Sally Bell to Lead Tulsa County Republicans; Tulsa Democrats Celebrate

It's a good time to be a Tulsa County Democrat.

That's because Tulsa County Republicans elected Sally Bell to head the GOP in Oklahoma's second largest county. Meeting for their convention Saturday, Tulsa Republicans gave Bell the nod over rival Bryan Osborne.

Bell, former vice president and chief financial officer of the now defunct Bell's Amusement Park, told the Tulsa World that she was pleased that the party had a civil debate. "Now we can move on…to build this party," Bell said.

Yet the election of Bell puts Tulsa Republicans increasingly out of step with the public, even with Republican voters. Bell, after all, is a proud John Birch Society member and it's a safe bet that few GOP voters under 40 have ever heard of John Birch.

Bell's Ron Paul connection is equally problematic since the deservedly obscure Rep. Paul proved to be a colossal dud among GOP primary voters last year. (How many primaries did Paul win?)

Then there's the losing record of Bell herself, defeated in her race for county commissioner in a heavily Republican county.

Add in her ties to GOP has-been Chris Medlock, former city councilor who lost a race for mayor and the state legislature, and you have local Republican leadership so hapless, cranky and right-of center that anyone even remotely interested in sensible public policy is likely to flee to the Democrats.

As we said at the outset, with Sally Bell in charge, it's a great time to be a Tulsa Democrat.