Tom Coburn Open To Nomination For President

<p>The Republican National Convention kicked off Monday in Cleveland, and there&rsquo;s a lot of buzz about a report that former Oklahoma Sen.&nbsp;Tom Coburn is now interested in the Republican nomination for president.</p>

Monday, July 18th 2016, 6:54 pm



The Republican National Convention kicked off Monday in Cleveland, and there’s a lot of buzz about a report that former Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn is now interested in the Republican nomination for president.

This is being called a "Hail Mary" for those trying to keep Donald Trump from getting the nomination, but in the case of a contested convention, it could happen.

Coburn retired from the U.S. Senate in January and despite his name coming up on a short list of possible Republican candidates for the presidential nomination in April, he told News 9 he wasn't interested.

“It just shows how far off the news media is,” he said then.

But now, conservative writer Quin Hillyer reported on his website that Coburn had a change of heart and is now open to a nomination.

“This is classic Tom Coburn,” said Bill Shapard with SoonerPoll. “He defies the laws of politics as we know them. When he first ran for Senate, he had $30,000 in the bank and won without a runoff 30 days from that. That’s uncommon, that’s unheard of.”

On his website, Hillyer wrote about Sen. Coburn's past aversion to Trump, quoting Coburn in February saying Trump was "perpetuating a fraud on the American people." 

Shapard points to a 2011 SoonerPoll that reveals why Coburn was popular with Oklahomans and said those same reasons that may give delegates at the Republican Convention a reason to consider him over Trump.

“I think him throwing his hat into the ring of sorts is his way of protesting, his way of saying they need me again. And I’ll make myself available if we can solve this problem and that’s what he’s doing,” Shapard said. 

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