Sources: Democrats Plan Attack On Fallin?

Washington and Oklahoma City sources tell The McCarville Report Online today that Democrat operatives are discussing a possible attack on Lt. Governor Mary Fallin, Republican nominee for Congress in the 5th District, within the next five weeks.

The attack likely won't come from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which does not list Fallin's race with Democrat Dr. David Hunter on its priority list, even though it does encourage donations to his campaign on its website. Two sources say they heard over the weekend of the planned assault on Fallin; it would focus, they say, on Fallin's divorce from Dr. Joe Fallin and the resignation of her Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper bodyguard for "unprofessional conduct" in 1998. The goal, one source speculated, probably is to "sully" Fallin's reputation at the national level, where the controversy is not well known, and thus diminish her effectiveness should she win.

In Oklahoma City, a consultant says he has heard the attack on Fallin is being encouraged by Frosty Troy, editor of the liberal Oklahoma Observer, and by those in the Oklahoma AFL-CIO; both Troy and the AFL-CIO have endorsed Hunter, a novice making his first political race. Fallin's work on behalf of right to work marked her as an organized labor target. Troy, who is paid by the National Education Association to make speeches to NEA audiences, has been hyper-critical of Fallin for years. The NEA also has endorsed Hunter. The consultant said organized labor might launch an attack on Fallin similar to the attack they launched against then-State Senator Dave Herbert, D-Midwest City, in 2002. Herbert voted for right to work and organized labor here targeted him for defeat. Herbert was defeated in the Democratic primary, losing to IBEW member and no-name Joe Smith; Smith then was defeated in the general election by Republican Cliff Aldridge.

Whether Hunter's Washington media consulting firm is involved is unknown. The Washington source said he doubts it, but he does note numerous "connections" that play into the attack scenario. The firm, LHKK Media, represents the DCCC, the NEA and some organized labor groups as well as other far-left entities. A vice president of the firm, Sarah Flowers, is an Oklahoman who previously worked for Congressman Brad Carson. She is listed as a "progressive issues specialist," "progressive" being the in-vogue alternative to "liberal."

Fallin's past has been the subject of numerous posts on the "Democrats of Oklahoma" chat board.

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