Stan Geiger

Askins' Problem

Jari Askins, Democrat for governor, has a major problem. A poll is out showing her trailing Republican Mary Fallin 57 percent to 36 percent. Trailing in the polls doesn't put Askins in unfamiliar territory. One late poll prior to the primary showed her trailing Drew Edmonson by 49 percent to 33 percent. She won a narrow victory, nonetheless.

In the pre-primary poll, 18 percent of voters declared themselves undecided. That's a pretty big tater hangin' out there. And it appears that tater, almost in total, went to Akins.

I put forth a possible reason for the undecideds going to Askins in a previous piece. Edmonson pledged to work for more money for schoolteachers. Askins didn't.

Meanwhile, in the current poll, Askins is behind by 21 percentage points. But only 5 percent declare themselves undecided. Askins, in the general election, won't be able to win by garnering undecided voters at the last minute. She will have to convince people that have already decided to vote for Fallin to switch sides. That is a much greater challenge.

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