I’m a Democrat but I Support Chris Banning

Before you lose your mind, hear me out

I recently sat down with a man running for an Oklahoma Senate seat who told me he had no interest in what “Democrats” wanted or needed; to this man, Democrats’ thoughts, views, or wants don’t matter because they won’t vote for him. This mentality has to end. We’re all on the same team: the American team.

It has become too commonplace for politicians to ignore citizens outside of their own party. Even though a Senator or Representative is supposed to represent everyone in their state, or district, they don’t. Despite most of us wanting the same things out of life, and only disagreeing on the path to get there, the division keeps growing and some people think they don’t have to care about anyone else but “their people.” Thankfully, Chris Banning is nothing like that.

Despite being a lifelong Democrat, I have numerous friends some might deem “far right.” These friends of mine started posting about a guy named Chris Banning. Given that I’m always open to alternate views, I checked out his personal Facebook page, his campaign page and his website.

I responded to a post he made about religion in schools. He believes God should be in school but I disagree completely. Schools are a governmental body, which means they are not allowed to respect the establishment of religion. Unless the school is willing to teach every religion (yes, that includes Satanism), it must not have any of them. This post of mine sparked an online conversation with my friends, and ultimately with Chris.

During this conversation, Chris did something he ended up regretting. I won’t bore you with the details, but not only did he fix it, he completely owned up to his role in it and apologized. I could tell it was a facepalm moment for him but I appreciated it more than he could know.

I appreciated it because it’s hard to find regular folk, like myself, who will admit they’ve done something wrong; it’s even harder — damn-near impossible — to find politicians that will do it, especially when they’re running for office; yet here he was, doing just that. He could have easily blamed his campaign staff, but he didn’t. That shows integrity and honesty. Afterwards, he dropped his number and asked me to call.

After an hour-long phone call, it became evident that he does care what everyone has to say, not just those from his party (Republican); he actively wants to hear from all sides. To further drive this point home, I am not even his ‘constituent’, technically. I cannot vote for or against him because he’s not in my district, but, I am still an Oklahoman and what he does affects me.

Despite this, he invited me out to lunch, which I accepted. I believe he wanted to hear from me because he probably also struggles finding Oklahomans that are willing to have a good conversation with someone, regardless of party affiliation. He didn’t say that, but that’s my belief.

We went to Steak Stuffers in Tulsa, OK and the food was amazing but the conversation was even better. We didn’t talk a lot about policy per se, but I did get to know him as a person.

Before I left, I made a comment about how it’s not every day we can actually point to a politician and truly say they ‘represent’ us. It feels like most politicians are so far removed from actual life that they cannot possibly represent Americans (or in this case, Oklahoman-Americans). Either they grew up in wealthy homes, with families who covered up their mistakes to ensure their political careers (and pretend they made no mistakes) or became extremely wealthy and forgot where they came from.

Chris is nothing like that. Sure he’s a successful businessman, but what you see is what you get with Chris. He’s very open about his life, his foibles, his successes and the things he continues to learn in life. His life, as a young man, was similar to the lives of most young men on the planet: full of stupid choices, bad nights, good nights, regrets, and most importantly: opportunities to learn life’s many lessons.

Because of this, and the fact that he doesn’t shy away from his (some might call “questionable”) choices, he is in a position to actually represent the people of this great state.

“Yeah but how can you support someone you disagree with?”

Because I know Chris Banning wants the same things we all want: a good place to raise a family, good jobs for the people in this state, help for small business startups, and a high-quality education. I think it’s safe to say that we ALL want that no matter the party; the difference boils down to the path we take to get there.

People are quick to say “yeah but every time a Republican is in office,” [fill in the blank], or, “every time a Democrat is in office,” [fill in the blank]. Surely I’m not the only one that has noticed our country swirling down the drain no matter which party is in control.

Our government officials are, too often, two sides of the same coin. This happens because we keep voting for people who just don’t understand what it’s like to actually live a normal, “in-the-trenches”, life. Yet they dictate our lives like we’re sheep. A good leader has to come from a place of understanding, not from a place of condescension, eyeballing us from the ivory tower they were born in.

I believe if elected, Chris will do what he believes is right, regardless of its popularity within his party. I may not agree with his path, but I believe he’ll be capable of admitting if something didn’t work and course-correct, if necessary, to meet the aforementioned goals that we all agree are no-brainers.

And who knows — his path could work better than mine. We all tend to think our way is the best way, and we’re afraid of being wrong so we don’t want to try any other way. But I’m willing to admit this possibility because at the end of the day, my ego … my pride … is not what needs to be fed: the mouths of children, the minds of school-kids, and bank accounts for adults is what needs to be fed. If he has a better way, I’m willing to try. If my way is better, I believe he has the integrity to alter course.

We’re all on the Oklahoman-American team here and I think Oklahoma deserves to be represented by someone who has been where you are, can admit mistakes, and has the ability to course-correct if something isn’t working.

That’s why, despite me being a lifelong Democrat, I support Chris Banning for the House Seat in District 24.

This article is not associated with the Chris Banning campaign, all views are my own, and I have not been paid or encouraged to write this — or anything — by his campaign.