Published: July 14, 2008 04:53 pm      

Rice hits the campaign trail in Ada

Ada — U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Rice hit the streets of downtown Ada Thursday morning after eating breakfast and chatting with some of the patrons of J.D.’s Cafe. Rice and his staff made Ada one of the stops as the Rice Family Caravan made its way all across Oklahoma.

“It’s been good,” said Rice Thursday morning, referring to the experience of traveling across the state and meeting potential voters, “especially when we go to a small town. We’re able to make a pretty big impact. We’ll stay there for two or three hours, meet as many people as we can. To let them know we’re there, that we care about what’s going on, and we’ll try to be back.”

After breakfast at J.D.’s, Rice and his supporters canvassed the downtown area, making stops at the Chamber of Commerce building and the Aldridge diner. After chatting with locals at the diner, Rice went across town for an impromptu radio interview with 106.5 BOSS FM radio personality Candy.

“People have been very positive about it,” he said, adding those the caravan met along the way have given the impression that they’re ready for something new in terms of legislators. Seeing a new face and learning about that person helps in reinforcing the idea of choice in voters’ minds, the State Senator from Oklahoma City explained. “That’s one of the great things about our system. Every two or four or six years voters are given a new choice or new option if they’re not happy with the way things are going. I think people are eager, especially with their anxiety about gas prices and the general direction of our country; they seem pretty excited about meeting me. We feel optimistic.”

Name recognition among voters has been gradually increasing, Rice said, thanks to campaigning and radio ads. TV commercials are currently in production as well and should see air time before the primary election at the end of July.

The caravan kicked off Monday, July 7, touring Perry, Guthrie and Stillwater. On Tuesday it went through Lawton, Altus and Hobart, then Muskogee, Holdenville and Hugo on Wednesday, finally arriving in Ada Wednesday night. After touring Ada Thursday morning, Rice and company hit up Ardmore and Tishomingo. On Friday the caravan went through Claremore, Oologah and Nowata, wrapping up on Saturday after going through Tulsa, McAlester and Shawnee.

Rice said the caravan is definitely something his campaign will do again in the future. “My family has been able to join me for part of it,” he said on Thursday. “The last two days they couldn’t because my wife had to get back to work, but she’ll be joining back up with us tomorrow.”

A local campaign office is still in the works, said Rice, but will hopefully be open soon. “We’re working with Charlie (Peaden, Chair of the Pontotoc County Democrats) to try to make it happen. We’d love to have a local presence where people who are excited about helping us can reach out, where people can get signs or ask questions.” Rice said that currently the best way for those interested in volunteering can do so by contacting the candidate’s Oklahoma City office via phone (405-606-2288) or e-mail (info@andrewforoklahoma.com). Additional information regarding the election can also be found on Rice’s campaign Web site, www.andrewforoklahoma.com.