Well....

It shows that all Blanche's attempt at "moderation" are getting her nowhere.  I wonder though if this means there's a right turn in the Arkansas electorate all of a sudden or that perhaps Arkansans are tired of her economic policies that don't help the state (free trade, the estate tax cut, etc.)  I'm willing to bank it's the later.  This state does have a populous streak, but it could be a half dozen other things as well.  I hope more polling is done soon, and some one Pryor and Beebe would be nice as well.

Stop complaining and whining and get to work.

---

by: ARDem @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 13:05:34 PM CDT

I'll repeat what I said before:

"hardright" surge
nope, sorry that's not what november was. November was the result of Obama not bothering to campaign or target the state a single time in the campaign, not even during the primary. When your opponent has the state to himself it tends to hurt you. Arkansas is a very Democratic state, Obama was just a terrible match for it and didn't try to win it.
They're polling the strongest likely Candidate, well known State Senator Gilbert Baker who represents a swingy, (for Arkansas state Democrats), district around Conway. Baker has been minority leader of the State Senate and State Chairman of the Republican Party. Of course he would pretty well known, but he also has had some rough scandals that will hurt him when his poll nubmers become available. Lincoln's performance right now is pretty good.

I'll give you a little secret though, Lincoln's never been as well liked as Pryor, but she's go incumbency and a powerful position on the Finance committee, plus she's a strong campaigner and fundraiser. I have no worries about her, neither of those candidates will be able to compete with her. The only candidates who could possibly do so are Huckabee who isn't running and Asa Hutchinson who also isn't running.

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

---

by: ArkDem the Ragin Cajin @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 13:08:54 PM CDT

BakerU

I dont know much about AR politics, ill admit, but i do find it unlikely that most likely voters know who he is. Most dont even know their own state senator. In fact im willing to guess most voters dont know anything about their U.S. Rep. other than their name and party ID and perhaps their general ideology (i.e. conservative, liberal, moderate). But maybe AR voters are much more politically aware than Americans as a whole.

---

by: HarrisCountyBrian @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 19:39:15 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

John Boozman

I wonder if theres a chance U.S. Rep. John Boozman would step up to the plate. I guess alot depends on the political environment around a year from now. But he probably doesnt like being stuck in the minority. Only bad thing is he comes from an area which is by far the most Republican in the state.  

---

by: HarrisCountyBrian @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 19:41:25 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Bad thing for him and the GOP i mean

I meant to say

---

by: HarrisCountyBrian @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 19:41:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Not really buying her in trouble

If she was forced to vote on EFCA it would embolden the opposition, but it now appears that vote is on the backburner until after 2010.

Doesn't Lincoln usually win by modest 7-10 point margina anyway?  Arkansas, like New Jersey just strikes me as one of those "fools gold" states for the GOP like New Jersey is.

---

by: ChadInFL @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 13:14:29 PM CDT

there's a pretty solid GOP

base, especially in Northwest Arkansas more than the rest of the state. Any major Republican opposition is guranteed at least 40% in a competitive race, even Hutchinson managed to hold Beebe to a 55-40 victory in the 2006 Governor's race.

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

---

by: ArkDem the Ragin Cajin @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 13:22:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

if you're interested in more information

a much more informative discussion is going on on the original thread, done mostly by the people here intimately familiar with Arkansas politics.

I know this PPP poll must be a little screwy though if Beebe's approval's are 68-20. The lowest I've seen them is at 77% and several in the 80s.  

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

---

by: ArkDem the Ragin Cajin @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 14:54:37 PM CDT

She'll be fine.

And I know that this is not going to happen, but if she does get into trouble I hope the DSCC doesn't waste any money on her. She can go to her friends at Walmart for all the money she needs.

---

by: Kanamit @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 16:02:50 PM CDT

Easy

Get Huey Long to spend nine days campaigning, and she'll win by the biggest margin imaginable.

Just a check to see if any other SSPers are as fascinated with Huey Long as I am...

---

by: Sean Fitzpatrick @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 16:20:59 PM CDT

I've always been fascinated by Long

Had he been the man to rise to power out of the Depression instead of FDR we'd be a much better society today.  He was a man who knew how to completely destroy the opposition.

---

by: ChadInFL @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 16:45:13 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Right...

I'm just going to sit over here and thank the FSM that he wasn't.

---

by: Kanamit @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 16:55:20 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Long was also the kind of

man that if he had a national platform would have overturned our own Democracy using public opinion and created a dictatorship. His rule in Louisiana was marked by massive corruption and graft. FDR was an amazing leader and a great president who didn't give into demagoguing like Long did and solved the problems of the country, while not totally diving into extremism.

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

---

by: ArkDem the Ragin Cajin @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 17:16:03 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Good lord

The country was on the verge of total collapse.  I think the last thing on peoples' minds at the time was moderation.  The country needs a strong leftist to take control and assume extradorinary measures in that kind of situation.

And I'm not bashing FDR here by any measure.  He was a solid progressive and one of the country's best Presidents.  And if you think FDR was all that much less ruthless than Long you'd be sadly mistaken.  

---

by: ChadInFL @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 18:13:48 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Long was only interested in power

asa Louisianian I tell you this. He would have said anything he needed to and given money to anyone he needed to in order to gain it.  

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

---

by: ArkDem the Ragin Cajin @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 19:07:05 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Gotta differ with you on that one.

I think Long get's an undeserved bad rap.  Sure, Long was a political bully, especially after the legislature attempted to impeach him on a slew of charges (including blasphemy!) but to my knowledge he never took a bribe or swindled any money, so I doubt he could really be called corrupt.  He fought the old boys network and generally came out on top-in the South you have to be tough and cutthroat to do that.  And let's not forget, Long was an advocate for the poor and working class, his "Share Our Wealth Clubs" were actually integrated, and the radical reforms that made him so dangerous?-progressive taxation, social security, a welfare system, and free school books....how dangerous and dictatorial can you get, lol.  Sure, he could be a real bastard sometimes and he knew how to accommodate and secure power.  I don't see that as a bad thing, and I see no evidence that he would have done away with democracy as we know it.  In fact, when you consider how he appealed to the poor and downtrodden in the aristocratic south, I'd have to say he was the most pro-democracy politician south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Stop complaining and whining and get to work.

---

by: ARDem @ Thu Mar 26, 2009 at 00:48:13 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Bingo

The entire south in Long's days were ruled over by the aristocratic elites in the Democratic Party.  You may not like some ofthe methods Long used, but the facts are he was really the first southern Dem to not only speak out for the majority of southerners living in poverty, but to significantly make their lives better.  And not just for whites, he included African-Americans in his policies as much as he could.  The cossuption charges were more manufactured by the aristocratic elite opposition to Long  who despised the idea of such crazy ideas as public works and actually helping out the poor. I can't think of any other politician who did more for the poor in such a short time in office in this country.  

---

by: ChadInFL @ Thu Mar 26, 2009 at 09:29:33 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

FDR

To be fair FDR wasnt without his faults. Putting Japanese, Italian and German Americans in internment camps being at the top. People talk about Long's oppression, that was pretty oppressive too.

---

by: HarrisCountyBrian @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 19:44:40 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Say what?

I'm pretty knowledgable about WWII from my readings on the war.  Everyone knows Japanese-Americans were rounded up in massive numbers, but I'm not familiar with German and Italian-Americans being sent to internment camps.  My family is German-American and not only were they not sent to internment camps, but many served in the U.S. military during the war.  

I think there were roundups of a small number of Germans and Italians in the U.S. who were known to be sympathetic to the German and Italian fascist governments, but I don't think a lot of innocents were rounded up.

---

by: ChadInFL @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 22:09:31 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Roosevelt resisted

rounding up German-Americans and Italian-Americans. It had been suggested to him. He did, however, intern about 11,000 Germans under the Alien Enemies act of 1798 and a couple thousand Italian-Americans. (a cousin of my grandfather was arrested and sent to a camp in Oklahoma), but those cases were selected. In my grandfather's cousin's case, he was found corresponding with a friend back in Italy who was in Mussolini's government.

Supposedly though Roosevelt resisted internment at the levels of the Japanese because he thought there were too many German-Americans, you'd end up rounding up like 1/3 of the population of the country and New York, his home state, had too many Italian-Americans. He also felt that Japan had warred on the country, while Germany and Italy did not.  

Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens

---

by: nrafter530 @ Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 23:52:07 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I didnt say *all* Italian and German Americans were rounded up

I just meant that people in those groups were in internment camps. And no shock that more Germans and Italians werent sent to them. Theyre white and had more political clout back in the 40s.  

---

by: HarrisCountyBrian @ Thu Mar 26, 2009 at 01:11:00 AM CDT

[ Parent ]