Doorway to Little Dixie quiet as primary nears

PRIMARY VOTERS Shelley Bond looks up from reading her newspaper at the Harbor Mountain Coffeehouse in McAlester, Okla., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004. "I'm just not that interested in politics. You never know who's going to tell you the truth," Bond said, in talking about upcoming presidential primary. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

By Clayton Bellamy

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) _ The only political signs one could find recently in this gateway to the southeastern Oklahoma Democratic stronghold known as Little Dixie were in the windows of a congressional candidate's campaign office.

With the state's most important Democratic presidential primary drawing near one might have expected to see more than just Kalyn Free's downtown campaign headquarters.

Where were the Clark, Dean, Edwards or Lieberman lawn signs?

Even the barbershops, those cliche centers of small town discussion, were quiet in Pittsburg County, where Democrats outnumber Republicans five to one.

"We don't have too much (political talk) in here," said Wayne Grogan, owner of The Barber Shop, a plank-porched shop complete with a spinning, striped pole just east of downtown on the Carl Albert Expressway.

The apparent listlessness among casual voters here leading into the Feb. 3 primary comes in stark contrast to the buzzing of the candidates and the party activists, who officials say are unusually energized.

Five presidential hopefuls, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, Sens. John Edwards and Joe Lieberman and Rep. Dennis Kucinich have active campaigns in Oklahoma, and all have made visits to the state and run commercials here.

Oklahoma became more attractive to candidates when the Legislature changed the date of its primary to earlier in the election season, while the nomination is still in play.

"For years, Oklahoma has had candidates just fly over," said Tulsa County Democratic chairwoman Elaine Dodd. "This is an unusual event for Democrats in Oklahoma. Nothing is a bigger turn-on for anyone than to get to meet these people in person."

It's meant that the Democratic faithful, those that get involved in campaigns every election year despite the state's Republican leanings, have been lining up to join campaigns.

Also, the early primary, the large number of candidates and dissatisfaction with President Bush has brought out Democrats who don't normally volunteer, according to party officials.

"The activists seem to be far more engaged this early in the election cycle," said state Democratic Party chairman Jay Parmley. "Crowds for presidential candidates' visits have been very good."

An August forum for the candidates at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater drew 5,600 Democrats. And candidates have routinely been drawing more than 100 supporters at events around the state, party officials said.

All the campaigning has gotten the attention of Christy McDonald, although her work in quality assurance at Simonton Windows in McAlester will prevent her from volunteering.

"I've just gotten a big charge out of the whole dynamic, the strong personalities," McDonald said after eating lunch at The Meeting Place, a popular dining destination downtown.

McDonald, 42, said she's as much excited by Dean and Clark as she is skeptical of Bush and the war in Iraq.

"It wasn't something I thought was necessary," said McDonald, who has volunteered for campaigns in the past. "But the initial conflict of the war was conducted with a lot of restraint, not a lot of barbarism."

The attention lavished on Oklahoma, particularly Democratic southeastern Oklahoma, has reached unprecedented lengths in some counties.

Edwards, the North Carolina senator who's been emphasizing his rural background in campaign stops here, became the first presidential candidate ever to visit McCurtain County when he spent the night in Idabel.

"Because of that he has the edge over all the other Democratic presidential nominees down here," said Cissy Crusoe, chairwoman of the McCurtain County Democratic Party, who described Democrats there as "Christian Democrats. We are not liberals. We are moderate to conservative."

The advertisements, fly-ins and news coverage hasn't missed Shelley Bond. She's just not getting involved.

"I've just read about the candidates in the paper, but I haven't really thought about going or attending (any events)," said Bond, reading The Oklahoman at the Harbor Mountain Coffeehouse in McAlester.

"I'm just not that interested in politics," said Bond, 40, explaining further, "You never know who's going to tell you the truth."

Though it's hard to predict because the primary has never been this early, voter turnout is expected between 250,000 to 300,000, Parmley said. A typical turnout for past cycles was 115,000, he said.

The challenge for the Democrats, who haven't had a presidential candidate win the state since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, is to keep the momentum going until November as they try to make Oklahoma a state that's always in play.

"The Democrats always get 40-41 percent of the vote," Parmley said. "Our goal is to get it closer. We want to get it to 43 percent or 45 percent in a few years. If we can, we become a target because it's doable."