Inhofe Has Only State Senator As 2008 Foe

Saturday, September 8th 2007, 6:43 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe has predicted he will be a target of the national Democratic Party in 2008, but so far only a little-known state senator has announced he will challenge the Republican incumbent.

Andrew Rice, first-term Democratic senator from Oklahoma City, officially launched his long-shot race last week.

Rice, 34, is considered bright and energetic, but his fundraising prospects are uncertain and overtaking Oklahoma's senior senator would be one of the biggest political upsets in the state's history.

He was upbeat, however, at news conferences last Wednesday in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, saying Washington suffers from partisan gridlock and ``play-it-safe politics'' and the country desires a different direction.

``We're going to really shine the spotlight. What has been Jim Inhofe's record since he's been in there? What has he done as a rubber stamp for the president and vice president? And what is it that I would offer as an alternative?''

Josh Kivett, Inhofe's campaign manager, said Inhofe was a consistent conservative and ``exactly the leader Oklahomans want in Washington'' as the state enters its second 100 years since statehood.

To win, Rice would be doing something that hasn't happened in decades.

A challenger has not beaten an incumbent governor or senator in Oklahoma since the 1970s.

Inhofe, 72, was elected to fill an unexpired term in 1994 and was re-elected to the Senate in 1996 and 2002.

He has tasted political defeat, however, most notably when he was beaten in the general election for governor in 1974 by the man he replaced in the Senate _ Democrat David Boren, who gave up his Senate seat to become president of the University of Oklahoma.

As a back row legislator, Boren had little name recognition when he ran for governor, winning in a runoff over early favorite Clem McSpadden, a congressman and former state Senate leader. Finishing third was incumbent Democrat David Hall, who was under the cloud of an investigation and wound up in prison on federal charges.

Rice became the Democrats' sole Senate hope _ at least at this point _ when Attorney General Drew Edmondson said he definitely would not consider the race because it will be at least next spring before there can be a breakthrough in his pollution lawsuit against Arkansas poultry companies.

Edmondson and two-term Democratic Gov. Brad Henry had been wooed to make the race against Inhofe by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Henry, however, stuck to his position that he wants to finish out his term in 2010, while saying he will ``never say never'' in politics.

Edmondson pointed to upstart campaigns of Boren and his uncle, J. Howard Edmondson, as evidence that anything can happen in campaigns.

J. Howard Edmondson was a Tulsa County prosecutor when his ``Prairie Fire'' campaign swept him into the governor's office in 1959.

Drew Edmondson said Inhofe may face a tougher re-election bid than some expect. ``It's going to be a tough race for him (Inhofe). He has always had high negatives. I think he is perceived as highly partisan, divisive, and on occasions, insensitive. Some people consider that being plain spoken, but it makes enemies and they accumulate.''

Inhofe won some political capital in Oklahoma by securing funds for Oklahoma projects when he was head of the Senate committee that handles the environment and highway funding. He has been ridiculed by some on a national level, however, for calling global warning a hoax.

``We certainly don't agree on environmental issues, but he may be in sync with most Oklahomans on global warming, I don't know,'' Edmondson said.

Rice is pushing a message of change, has questioned Inhofe's credentials as a fiscal conservative and also is at odds with Inhofe on the war in Iraq.

Rice, whose brother was killed in the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, calls the decision to go to war in Iraq ``a very rash and dangerous thing to do.''

He said the country is ``bogged down in a war that didn't have anything to do with the murder of my brother.'' He says the 9-11 terrorists ``are not in Iraq and they never have been.''

Inhofe has been one of the Bush administration's strongest allies on the Iraq war.

Gary Copeland, University of Oklahoma political science professor, said it will require ``money, hard work, some luck and a message that will resonate with voters'' in order for Rice to pull off an upset.

Copeland said being an unknown can be an advantage because ``you can largely define yourself to voters.''

``In the end, money becomes the critical part of making it work,'' he said.

Inhofe has always had well-financed campaigns for the Senate and has defeated a former congressman and former governor in the past.

Rice said last week he would not want to quantify how much he thinks it will take to finance an effective campaign.