By Shelley Conroy
Congressional Quarterly

Electoral votes: 8

Delegates: 52

Chairman: Mike Mass

Hotel: Hollywood Roosevelt (323) 466-7000

1996 Election:
Dole – 48%
Clinton – 40%
Perot – 11%

Although the majority of Oklahoma's registered voters are Democrats, that has become a statistical anomaly in state politics.

It is a vestige of Oklahoma's heritage as a stronghold of conservative Southern Democrats. While the rest of the South has trended to the Republican Party in recent years, the Sooner State has virtually raced in that direction.

That trend was felt first in Oklahoma's presidential politics. There are few states in which this year's Democratic standard bearer, Vice President Al Gore, appears more of a long shot: In the 12 presidential elections since 1952, Oklahoma has gone Republican 11 times; the exception was in the 1964 national landslide of President Lyndon B. Johnson from neighboring Texas.

President Ronald Reagan ran up 69 percent of the Oklahoma vote in his 1984 re-election bid. Even the Republicans who lost the past two presidential elections easily carried Oklahoma.

Republican influence has spread into Oklahoma's state and local races. With a big surge in the early 1990s, Republicans have captured all eight of the state's congressional seats. Republican Gov. Frank Keating received considerable notice this summer as a possible vice presidential running mate for Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

As a result, the Oklahoma Democrats - never a very liberal party by any stretch of the imagination - are emphasizing their centrist philosophy as they attempt to get back in their state's political game.

The state's Democratic Party is described on its Web site as "the Party squarely in the center of the political spectrum." State Democratic Party Executive Director Gordon Melson - who will attend the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, though not as a delegate - echoed that sentiment.

"Oklahoma's registered Democrats as a whole seem to be more in synch with the centrist approach of the party," Melson said. He also pointed out that many of the state's Democratic state legislators and party officers share the "New Democrat" tendencies emphasized by President Clinton and Gore during their 1992 and 1996 campaigns and their two terms in office.

Jay Parmley, national president of the Young Democrats organization and an Oklahoma delegate to the convention, said, "Oklahoma Democrats have been more conservative than the national party throughout history. Clinton proved that Democrats could win with a more moderate approach and we're excited about that."

State Democratic Party Chairman Mike Mass, who also is chairing the convention delegation, said he believes that Gore's approach to the campaign is "right on track" and supports Gore's strategy to capitalize on the nation's economic success under the Clinton administration.

Many political analysts stress that Gore needs to be seen by voters as "his own man," independent of Clinton. Oklahoma party officials, however, are in favor of Clinton campaigning for Gore, citing the president's "great popularity with party activists and base voters within the Democratic Party."

According to Parmley, important issues for the delegation include education, crime, Social Security and health care.

The state will bring 52 delegates and eight alternates to Los Angeles, most of whom are committed to Gore. According to state party officials, seven delegates and one alternate favor former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley.

OKLAHOMA NOTABLES: State Democratic Party Chairman Mike Mass, the delegation chairman, who also is a state representative; state Attorney General Drew Edmondson; state Treasurer Robert Butkin; state Superintendent of Education Sandy Garrett; former Gov. David Walters; state Democratic Party Co-Chairman Melani Hamilton; Democratic National Committeeman Jim Frasier; Jay Parmley, national president of the Young Democrats.