By JOHN M. WYLIE II
Publisher, Oologah Lake Leader

The more we investigate the background and candidacy of David Daniel Boren (a/k/a Dan Boren), the more questions arise about the carpetbagger.
Let's start with his new "home" in Paden, just about 50 miles from Oklahoma City versus 100 miles from Muskogee (traditional center of the Second District) or 120 miles from Oologah. Just who does Boren plan to represent, Oklahoma City, The Daily Oklahoman, or the people of the Second District?
Then there are the questions about whose campaign contributions he deigns to accept, who is raising that money, and whether Daddy should be renamed Sugar Daddy. (Boren and Boren deny Daddy is calling the shots, but there also are still adults who believe Superman lives down the street, ghosts are real and money grows on trees.)
We really have to wonder about his Dec. 4, 1997 speeding ticket, where he was nailed going 16-20 mph over the limit on US 412 near Garber in Garfield County, pleaded no contest, and paid $110 in fines and costs.
His booking sheet lists his job as "Oklahoma Corporation Commission," his home as an address in Seminole--and his home phone as the direct line at the commission office of his mentor, Commissioner Denise Bode, a Republican. She got the office following a long stint on Daddy's staff in Washington, and campaign finance records show David Daniel was employed as a campaign aide for her.
But why, when he supposedly had a house, did he list her office phone as his home number? And why would his campaign now claim that there was no real Democratic opposition when he worked for her campaign? Charley Long, the 36-year-old Wynnewood Democrat who ran against her, might beg to differ. So might the 338,676 people who voted for him.
Then there's the question of his relationship with Choctaw Nation Principal Chief George Pyle. The Native American Times said Pyle issued a statement calling Boren "impressive," but Pyle's staff stressed that it was not an endorsement.
Boren's response: "We are deeply appreciative and humbled by his endorsement." And more than a little dishonest, perhaps?
Since the questions keep on coming, and the Boren campaign shows the same courage in answering them that it has in other areas--none--we're asking our readers for help. If you have new questions, or documented answers to the ones already raised, please send them along to "Where's David Daniel?", Oologah Lake Leader, PO Box 1175, Oologah, OK 74053.
Unless District Judge James Goodpaster decides to enter the race, Kalyn Free should lock up the nomination easily. A well-known name doesn't last long in the face of incompetence and a list of questions that grows more troubling by the day.

Copyright 2004 Oologah Lake Leader, LLC

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