They say it's a woman's prerogative to changer her mind. Mary Fallin is using that prerogative.
Earlier this week, the current front runner to be the chief executive of the state of Oklahoma was asked for her position on a house bill that would assist state's in solving budget shortfalls related to school funding and health agency expenses. Said bill would provide approximately $300MM to the state of Oklahoma that could theoretically relax the pressure to fire teachers.
Mary's response was strange but calculated: She opposed it, but even though it was her job to put that position on the record in the form of a vote, she was choosing not to return to Washington to do that.
Her position was pretty predictable. Thanks to Randy Brogdon's negative campaigning, Fallin is reeling a bit when it comes to her conservative credentials. Despite being BFF's with Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota, Tea Party enthusiasts still question whether Mary will do anything to be a pain in Barack Obama's ass.
Of course, I actually read something kind of charitable into her true motives. My assumption was that she truly wanted the money...I mean what person with designs on managing a state budget would prefer coming into a climate of understaffed schools, especially when outside money is being offered? So, to appease Tea Partiers she stated an unequivocal disapproval, but was intentionally avoiding the vote so as not to do anything to derail it passing.
Apparently, most Tea Baggers saw it my way. Because this morning, her spokesperson, Alex Weintz informed the media that she was canceling yesterday's campaign events so she could return to D.C. The reason for her course reversal involved another bill coming up related to border security which she did not want to miss.
That's where it gets confusing. Initially, Fallin excused her decision to play hooky by saying that her vote could not help to overcome the Democratic majority. (More likely, she said "Democrat majority" or "liberal majority".) This was true. On the other hand, the border bill she rushed back to make her voice heard on had just passed the Senate with unanimous consent. Unanimous consent means there was no opposition. The House was expected to pass nearly as easily, but now she considers her vote vital.
I'm not sure about you, but considering that she has close to a 20 point advantage in polling against her opponent in November, it concerns me that Mary's decision making defies all logic.
