Socialist Oklahoma?

Hi. So I was reading about how Oklahoma used to have one of the largest pro-Socialist populations in the USA during the 1910s, though it was repressed violently by Wilson and his successors (the so-called "White Terror"). Is there any way to keep Oklahoma largely Socialist up to the present day?
 
Hmm...prevent US involvement in WWI, perhaps? Also, keeping the Russian Revolution from happening prevents the radical fear of socialists from developing, at least maybe. But that might be a bit of stretch I don't know.
 
Hmm...prevent US involvement in WWI, perhaps? Also, keeping the Russian Revolution from happening prevents the radical fear of socialists from developing, at least maybe. But that might be a bit of stretch I don't know.

Staying out of WWI would not have made a big difference. Stopping the Russian Revolution would have been necessary, but it would not have dispelled an American Red Scare that was in place by 1916.

Dispel that Red Scare (I don't have details) and Oklahoma was a new enough state that some development of socialism could be possible. Once installed, it stays, especially to get through the dust bowl thirties.
 
The problem with the Socialists is that the radicals are going to defect to the new Communist Party once the Russian Revolution happens. The Democrats and Republicans will continue to cherry pick ideas from the Socialists. Socialists will remain about 3-6% level of popularity. Being Oklaholma, any socialist votes will likely be farm based, not labor based.

If there is a significant sociliast vote in Oklaholma, it'll probably be the local equivalent to the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party. It will elect the occassional politician, have a high point during the Great Depression, and eventually merge with the local Democrats so that the center-left vote is not split.
 
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