The Assimilation Begins: Oklahoma's New Legislators Face Their First Test

A November 21st Oklahoma City fundraising event represents the start of the assimilation process that, for most new lawmakers, will prove "resistance is futile."

It was always a source of optimism for me—and a highlight of each new legislative term—to become acquainted with the incoming freshman representatives.

Watching these often-idealistic individuals enter the Capitol as ordinary people, and replacing their frequently co-opted predecessors who had long acquiesced to the big-government status quo, gave me ho…