Why

Since I launched the new blog last week I have been asked numerous times why. Why are you wanting to be a politician? Why would you even dare to run as a democrat in Oklahoma? Why are you putting this added pressure on yourself as you start your new journey in law school? I respond to these questions with my stern ambitious attitude why not.

Why wouldn't I want to help make an impact in preserving our Oklahoman values and progressing the state and the northeast Oklahoma region forward. These initiatives would help make this region the shining example for business development and the opportune area to live in Oklahoma. I respond to those who ask why democrat with the response, that when selecting someone to represent your values I believe in selecting someone not by party affiliations but by their track record. I feel that our preconceived thoughts and passed down ideology about politics makes us prejudice about individuals who are actually trying to make an impact for the good. It is about having individuals with a clear vision that is pure without a hidden agenda. Pure, is when the goal is for the elected official to actually have tangible goals for their people they represent that are not driven with personal payoff in mind. Only when we elect these officials and support these officials no matter their political party will Oklahoma achieve their greatest accomplishments that will benefit all Oklahomans. Forget your petty differences with those in office if they weren't your first choice and ask them how can we support you to help the greater good. Paraphrasing JFK, it is not about what your country can do for you but it is about what you can do for your country.

When asked why would I want to add something else to my already busy life, I tell those individuals that I am chasing the American Dream. Just like my ancestors who rode a boat from their native land to America in hope of a new beginning for their family and a future that was more prosperous than what it would have been in their former country, I chase that dream. To escape from an area from where the socioeconomic factors set forth a preconceived limitation for those that are raised in that area. I want to show that anything is possible if you work hard enough. It is not about building a prosperous life for myself it is about empowering others to do good and to change their lives. That is why I do what I do because I want to empower individuals like my sisters who grew up in the same economic strife to be ambitious and to back those dreams with hard work. I have big goals but they are grounded because of the reasons behind them.

It will be a balancing act to balance my law studies, my family, my fiance, and my political dreams but it is about making an impact that affects the greater good for my fellow citizens. Long live democracy and long live Oklahoma.

Anthony William Tucker (AWT)

The Dream Begins: Oklahoma Democratic Party Blue U Training

The dream to serve my fellow Oklahomans was an inherited trait. I have always dreamed of having the ability to empower those around me. Now, to set the record straight it doesn't take being an elected official to empower those but being an elected official has the privilege of having more open ears of both citizens and the business community. This decision is a big commitment and starts with exploratory research to see if this is a possibility after working with those in politics.

I recently attended the Blue U training presented by the Oklahoma Democratic Party to learn more about how to research voters and how to raise funds in Oklahoma City. The training session was from 9-3 pm at OklahomaCity Community College in OKC, OK. The event was packed full of potential democratic candidates with different stories to tell about what led them to this event. The training session had lots of great information on how to analyze the voters in a potential district for Oklahoma or federal congress. This tool was a lot like the market research tools that I have used throughout the last two years of college and within my multiple marketing positions. This tool will be of the essence when figuring out if a potential district is winnable or not. This will also help in mapping out areas for volunteers to knock on doors via a Google Maps integration.

Besides the database tools there was a great session taught by a young professional who is just now entering the campaign management field as he discussed how to calculate how many votes one needs to win a district. This also spanned discussing how to calculate the number of votes that you can count on based on past elections and how many votes on top of those committed votes will you need to reach 50% plus 1 vote. As he vividly explained, you only need 50% of that district’s votes plus 1 vote to win that district. This individual also was able to calculate how many doors and phones needed to be knocked or rang to get to the “win number” or the number of votes it will take to get to 50% plus 1 vote in that district.

After this youthful and confident individual was done with their thorough presentation it was now time for the Oklahoma Democratic Party’sexecutive chair’s time to discuss how to fund-raise. All hopes and dreams for a potential candidate can be crushed or brought to fruition based on the success of the candidate’s fundraising campaign. This southern heritage individual had many years of experience of campaign management for all types of campaigns and you could tell that this individual loved what they did by their level of intensity when discussing the content. This executive chair taught the class, who is made up of individuals seeking office from throughout the panhandle state, about the four different type of potential donors, the ways to reach these individuals, and how to position your messaging to these individuals. I thought to myself, messaging is one of the biggest parts of marketing and branding companies so I thought it would be a breeze to get through this session, I was wrong. This arrogance ended up getting me chosen as the volunteer for the session’s simulated phone call with a potential donor. The executive chair took the time at the beginning of his presentation to have everyone in the room to introduce their selves. Therefore everyone in the room now knew that I was born and raised in Washington County, received my undergraduate degree in RogersCounty, and have spent numerous hours recently in Nowata County training theirbusinesses on how to build a strategic marketing plan that leverages onlineassets. Now, back to the exercise, I was to talk with a potential donor for my campaign in Washington County that was a former fellow church member that I knew during my childhood, relational donor. The whole class watched me as I and the actor playing my former fellow church member faced different sides of the room like we were on an old dating show. Now that the mood is set correctly, now you can imagine the sweat dripping from my forehead and my heart beating faster, I began the phone call. I closed my eyes took a deep breath and just imagined I was talking to a swing voter from Washington County that I knew since I was a young kid. Confidence now was setting in and now I let the phone call play out. Whew, success and approval from others in the room.

Besides the great invaluable information that was learned at this training session I also had the great opportunity to meet with Tom Guild who is a democrat who is seeking US Congress for district 5 in the state of Oklahoma in 2014. Go to find out after we got the pleasantries out of the way Tom was a Sooner High School graduate, former Bartlesville High School that was located on the east side of town during the town’s history of having two smaller high schools before consolidating to one big high school in 1982, and Tom sung me the Sooner High School fight song, what a sight. Not only did I learn a ton of information and got the opportunity to plant a seed in some of the party’s constituents that I am dedicated to representing my fellow Oklahomans but I was able to make contact with Tom Guild, a fellow Bartian, that I plan on helping through my marketing background to help Tom get to his win number in district 5 for US Congress. This future work that I will commit to Tom’s campaign will provide dividends for the entire democratic campaign as the party looks to turn the state of Oklahoma purple (Split the house and senate between republicans and democrats).

As always I know this venture is down the line for me as I look to conquer law school beginning in August but learning as much as I can before that day comes and networking is essential for being relevant. Till that day comes I will continue to try to be a pioneer and show my sisters and fellow lower middle class constituents that anything is possible with hard work and strategic planning. Long live democracy and long live the great state of Oklahoma.

Sincerely,

Anthony William Tucker (AWT)