Could be an interesting show. Elaine Dodd, a sincerely warm and caring person, is a great choice to represent the Democrat position.

However, Bill LaFortunate is a RINO, who lost against challenger Cathy Taylor simply because he had severely alienated his GOP base.

In 3.5 years, local Republicans figured out that Bill LaFortunate was a Republican-in-Name-Only. He happily shilled for higher taxes of all kinds, running contrary to the alleged core principals of the GOP: LOWER Taxes and SMALLER Government.

His record includes the enormous income transfer under Di-Vision 2025 FROM Tulsa's poor and middle class principally TO the already wealthy Flint, Rooney, Kaiser and Lorton Families, a doubling to $250 million of the General Obligation Bond Issue from a previous record of $125 million, and he even morphed the 26-year "Temporary" Itty-Bitty Penny Third Penny Sales Tax into a perpetual tax with NO TERMINATION DATE, and with spending for roads and streets falling below 50% for the first time to a dismal 28%.

So, while I'd be interested in hearing what Elaine Dodd has to say, I won't be wasting my time watching a has-been, former failure of a RINO Mayor explain local GOP positions.

Sorry if I've sugar-coated my remarks, again.

Bob, what Republican in Congress is *actually* acting on their so-called principles of lower taxes and smaller government? Based on the huge number of earmarks and a spiraling federal deficit, it'd have to be a tiny minority.

Based on LaFortune's actions, he seems to be a fairly typical Republican.

W:

After 10 years of Mayor Savage, core GOP'ers were hungry for a change. LaFortunate ran on his family name, and he also ran as a REFORMER. UnLaFortunately, he reformed NOTHING.

He re-cycled the same favors-trading network on the self-same city boards (i.e. the Cameron and Reyonolds Affair), kept Demo hold-overs like City Attorney Martha Rupp Carter on to stab him in the back, and suborned the good work of the bi-partisan "Gang of Five" Reform Alliance led by Medlock, Mautino, Henderson and Turner by creating a $90K per year job to seduce Benedict Arnold Roop.

There is still a small scattering of true believer GOP'ers in Congress (AZ GOP Rep. Jeff Flake, TX Ron Paul, and our own Senator Tom Coburn along with and Sen. Grassley from IA).

The problem is unfortunately with the leadership in both the House and Senate.

The Third-Runner-Up for Speaker Dennis Hastert has morphed into the ghost of Tax-And-Spend Champion former Speaker Tip O'Neil, with fellow Republicans now tripping over themselves imitating the likes of former Vietname War Hero Rep. Duke Cunningham (now Felonious Zero Duke Cunningham Federal Inmate #123456789) with $BILLION$ in wasteful pork-spending anonymous Earmarks in every spending bill.

Mr. Hastert's fellow Republicans need to start practicing saying over and over and over to themselves:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Speaker Nancy Pelosi...........

I don't begrudge LaFortune his spotlight, but one of the recent Tulsa County Republican chairmen -- maybe Bob Boyd or Don Burdick -- would have been a better choice and a better matchup for Elaine.

Bob, the fact you concur with my observation begs the question -- if the Republicans are spending money like old-time Democrats, what difference would it make who is House Speaker this fall?

Other than the fact the current minority party doesn't support the disaster that's the Iraq War, of course.

Why speculate at this juncture? We can just wait until November '06 and see.

My betting is that the nation's voters are going to give George W. Bush a "REGIME CHANGE", but not in the country that he's expecting it in: The U.S.A.

If the Democrats take over Congress, they will then proceed to make GWBush's last two years in office be Total Misery, very similar to how his first 9 months in office were before 9-11, calling hearings about virtually everything he's done wrong:

--The $500 Billions in cost of the Quaqmire War in Iraq,
--Halliburton's ill-gotten $Billions in Iraq,

--Customs Service Spiking the delivery of Canadian Rx Drugs imports to sick, poor Americans,
--$3.00/gallon gasoline and RECORD OIL COMPANY OBSCENE PROFITS for his Oil Company Buddies, etc., etc. etc.

He'll probably want to then just spend the rest of his term at either Camp David or his Crawford Ranch.