When I first decided to run for public office, my original intent was to put my name on the ballot as my own personal protest. I was going to run because we hadn't had a Democrat run in a decade in my district. I was just going to give myself someone to vote for.
 
Then, just for the heck of it, I went to a candidates' get-together at Keith's house. Keith wanted to hold a small training for candidates to give us the basics on how to walk the district, raise money, get our message out, etc.
 
That was the day I realized that I was a viable candidate and that being a progressive in Oklahoma wasn't always a losing proposition. I watched with awe as this slightly built, slightly effeminate wisp of a man rampaged around the house stoking the fires of discontent in us. I was stunned that this man, who seemed to be the epitome of everything Oklahoma conservatives despised, could boast so many victories. I was awed by the fact that this one man, from this little house, could effect such change. Corporate farms were terrified of him. Polluters loathed him. Anti-choice zealots demonized him. All the rancor the right-wing could muster often seemed directed at this one guy. And he loved it.
 
I decided if this openly gay, unapologetic liberal could stand up and be a proud advocate for women's rights and environmental protections and personal freedoms, then I could certainly knock doors and hold my head high and express those same views to the people of my district.
 
In the space of about two hours, I became a full-fledged candidate, thanks to Keith.
 
And ever since, I have considered Keith one of my truest friends. Many's the night we sat around Keith's kitchen table and ranted and raved about all things political. Keith's home was a safe harbor of liberalism in a sea of red. And Keith always welcomed all comers.
 
Whether he knew it or not, Keith not only taught me a lot about politics, he showed me that it's okay to stand up for what's right, even when the powers-that-be reject it. Keith showed me how to be politically tough, but also empathetic. He showed me that one can be ruthless when necessary and still be compassionate. He showed me that working to help the less-fortunate, the under-represented and the forgotten can be a winning strategy. He showed me that I don't have to compromise my ideals or moderate my message. All I have to do is what Keith did. Speak the truth and have it come from the heart. Believe in what you do and what you say. That's how Keith won so many battles that most thought un-winnable.
 
Keith showed me that one can be a political force AND still be a good human being. I thank him for that lesson. I'll never be able to pay him back for sharing that wisdom with me, but I can share it with others and keep that legacy alive.
 
William Andrews
My name is Jeff Owens and Keith Smith was my friend.
 
I can't hold a candle to the eloquence of some of the other comments posted here and spoken at the memorial at the State Capitol Rotunda. Most of the people who have written these messages and spoken these tributes to Keith's life have known Keith far longer than I, to their great collective and individual benefit and to my profound regret. I wish that I too had met him a decade earlier.
 
Keith was dynamic individual that left a lasting impression upon everyone and everything that he encountered. Sometimes that impression was a smile and a fond memory, and sometimes, for some of Keith's unwise (and recently un-seated!) battle-scarred political adversaries, the impression that Keith Smith left behind looked  lot like the mark that David Spade's 2x4 left on Chris Farley's face in "Tommy Boy".
 
My friend Keith was an intelligent, sympathetic, empathetic and highly-motivated person with a constant stream of great ideas, given to occasional flashes of a contagious, Mozart-like inspired brilliance, a truly twisted sense of humor and an infectious enthusiasm for doing good things for good people. Many of Keith's friends have now concluded that he must have had some kind of top-secret nuclear-powered jet-packs in the soles of his feet. Keith was everywhere, all of the time, and no matter who you ask, they'll all tell you that. Ponder that for just a second. Keith had THOUSANDS of friends and they all talk about how often he was right there with them, wearing THEM OUT! That's energy times infinity cubed. Keith's energy for activism knew no limits and tolerated no boundaries.
 
When I and my family loaded-up into our version of the Family Truckster to take our road-trip down to the Bush "ranch" in Crawford, Texas to meet-up with Cindy Sheehan and all of her friends at Camp Casey, Keith loaded-up too. We all had a really great time on that trip and I'll always remember it fondly. Keith really was an excellent traveling companion. If someone - anyone - can find and send-in that great road-trip essay that Keith penned and posted on the DemoOkie Forum upon our return from Camp Casey, it would make an excellent addition to this already excellent memorial. Just a suggestion.
 
In a strange quirk of synchronicity, a very rough piece 'raw-footage' video that I shot on that trip has made an unexplained and un-prompted reappearance as the number one Google hit for the search query: crawford crosses. You can hear Keith talking on his cell phone in the background of the video.
 
Keith was one of the bravest men that I've ever known and I'm honored to have been able to call him my friend. In a red-state that's historically and recently been openly hostile to such "controversial" concepts as human rights, high school biology classes and even reality itself, Keith defiantly flew his own flag, in his own front yard, on his own 25 foot flag pole. That serves as both an apt metaphor and as a factual, physically-existent, reality-based exclamation point to his life's work. Keith Smith wore his victories and his losses across the front of his favorite campaign t-shirts, in bold, DNC Blue letters, because he was proud to have fought all of those battles to BOTH of those possible results. Keith knew that, sometimes, being on "the losing side"  of certain issues was the only real 'moral high ground' upon which decent people should be seen standing at the end of the battle.

That's one of the most valuable lessons that I learned from my limited times and my limited travels with my unlimited and limitless friend, Mr. Keith Blayne Smith.


              ~  J. Scott Owens  ~  
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        - RealityWebDesignz.Com -   
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          jeff.rok100@gmail.com    
 
- PS -
I'm buying at least one of the self-running CD versions of this website because I know that Planned Parenthood needs and appreciates the funding and the support, because I know that Keith would have liked the idea, because I know that the far-right gets really irritated when "We the People" start financially supporting groups, causes and issues like Planned Parenthood, and finally, because I know that few of the joys in Keith Smith's day-to-day life ever exceeded the dangerously high levels of happiness that he felt whenever Keith was both doing something positive for well-deserving people AND  irritating the far-right at the same time !
 
 This one's for you, Keith, mi amigo !

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