No doubt, Oklahoma Republican Senator Randy Brogdon is the most unusual political candidate of our time. This was never so clear until BadEagle.com interviewed the senator in his office in the Oklahoma State capitol. For the purity of his constitutionalism, the clarity and simplicity of his presentation, and the fact that he is willing to campaign in the 2010 Oklahoma gubernatorial race on such a platform, Senator Brogdon receives the Bad Eagle Ward for American Patriotism.

Senator Randy Brogdon, for Governor
of Oklahoma, 2010.

Since he became a senator in 2002, Brogdon has always ranked among the top conservatives of the Oklahoma legislature. In 2009, for example, The Oklahoma Constitution gave him a cumulative score of 93. (In fact, there was only one other senator, Anthony Sykes, who was in that bracket. Sykes made 90.) Brogdon is famous in the state for HJR 1003, the Tenth Amendment Bill. Drafted with his colleague in the House, Representative Charles Key, the Tenth Amendment Bill is about recovering states rights. It simply declared the state of Oklahoma sovereign, and the state will not accept federal mandates which are not constitutional. The House passed it (83-13) in February (2009), and the Senate passed it (29-18) in April. Of course, Democrat Governor Brad Henry vetoed the bill that same month.

Brogdon is a serious leader, and he is very forthright in his thought and delivery. But, as far as BadEagle.com is concerned, it wasn’t until his ideas about Indians were apparent that we realized what a pristine patriot Brogdon really is.

In the presence of the senator and two aids, I asked, “Senator Brogdon, what can I tell the 275,000 Indians in Oklahoma so that they will vote for you?”

The senator paused for a moment, then said, “Well, I’m not really after their vote.” I was stunned. Brogdon explained. “I’m not after group votes, or special interest votes. I’m not really looking for large group endorsements.”

I could not believe what I was hearing.

“I believe in liberty. In freedom.”

I thought to myself, “Indians! You have just been liberated!”

“I’m interested in a certain kind of vote,” the senator continued. “I simply don’t pander the group vote. I want to see the expansion of personal liberty.”

I commented, “The groupie thing is bad by nature.”

Brogdon laughed. “That’s a good way to phrase it!”

Then the senator proceeded to express more ideas that I have never heard from any kind of candidate, in any kind of election.

“My understanding of Indian issues is limited. My view is…Indians are ’sovereign nations,’ which, to me, means they are sovereign nations, and we shouldn’t be messing with them. You know?”

“I understand most of the Indian issues are between Indians and the federal government, worked out in compacts and treaties.”

“I don’t see Indian sovereignty as a crisis.”

This was like nothing I’d ever heard before. Brogdon explained his positions very clearly. He is campaigning only for the individual vote. He appeals to the sense of personal liberty and freedom. In this, I see Brogdon as a kind of political purifier, or a strainer. He doesn’t want conglomerates. He wants the pure, individual vote.

“There are no group rights,” he said. “There are individual, God-given rights. I do not seek political interest groups. And I’m not asking for one politician’s endorsement. I am supported by thousands of individuals who come to my website. Those are my endorsements.”

“And I always vote against special tax credits. I want lower taxes for everybody.”

Randy Brogdon is a unique candidate, indeed. And his campaign is unique, because it is based on exactly what his political values are—limiting government, and the expansion of freedom. The reason he doesn’t seek the group vote is because the group always tends toward larger government and less freedom for the individual.

His attitude toward the Indian ‘group’ is simply to leave them alone. “Don’t mess with them.” I thought about that a minute. Isn’t that what our fathers wanted, originally? Isn’t that what they said, over and over again? They just wanted to be left alone.

Well, for the ‘expanding’ white man, that was hard to do. But, at least, in the case of Randy Brogdon, the spirit is there. The principle is there. Though I was at first stunned that he did not seek the Indian vote, I felt profoundly liberated.

In a way, the concept of “equality” in this Oklahoma senator’s thinking has never been seen before in modern politics. Equality means you don’t recognize groups. You recognize individuals.