since their freshman year.

The other bright spot is that Oklahoma’s African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans all scored higher than their national counterparts.  This includes a 30% increase in Hispanics’ scores.

To remain economically competitive, Oklahomans must send more high school students to college or higher education of some sort.  Oklahoma has an astonishingly low number of college graduates in the state.  Only 20% of our people have at least a Bachelor’s degree, compared to the national average of 24%. 

We’re getting a new Superintendent this year.  Let’s choose wisely and pick one who will focus on improving students achievement and our college-ready and workforce-ready status.

It’s fair game, too.  Democrats idiotically criticized President Bush for taking several vacations to his ranch in Texas throughout his eight years in office.  Now that the shoe is on the other foot, they’re shocked–SHOCKED– that anyone possess the audacity to criticize the president’s vacationing ways.

Though it is fair game because Democrats indulged in this bit of stupidity, that doesn’t make the criticism not stupid when Republicans do it.  The criticism doesn’t even make sense.  Why would Republicans want Obama back in Washington doing, as we see it, more damage to the country?  Let the man take a vacation 364 days out of the year.  The country would be much better off for it.

Washington needs to do less, not more.  Obama taking vacations only helps.