GOP candidates show they enjoy a good laugh

Aforum this week featuring six Republican candidates for governor revealed that all of them have a sense of humor — a trait that can be valuable in connecting with voters and in governing.

Former President Dwight Eisenhower said a sense of humor “is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.” John F. Kennedy’s quick wit was legendary, and effective.

Asked during his first presidential news conference about the media’s treatment of him, Kennedy quipped, “Well, I am reading more and enjoying it less.” Ronald Reagan used humor to great effectiveness. A famous example was his zinger during a debate with challenger Walter Mondale in 1984, when Reagan was seeking re-election at age 73.

“I will not make age an issue of this campaign,” he said in answer to a question. “I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”

The crowd loved it, the age issue disappeared and Reagan won a second term in a landslide.

Answers to questions posed at the forum sponsored by The Oklahoman show that the Republicans seeking to succeed term-limited Gov. Mary Fallin don’t mind a good laugh, either.

The candidates include former state Rep. Dan Fisher, who has made outlawing abortion in Oklahoma the centerpiece of his campaign.

Yet in his answer to a question about legislative efforts to restrict abortion, Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt declared, “I’m the most pro-life person in this race — I’ve got six children.”

Former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett came back to that later. “A lot gets made of Oklahoma City’s incredible population growth over the last few years,” Cornett said. “But nobody’s done more to repopulate Oklahoma than Kevin and his wife.”

Fisher alluded to his staunch conservatism while noting his frustration with the Republican-dominated Legislature during his two terms in the House. He said he would have been unopposed for his third term — “That’s a race even I can win, right?” he said — but opted not to run.

Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb introduced his wife and his mother-in-law. “Ladies and gentlemen, if you have your mother-in-law’s support doing anything, you’re doing something right,” he said.

The candidates were asked to say something nice about the person seated next to them.

Tulsa attorney Gary Richardson and Lamb shared a laugh when Richardson, extending his arm about waist high, said he had known Lamb “since he was about this tall.”

Raising his arm about a foot, Richardson then added, “You’re almost up here now.”

Stitt used the same portion of the forum to note Richardson’s longtime passion for doing away with toll roads in Oklahoma. “I’ve been thinking — Day 1 in office, I’m going to appoint Gary to the Turnpike Authority,” Stitt said.

State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones drew a laugh with his assessment of life at the Capitol, which he said is paralyzed partly because of members on the far left and far right.

“There’s a song out there ... ‘Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you.’

“I think about 80 percent of us are stuck in the middle.”

Changing that dynamic and advancing policies to improve Oklahoma will require serious work, of course.

But it doesn’t hurt to have a sense of humor, too, while facing those considerable challenges.