“Meanwhile, the Democrat is circling among the crowd, saying, ‘You’re an Hispanic. He hates Hispanics. You’re with me. You vote with me. You’re a woman. You’re an African American. He hates African Americans.’

“Keep in mind that (President-elect) Donald Trump was made out to be a racist and a misogynist and everything else you can imagine,” Shapard said. “They would have done that to any candidate. They would have done that to you if you were a candidate. That is a page out of the Democratic handbook for running for president.”

Perhaps mindful that one of Trump’s closest advisers is tied to white nationalists and his nominee for attorney general was denied a federal judgeship during the Reagan administration partly because of charges of racism, Shapard said Republicans may have “a lot of explaining to do” during the early days of the coming administration.

But, he said, Democrats have become too detached from the majority of the electorate. Shapard said they regard rural voters as “rubes” and “look down on working people.”

In Oklahoma, he said, the Democratic Party does not “represent the values” of its own members.

“That’s one reason the Democrat Party will have one foot in the grave and will continue to have more than one foot in the grave going forward.”

Randy Krehbiel 918-581-8365 randy.krehbiel@tulsaworld.com Twitter: @rkrehbiel

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