August 29, 2012
The Enid News
The Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. — Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin says President Barack Obama and his policies are getting in the way of entrepreneurship and used an oilman’s business success story as an example of pursuing the American dream.

During her speech Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., Fallin praised the nomination of Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan.

Fallin cited the important role Oklahoma plays in the nation’s energy production and its low unemployment rate of 4.9 percent.

She used Oklahoma oilman Harold Hamm as a success story, noting his rise as the son of a Lexington sharecropper to the chairman and CEO of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources. It is one of the nation’s top 10 domestic producers of petroleum liquids.

Earlier in the day, Fallin and and Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett praised their home state at the convention in Tampa.

Cornett addressed the convention early Tuesday afternoon, representing Republican mayors from across the country. Cornett said the state's largest city is enjoying a renaissance "fueled by sound, fiscally conservative leadership." He cited the entrepreneurial nature of the city and its low unemployment rate.

During a delegate roll call of the states on Tuesday, Fallin pledged 34 of Oklahoma's 43 delegates to Mitt Romney. Fallin described Oklahoma as the "reddest state in the nation" and noted that President Barack Obama lost every one of the state's 77 counties in 2008.

<- Go Back