Blue Hog Political Roundup

Greetings, Blog Hawgs Nation! I’m Jeff Woodmansee from the progressive Blue Hog Report political blog, and am excited about the opportunity Adam and Brett have afforded me here to bring to you a weekly rundown of Arkansas political news. Football season is in full swing, but so is the political season, and I hope to keep you in-the-know with the many important national and state races ramping up as we head towards November.

The Rundown

Senate candidates Blanche Lincoln and John Boozman are out with new TV ads following their heated Talk Business/Fox 16 debate from September 10. In the ad, Blanche uses what her campaign has deemed a “gotcha moment” from the challenger in that debate where Boozman says he’s “excited about looking at the fair tax” [Boozman’s disastrous idea of a 23% national sales tax across the board on the goods we buy, meaning the middle class and those in poverty would be forced to pay the same level of taxes as the ultra-rich – a “disastrous” idea that somehow polls fairly well in this state.] Boozman, in turn, hits Lincoln with the tried-and-true GOP method of tying her to President Obama and House Speaker Pelosi, this time via two good ol’ boys chatting while they fish.

Also from the Senate race: Incumbent Lincoln, still trailing badly to Mr. Boozman, has called for a series of debates to take place between now and election day, and wants to include Tea Party favorite Trevor Drown to enter the fray, though thus far he has garnered only around 5% support in recent polling.

Despite the tide of public opinion seemingly ushering in the repeal of the controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” program regarding allowing gays to openly serve in the U.S. military, Democrats favoring repeal could not get the 60 votes they needed to include the measure in a defense spending bill introduced on Tuesday, largely because both Arkansas Senators Lincoln and Pryor sided with the unified senate Republicans on the matter. Lincoln said she objected to the limits on debate and “needed a chance to offer amendments that would benefit her state.” In an official statement, Pryor said “there needs to be a genuine and honest effort to craft a defense bill that senators from both parties can support, because supporting our troops should not ever be a partisan issue.” For such a straight-forward proposition, one can’t help but wonder what (if any) crafting will be done or if this issue is revisited anytime soon. AR-02 congressional candidate Joyce Elliott is the only federal candidate from the two major parties in Arkansas to say she would definitely vote to repeal DADT.

Speaking of Rep. Elliott, who faces a major uphill climb in her tilt against George W. Bush/Karl Rove protégé Timmy Griffin, she has thus far been hesitant to take to the fight to Griffin in the manner many progressives have longed to see (and feel is her only shot at victory). She did, however, try to hit Griffin on his support of a “30% flat tax” while at a debate at the UALR Bowen School of Law (you smell a theme from Dems yet?), yet turned right around to not only miss a critical opportunity to highlight Griffin’s misdealings in the Bush-era fired U.S. attorneys scandal, but to say her “campaign has never been focused on what Mr. Griffin did or did not do in terms of receiving his post at the U.S. Attorney’s office,” nor would it in the future. You might want to change that “Safe Griffin” line to “Slam Dunk Griffin,” AR-02 pollers.

Former Governor Mike Huckabee was in town over the weekend and appeared at a GOP fundraiser in Little Rock’s River Market. While there, he gave an official endorsement to Republican Rep. Mark Martin, who, despite thus far running a very lackluster campaign on the ideas front, the most recent Arkansas News/Stephens Media poll has ahead of Democratic opponent Pat O’Brien 45%-34%.

What’s the Word?

Columnist John Brummett examines a Talk Business poll released last week testing state party identification versus name identification – and fears this year’s trend towards the GOP is more than just a passing moment, but rather a political earthquake reconfiguring our landscape for years to come.

My partner-in-crime Matt Campbell from Blue Hog Report – the newly minted progressive voice to the Arkansas Election Line – gives his analysis on how effective AR-01 congressional candidates Chad Causey and Rick Crawford have been in using online social media during the course of their respective campaigns.

Jeff Woodmansee is a husband, daddy, law librarian, political activist, and writer from Sherwood, AR. In addition to following the Hogs, this Missouri transplant roots on the St. Louis Cardinals and Rams. The opinions he expresses here each week in his “Arkansas Political Roundup” are just that – his opinions – and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Blog Hawgs writing team. Jeff is also a contributing editor and writer for the Blue Hog Report, the leading progressive political news blog in the state.