Excerpts from Brittany’s speech at the Oklahoma County Democratic Party luncheon on December 11, 2009:

I want to talk to you all today about three V’s. I know we’re not celebrating V-Day, but bear with me today, because I want to talk to you a little bit about who I am and the values I believe we share as Oklahomans, the vision many Oklahomans share for the future, and why I believe good Oklahoma Democrats can achieve victory in 2010. The three V’s: Values, Vision, and Victory.

I was born in Chickasha, OK on March 6, 1980. I grew up in south Oklahoma City, where I graduated from Westmoore High School. I earned a BA in Sociology at USAO in Chickasha, before leaving Oklahoma for the opportunity to attend a top tier law school, the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. While I was away from Oklahoma, though, I began to think a lot more about why I really loved Oklahoma. I mean, at the time I left I had an urge to experience something new and different, but after a few years there, I realized that my heart was in Oklahoma. Sometimes it takes leaving a place to truly appreciate it. When I’m in Oklahoma, I just feel a sense of family and connectedness.

How many folks in here have traveled by airplane a few times? Have you ever noticed how talkative people are on flights to Oklahoma City? Seriously, every other city I’ve flown into, maybe a few people are having conversations, but it’s mostly quiet. But the second you find yourself on a flight to Oklahoma City, complete strangers are talking about some mutual connection they have, or how they came from the same hometown but somehow never met before the flight. It’s just a great feeling I get every time I fly home.
…
I believe that Oklahomans really do have good values. I grew up here, and I believe I share with my fellow Oklahomans the values of hard work, generosity, and treating others like I want to be treated. I believe that we as Oklahomans rise and fall together. Our flag is decorated with a shield, olive branch, and peace pipe. These symbols, OUR symbols, embody the Oklahoma values of peace and community. Who here knows our state flag salute?

I salute the flag of the State of Oklahoma, its symbols of peace unite all people.

Our flag, our symbols, represent our shared values of peace and community.

Next, I want to discuss our vision for Oklahoma’s future. In just a couple of weeks, we’ll be ringing in the year 2010. People used to have big dreams about where we would be technologically in the year 2010. We’re not wearing space gear, nor do we have flying cars.

What we are facing, though, is rising unemployment and budget cuts because state revenue is down—impacting everything our state government does, from providing meals to seniors, programs such as Medicaid, and even the Department of Corrections.

And because of the impact on our environment and national security, we have a need to transition to a new energy future. For at least the past two years, “military and intelligence experts have been issuing studies warning that climate change could put American military personnel and national security at risk. Increasingly violent storms, pandemics, drought and large-scale refugee problems, they say, will destabilize regions and encourage terrorism.” Despite claims of a few nay-sayers, the scientific community is united, and even many in the faith community now agree, that we absolutely need to reduce carbon emissions in our atmosphere in order to protect, and maybe save, God’s creation.

This is not a partisan issue. It transcends labels of Republican and Democrat. I believe Oklahoma is poised to be a big part of the new energy future for the United States. Our state’s abundance of wind and clean burning natural gas provide us an opportunity to lead the way to energy independence and a cleaner environment.

I’m very excited about the Department of Transportation’s plans to move forward on providing high speed rail service between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Investment in projects like these will create good jobs now, and provide a vital transportation link for Oklahomans in the future. Rail travel can help commerce, especially small businesses that pop up around the stations and entrepreneurs who travel the state, as well as reducing strain on our highways and improving our carbon footprint. I’ll support projects like these to help get Oklahomans moving, while also protecting our planet.

Besides investing in clean energy and cleaner modes of transportation for the 21st century, we also must invest in education to provide our children the skills they will need to navigate the world economy of the 21st century, and allow them to take part in it from right here at home. We need to make sure our starting teacher pay is not the lowest in the region, so we can attract the best and brightest young teachers, rather than letting them leave to surrounding states after receiving a great education at one of our great public universities.

Despite tough economic times, voters in Oklahoma City this week showed that they are willing to support investment in the future. When MAPS 3 passed this week, it did so with broad support from moderate Republicans and progressive Democrats alike. I know many folks in this room had misgivings about various aspects of the proposals, but whether you were for it or against it, we know that there were progressives on both sides of this debate. Those opposed to MAPS 3 believed that the best interests of the working people of the city would be served by going back to the drawing board and coming up with a different set of projects. Those in support believed that this set of projects would keep OKC’s momentum going in a positive direction, creating jobs and developing the infrastructure we need to be an attractive city for people to live in and start businesses in. Progressives on both sides share a common purpose in looking out for the long term interests of OKC, and we will continue to work together to help build a brighter future for Oklahoma.

Those first two V’s, Values and Vision, are, I believe, integral in reaching the third V, Victory. For a lot of us running as Democrats in Oklahoma, where a majority of people lately, regardless of registration, identify as Republican or independent, we will not attain victory if we cannot put labels aside and speak to people in terms of our shared values and our shared vision. There are a lot of Oklahomans out there who consider themselves Republican or independent, but also share our values of peace and community. There are a lot of Oklahomans out there who consider themselves Republican or independent, and share our vision of Oklahoma leading the way in green energy, helping Oklahoma attract more good jobs, and improving education, so our kids are prepared to be a part of the high tech economy.

My background in studying law, has led me to a great respect for the way we govern ourselves, and our constitutional democratic principles. Our laws and system of governance, with checks and balances, is a necessary structure to balance the competing, and equally compelling, interests of the individual and society. So to me, the labels of Democrat, Republican, and independent matter less than shared values in peace and community and a shared vision for our future. It is unproductive to refuse to work with folks just because we have different political beliefs. If we share a similar vision and have found common ground, then we must be willing to work together—and sometimes even compromise. Values, Vision, and Victory. The three V’s. God bless Oklahoma, America, and the world. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everybody!