Keith Harper

From the Tulsa World via Pechanga:

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is considering a Washington, D.C., attorney and former adviser to the president’s campaign to fill an appeals court vacancy created by the resignation of veteran Judge Robert Henry of Oklahoma, the Tulsa World has learned.

If officially nominated for what is viewed as an Oklahoma seat on the court, Keith Harper is expected to draw strong opposition from key Oklahoma Democrats and Republicans.

The White House move to vet Harper for the slot on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is being described as an “insult” to the state and even “stupid.”

Opposition appears to be coalescing around the fact that Harper is not from Oklahoma and the way the White House has excluded certain key players from the process to fill the post.

Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe vowed to do whatever needs to be done to block the nomination, if it ever gets to the Senate.

Inhofe’s options range from the so-called “blue slip” process, which allows senators to make their wishes known privately on judicial nominations and can be used to kill a nomination, to an outright hold.

“It is stupid,” he said. “If they are serious about doing something with this guy, there were ways they could have done it that would have been much more palatable to us.”

Continue reading →

Go Wizi!!!!

From Mother Jones (H/T Indianz):

If Barack Obama wins New Mexico on November 4, he may want to thank Wizipan Garriott, the vote director of what the Obama campaign calls its “First Americans” voter outreach program. The effort targets the politically neglected but heavily Democratic Native American vote, which Obama strategists believe could be critical to putting some historically red states into play for Obama.

The Obama campaign is reluctant to discuss the details of its ground game, but it’s clear the campaign’s Native American outreach strategy is extensive. The campaign has two Chicago-based staffers devoted to coordinating the nationwide effort, and Garriott has recruited locals on reservations around the country to serve as paid organizers. Montana, Alaska, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and New Mexico have all been targeted at points in the campaign.

Continue reading →