Never Learn

A couple of weeks ago, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee forgot that he was just as likely to welcome 2017 as a private citizen if he sought the Republican nomination as he was if he didn't seek it and made some noises about considering a bid.

So just after Christmas, former Oklahoma State Senator Randy Brogdon seems to have done something similar, only in a more official way. Brogdon will actually run to challenge incumbent Governor Mary Fallin for the GOP nomination for governor. Though I hold conservative positions on many issues, I am no fan of Gov. Fallin, who is a small-scale version of the all-image, little-substance-and-even-less-ability politician dominating many levels of government today and writ largest at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

But has Mr. Brogdon done anything since his 2010 bid for the nomination managed to scare up a whopping 39% of the vote to suggest he can defeat Gov. Fallin, who now wields the mighty mallet of incumbency? No, unless being appointed the Deputy Commissioner of the Fraud and Investigations Unit by Insurance Commissioner John Doak has mystical powers of which I am unaware.

Who challenges Gov. Fallin for the nomination is a moot question for me, since I'm not a registered Republican, and Mr. Brogdon's decision will affect me marginally less than it will Gov. Fallin. But when I look at the "major names" involved in next year's gubernatorial race and realize that our state will make its choices from among Gov. Prom Queen, the guy who could barely get a third of the conservative-minded people he claims are his natural constituency to vote for him last time and a guy who doesn't mind harvesting organs from still-living people, I wonder why I -- or anyone -- should show up in November.