Baseball
George Nigh
The Bronchos add a mark to their win column with a 7-1 win over the Angelo State Rams in the first game of their double header. Page 7
The man for who UCO’s beloved University Center is named sits down with Ben Luschen to talk about Oklahoma politics. Page 4
MARCH 6, 2012 uco360.com twitter.com/uco360
THE VISTA
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA’S student voice since 1903.
Elections
OKLAHOMA VOTES TODAY
In this Feb. 9 file photo, a supporter takes a cellphone photo of Rick Santorum speaking during the Rick Santorum rally at the Magnuson Hotel Convention Center in Oklahoma City. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Vista
By Josh Wallace / Contributing Writer On March 4, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum flew to Oklahoma for a campaign rally on the steps of the Capitol building. The campaign stop was part of Santorum’s final push ahead of the multistate primaries, known as Super Tuesday, on March 6. The stop is well timed to as Oklahoma voters go to the polls today to vote for their candidate of choice until 7 p.m. tonight. According to the latest Gallup
polls, Santorum is trailing fellow candidate Mitt Romney nationally with 22 percent of GOP support to Romney’s 36 percent. In Oklahoma the numbers are basically reversed, with Santorum at 37 percent and Romney with 26 percent, according to a March 2 poll released by American Research Group. After a slight delay, the candidate was introduced and took to the Capitol’s steps to address the crowd of his cheering supporters. Santorum thanked the crowd, proclaiming, “It’s
great to be here in Oklahoma, we’re going to have a big win in Oklahoma Tuesday, how about that.” Immediately after, a small group of protesters drowned out Santorum with their chanting interrupting the event. Santorum made note of the group, adding, “So we have some audience participation here, great.” For a short period of time Santorum stood silently while the audience’s attention was drawn away. The protester’s cries of “get your hate out of our state” and “women’s rights”
were met with the candidate’s supporters encircling the group yelling their own pro-Santorum slogans. Santorum struggled to maintain the focus of the crowd while the protest continued, managing to start up his campaign speech after a few minutes. Throughout the interruptions, the candidate continued to speak to the distracted crowd, transitioning from the protests to his policies. The cries of the protesters, one of whom identified himself as being with “Occupy Wallstreet, my friend,” continued to draw the attention for around a third of the candidate’s speech. With a final volley of shouts, the group separated from the crowd and exited the event to the cheering of Santorum supporters. Recapturing the audience’s full attention, Santorum went on to outline his policies, including his stance on energy. “We’re going to have a president that understands the word yes. Yes to opening up drilling in ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). Yes to opening up drilling offshore. Yes to open up drilling in deep-water. Yes to drilling in federal lands. Yes to the Keystone Pipeline for everybody in Oklahoma,” he said. The candidate continued with his energy policy, describing the U.S. as resource-rich in coal and that the country had enough oil to last for over a century. He went on to contrast his energy stance to President Obama’s policies, before transitioning to the economy and national defense. Santorum criticized Obama’s cuts
on defense spending, commenting that the defense budget was already too low, at 17 percent of the federal budget. On the prospect of the President continuing to cut defense spending, Santorum added, “Someone needs to go do some remedial math teaching at the White House.” The candidate transitioned into a call to repeal “Obamacare,” saying that it was the central issue in the race, adding that it was about “economic freedom, freedom of religion” and ending an expanding government. Santorum went on to attack the policies of other programs, including Medicaid and food stamps, adding that food stamps are at the highest level of use ever. He then proposed a plan to place time limits on individuals who receive food stamps, and adding work requirements for Medicaid. “We need to tell people dependency is not a way of life, we believe in you to take care of yourselves and your families,” he said. Santorum ended the event taking jabs at his fellow Republican candidates, stating the country doesn’t need an establishment candidate or a candidate with billionaire backers supporting them through Super PACs (Political Action Committees). He closed the rally saying, “You go out and give us a win, and I guarantee you, we will go on past Super Tuesday. We will go on to Alabama and Mississippi and win there, and this race will turn around and we will be the nominee.”
WHAT’S SO ‘SUPER’ ABOUT ‘SUPER TUESDAY?’ By Connie Cass / Associated Press
Super Tuesday is super expensive: A week’s worth of heavy advertising in all 10 states would cost a candidate about $5 million. That’s a lot even for Romney’s well-financed campaign, prompting him to make a plea for donations amid his Michigan victory speech. Gingrich is getting another multimillion-dollar boost from Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who donated the money to a special type of political action committee, known as a super PAC, that will run advertising in key states. Ohio, Ohio, Ohio: It’s the race to watch. Political junkies get all misty-eyed over this Rust Belt swing state, and not just because of the 63 delegates. No Republican nominee has ever become president without winning the state. That makes it a powerful proving ground for the
Oklahoma is one of nine states voting today, other states include Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia. Additionally, Alaska will start its two-week-long caucuses. Graphic by The Vista.
men trying to show they can take on President Barack Obama. It’s home to Joe the Plumber and tens of thousands of auto workers, but Ohio’s not all blue-collar. It’s also the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, high-tech science, medical and energy workers, suburbanites, soybean farmers and a quarter-million dairy cows (OK, the cows can’t vote). The big issue is the economy, including Obama’s bailout of the auto industry. Santorum and Romney are duking it out in Ohio. Look for the outcome to generate more buzz than any other Super Tuesday contest. Newt’s last stand or Gingrich rises again? Get out the hook for Newt Gingrich if he loses in Georgia, the state he represented in the U.S. House for two decades. Gingrich hopes to win decisively here and pick up enough other delegates to relaunch his up-and-down campaign, which has been mostly down-and-out since he lost Florida in January. He’s got endorsements from Gov. Nathan Deal and Herman Cain, a fellow Georgian. He’s got a new pitch, claiming he can bring the cost of gas down to $2.50 per gallon. Santorum is pushing hard to wrest the state’s Christian conservative and tea party
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WEATHER
WASHINGTON (AP) — Super? Maybe not this time. But it is a Tuesday, one with the biggest payout of the Republican presidential primaries. Super Tuesday, slimmed down to half its 2008 size but still doling out one-third of the delegates needed to win, probably won’t settle much. Sure, it could nudge Newt Gingrich out of the race, or lend Ron Paul more credibility. But it won’t be easy for either Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum to score a decisive advantage, because delegates are handed out by share. A close second in a state can pay off almost as well as first place. Win some big states, especially Ohio, and the symbolism is powerful, of course. Romney might cement the front-runner status that keeps slipping through his fingers. Santorum could prove he’s the real thing. What’s at stake, what’s it mean and what might happen? A Super Tuesday tip sheet: Delegates for grabs Tuesday: 419. Delegates already won: 353. Romney, 203; Santorum, 92; Gingrich, 33; Paul, 25. Delegates needed for the nomination: 1,144.
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DID YOU KNOW? In the U.S., prescription drugs kill more people than illegal drugs
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