Fifth District Congresswoman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Mary Fallin took to the airwaves recently saying she was “insulted” by comments J.C. Watts has made about the current choices for governor.
Watts, who is strongly considering a gubernatorial bid himself, has said recently that he believes Oklahoma Republicans aren’t completely satisfied with their current choices for governor.
If Fallin is “insulted” by that comment, as she says, then it wouldn’t be the first time a politician got their ego bruised.
But more than the give and take between Mary and J.C., I think there is an underlying story to explore here.
The relationship between Fallin apologist Mike McCarville and the Fallin campaign has some pretty interesting ties. A brief examination of these ties explains why the McCarville Report and KTOK have already run more than a dozen stories critical of Watts in the last 45 days even though Watts has yet to announce whether he’s a candidate for governor.
McCarville, a long time broadcaster on KTOK, has already run a half a dozen stories or posts on his blog critical of J.C. Watts, including the remark that Watts is only supported by “conservatives who like the idea of helping elect a black Republican.” . And now, KTOK and McCarville are the first to defend Mary when she is feeling “insulted.”
The Fallin campaign uses McCarville and KTOK to criticize JC Watts and now Fallin is the one crying foul? It all adds up to the Fallin campaign essentially throwing the rock and then hiding its hand.
There’s another connection between the Fallin campaign and KTOK. Fallin’s Chief of Staff, Nate Webb was once upon a time a reporter at KTOK. It is more than coincidental that Fallin chose that radio station to express her hurt feelings. And of course McCarville wasn’t far behind, giving Fallin an online forum to talk about how “insulted” she felt about J.C.’s comments. (Comments, for the record, that J.C. said were only meant to reflect what voters were sharing with him, not meant to attack the other candidates.)
But what I think is most interesting is all of the speculation and news reporting being given to JC when he’s not even an announced candidate. I think that its pretty good evidence of JC’s tremendous star power and his popularity among Oklahomans – no wonder other candidates and their cohorts in the media are feeling the heat.
You are exactly right on this issue. She is looking a little petty at this point. Fallin knows she can’t afford to sit on her hands where J.C. is concerned. If he does announce he will immediately be the front runner. She will be playing catch-up from the beginning so instead she will have to risk looking petty by throwing stones before he even announces just to try and land a lucky shot.
Look, the fact is JC is correct, whether McCarville and KTOK like him or not. I don’t know of many Republicans who are happy to choose between Fallin and Brogdon. Though I have some problems with him, I would gladly welcome JC into the race and support him.