Our friends at The Sam Adams Alliance—we’re one of the allies, it’s part of the pro-freedom conspiracy one so often hears tell of—sent along an advisory about the Tulsa World’s latest unscientific online poll. The question for 11/8/07:

Oklahoma’s Constitution currently limits the governor to two four-year terms in office and limits legislators to no more than 12 years combined service in the House and/or Senate. Do you think term limits should: Stay the same; Be eliminated for the governor and legislators; Be eliminated for legislators; Be eliminated for the governor; Be extended to all state elected officials.

Hm. So…Oklahoma term limits should be either eliminated, eliminated, eliminated, or extended to all state elected officials including dictatorial and corrupt Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, currently serving his fourth term, in the absence of which Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter would probably not be facing ten years in prison for the “crime” of supporting an Oklahoma citizen initiative. Gosh, that’s a tough one.

Then the poll asks you to admit that you’re a male or a female (I am!) and that you reside in-state or out-of-state (I do!).

Now onto more scientific polling about Oklahoma term limits. According to Erin Broeckman’s report at FKGconsulting.com:

On July 18, Pulse Opinion Research surveyed 1,000 voters to discover their views on term limits. The information was released on behalf of Yes on Term Limits through an Oklahoma consulting firm and has a margin of error of +/- 3 percent. While the poll inquired about term limits at the national and state level, the target question was as follows: “In 2008, Oklahoma voters may be asked to vote on a measure that would establish term limits for statewide elected officials. If approved, the new law would create eight-year term limits on executive offices. If this measure were on the ballot today, would you vote for or against it?”

Members of the Oklahoma Legislature are prohibited from serving more than 12 years in the House and the Senate. The Oklahoma governor’s seat is limited to two four-year terms. But, the offices of lieutenant governor, attorney general, state auditor and inspector, labor commissioner, insurance commissioner, corporation commissioner and state superintendent of public instruction are not fettered with term limits. According to the published poll results, 77 percent of the 1,000 voters polled said they would vote favorably if Yes on Term Limits’ proposal were on the ballot. Seventeen percent said they would vote against the question, and 7 percent were unsure.

“Incredibly, nearly 80 percent of Oklahomans want term limits on statewide elected officials,” said Jack Dake, a member of the Yes on Term Limits board, in a news release. “These numbers indicate they believe strongly that new ideas and new people need to be brought into the process. The current system of what is essentially ‘tenure’ for statewide elected officials needs to be ended immediately.”

Another poll question that asked specifically about the Oklahoma offices in question yielded somewhat lower support. The voters were asked if they strongly favored, somewhat favored, somewhat opposed or strongly opposed term limits for the offices of attorney general, lieutenant governor, state auditor, superintendent of public instruction, labor commissioner, insurance commissioner or insurance commissioner. The response to this question was only 68 percent in favor, with 44 percent strongly in favor and 24 percent somewhat in favor, according to the poll results. Thirty percent of the respondents opposed the issue, and 2 percent were unsure.

I’m not sure why 9% of the respondents might believe that all elected state officials in general can be term-limited without this or that elected state official in particular also being term-limited, seeing as how any whole tends to include each and all of the parts making up that whole. In any case, 68% in favor of rubber-hitting-the-road term limits is still a hefty majority, and only confirms the persistently wide appeal of this reform.

You can find out more about the Oklahoma term limits movement at YesOnTermLimits.org.