The Arkansas Project

Sanders: Pryor Squishy on Union Vote?

By David Kinkade - December 3, 2008 6:25 am

Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln: Key votes on union bill

Arkansas News Bureau columnist David Sanders notes that Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor’s support for the “Employee Free Choice Act,” the union-backed “card check” bill that may be a Dem priority in the coming Congress, seems to be moderating a bit:

The usually soft-spoken junior senator angered many in the Arkansas business community last spring when he forcefully claimed that those in the state Chamber of Commerce, as well as other business leaders who lobbied him against card check, were simply doing the bidding of their leadership in Washington.

But when I interviewed Sen. Pryor last week on my television program, gone was the vitriol, which had angered so many. Instead, Pryor mollified his position. When asked if he would again line up as a co-sponsor of the legislation, he indicated he wouldn’t.

In fact, he attempted to alleviate concerns that the bill would be on the fast track that union leaders had hoped for in the new Congress. He predicted that a President Obama wouldn’t push the measure in the first six months of his administration and that he might wait until 2010 to bring it up.

And this one’s a couple of days old, but Sanders’ colleague John Brummett suggested in a Monday column that President Barack Obama would do well to hold off on pushing for the controversial labor bill for now. Brummett suggests the bill may be “too polarizing” for immediate action.

More from the Fort Smith City Wire’s Michael Tilley, who offers a more in-depth examination of what the bill would do to ease unionization efforts.

Where Will Lincoln Go On Union Ballot Vote?

By David Kinkade - November 25, 2008 7:57 am

Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln

Washington D.C. pub Politico notes that Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas will be one Democrat to watch in the coming debate on the absurdly monikered “Employee Free Choice Act,” a labor-backed bill to make union organizing easier by eliminating the secret ballot. Lincoln’s not been clear on where she stands on the issue.

That fact that has not gone unnoticed by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette editorial board, which has no use for the mealy-mouthed hedging on the issue coming from Lincoln and fellow Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor:

If and when our two U. S. senators make up their mind on this issue—perhaps they have and just don’t dare tell the rest of us—it would be nice to get a straight answer out of them.

Should they decide that Americans should be denied a secret ballot at their workplace, their votes would not be without irony.

Having just participated in the Democratic caucus in the Senate, which allows senators to cast their ballots in secret for their leaders, they would have tried to deny the same right to American workers.

The Arkansas Project has touched on this issue in recent days, along with other members of the Arkansas blogging posse Jason Tolbert at The Tolbert Report and Tim Griffin at The Griffin Room.

Business to Lincoln: Get On Board on Union Vote

By David Kinkade - November 22, 2008 7:56 am

Sen. Blanche Lincoln is riding the fence on the “Employee Free Choice Act,” the sneakily named bill that labor unions are hoping to push through to reduce barriers to union organizing—and business leaders in Arkansas want to know why.

Speaking to the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce on Friday, Lincoln told business leaders she “hadn’t made up her mind” about the proposed legislation, reports Charlie Frago of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, but the audience wanted to know why the hell not:

At the chamber meeting at the Crowne Plaza in West Little Rock, AFCO Steel vice-president Deane Wallace vigorously shook his head from side to side while Lincoln spoke of her desire to continue to listen to both sides before making “a final decision” on the proposed act.

Before Lincoln finished her remarks, Wallace shot his hand up to ask the first question.

“How can there just be any question at all about giving an individual a right to a secret ballot ?” he asked.

Lincoln said she’s always supported “the right of workers to collectively come together,” but noted that the secret ballot has “always worked very well.”

Bob Shell, president of Baldwin and Shell Construction Co., stood up and said “when you talk about workers, that’s one thing. When you talk about union bosses, that’s another.”

Shell said that Arkansas is known as a right-to-work state that’s friendly to business. He said union leaders would intimidate workers into signing the cards authorizing a union.

“Ninety-five percent of [Arkansan workers ] are non-union. Seems to me that you’ve got the direction to go,” Shell told Lincoln. “Our state is nonunion and wants to stay that way.”

Earlier in the week, columnist John Brummett looked at Lincoln’s straddling of the issue to suggest that the vote would be one of Lincoln’s first tests in the newly minted Democratic Washington D.C. wonderland.

Last month, Gov. Mike Beebe made some statements in a CNBC interview to suggest that he sides with business on the question, suggesting that “now is not the time to do those things that hinder further business activity.”

Southern Political Report Floats Lincoln Challengers

By David Kinkade - November 17, 2008 9:06 am

The Southern Political Report, focusing in on 2010 Senate races, floats a few possible GOP names to challenge Sen. Blanche Lincoln in 2010:

Patrick Calhoun, a Little Rock investment banker; Tom Cotton, a Harvard Law graduate and a US Army officer who served in Iraq and is now in Afghanistan; and former U.S. Treasury Official French Hill.

I hear these names bandied about all the time. But are any of these guys seriously interested?

Update: Patrick Ruffini at The Next Right also weighs in on this question today, and throws the names Asa Hutchinson and Rep. John Boozman out there as potential Lincoln challengers, because, hey, why not? At this point, I’m really starting to think you guys are just pulling names out of a hat.

Arkansas Senate ‘10: Not a Top Race?

By David Kinkade - November 14, 2008 10:08 am

The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza lists the “Top 10 Senate Races” of the 2010 cycle, and little old Arkansas is nowhere to be found. It is generally agreed that Sen. Blanche Lincoln may be more vulnerable than was Mark Pryor in 2008 (see poli sci prof Jay Barth’s thoughts on that matter over at Roby Brock’s blog). But thus far no GOP candidate has emerged to challenge the lady from Helena.

Last week, Arkansas Project readers urged former Gov. Mike Huckabee to challenge Lincoln. That would certainly catapult the 2010 race into most handicappers’ “Top 10″ lists.

Thanks to frequent Arkansas Project flier Br549 for the tip.

2010 Senate Poll: Huckabee vs. Lincoln?

By David Kinkade - November 7, 2008 10:32 am

Max Brantley at the Arkansas Times blog is looking forward to the 2010 and 2012 campaigns, and wants to know: Will Mike Huckabee challenge Blanche Lincoln for her U.S. Senate seat in 2010?

Max wants to hear from Arkansas Project readers, all 30 of them, which is as shocking to me as it is to you.

For my part, I’m not sure what’s more troubling: The fact that Max now thinks he’s my assignment editor, telling me what to do, or the fact that I’m actually doing it.

Anyway, you haven’t been to the polls since Tuesday, so let’s weigh in:

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Lincoln Challenge in 2010?

By David Kinkade - October 5, 2008 6:37 am

Tonight, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (right) teams up with Angela Lansbury on a very special "Murder, She Wrote."

Noted: Over at the Griffin Room blog, GOP operative/former U.S. Attorney/Renaissance man Tim Griffin lets loose with a brief, intriguing teaser regarding U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln’s re-election campaign in two years:

“So far, I know of two Arkansans considering a run against Blanche….I promise she will have a more formidable opponent in 2010 than she faced in 2004.”

What does the hyper-connected Griffin know that we don’t know? Ooooh, do tell!

Arkansas Lawmakers Bailing on Bail-out?

By David Kinkade - September 25, 2008 6:03 am

Aaron Sadler with the Stephens Media Washington Bureau talks with members of the Arkansas Congressional delegation who are resisting the $700 billion financial sector bail-out plan proposed by the Bush White House.

Also, here’s Sen. Mark Pryor in a USA Today story, saying that he wishes Barack Obama and John McCain would suspend their campaigns and get back to Washington to help hammer out a bipartisan deal—in a Tuesday interview BEFORE McCain’s goofy “I’m gonna suspend my campaign and go to D.C.” move:

For all the political wrangling over whether the candidates should be involved in the bailout talks, there were some on both sides who said they belong at the table. In an interview Tuesday night, Sen. Mark Pryor, a centrist Democrat who has worked with McCain and Obama on other bipartisan deals, expressed what he thought was only a wistful hope that they might return.

”We need leadership right now,” Pryor had said. “It would be good … for them to suspend their campaigns and come back here and really work with us on this, come up with something we can all do together.”

But, he said, ”they wouldn’t do this; they’ve got a debate Friday.”

Incidentally, Lance Turner’s blog over in the Arkansas Business neighborhood is a great resource for information on the bail-out debate and recent economic matters—lots of links to news stories, analysis and primary sources. Check it out.

Pryor, Lincoln Score Fannie, Freddie Dollars

By David Kinkade - September 19, 2008 9:45 am

With all the focus on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this last week, The Arkansas Project thought it would be fun to have a glance at which of our state’s lawmakers have benefited from the two mortgage buying companies’ largesse.

Democratic Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln have pulled in $11,650 and $10,000, respectively, from Freddie/Fannie PACs and employees. Democratic Reps. Marion Berry and Mike Ross received $1,000 and $5,550, respectively, in PAC money.

Full list is available over at the Center for Responsive Politics’ Open Secrets site. It tallies Fannie and Freddie giving since 1989; current members of Congress have received a total of $4.8 million with about 57 percent of the total going to Democrats.

At the presidential level, since you’re wondering: Mr. Hope’n'Change himself Barack Obama is the number two recipient with over $126,000, primarily employee giving (in just four years? Damn).  John McCain is on down the list with $21,500, all from Fannie and Freddie employees, not PACs.

Reps. Vic Snyder, Mike Ross and John Boozman (Arkansas’ sole Republican in Congress) aren’t listed, so apparently they got nothing. Losers.

Update: This link from the same site will tell you which Arkansas politicos have received contributions from AIG, another of this week’s federal bail-out beneficiaries.

Update: A reader points out that I misread the table and that Rep. Mike Ross actually received over $5,500 in Fannie/Freddie PAC money. She is correct, and I’ve emended the item above to reflect that.

Arkansas’ Lincoln Tagged as ‘Nicest’ Senator

By David Kinkade - September 8, 2008 11:20 am

Lincoln: Nice guys finish first.

Via Aaron Sadler at the NWAVotes blog, we see that U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas was voted the “nicest” member of the U.S. Senate by Hill staffers in Washingtonian Magazine’s annual Best & Worst of Congress poll. Here’s the full list for your review and enjoyment.

An Evening with Senators Pryor and Lincoln

By David Kinkade - August 13, 2008 7:44 am

Sen. Mark Pryor: What, me partisan?

In Sebastian County, they held this event on Monday billed as “An Evening with the Senators.” It was hosted by the Sebastian County Democratic Party, with tickets running $100 for dinner, $125 for dinner with reception, and $1,000 or $1,250 per table.

“This is our biggest fundraiser of the year,” crowed Sebastian County Democratic Party Central Committee chair Lee Webb in “Entertainment Fort Smith,” a local mag that was kindly provided to me by an Arkansas Project reader.

You can read more about the event in this story from the Southwest Times Record’s Rusty Garrett, which notes that 425 “party faithful” attended to hear Sen. Mark Pryor declare, among other things, that Sen. Barack Obama could win Arkansas.

Pryor argued that “Republicans can’t win if they talk about the issues, which is why they “’have to get personal’ in the race, spreading rumors and dishonest statements about the Democratic candidate.” (This is amusing given the rumors that Hillary Clinton’s acolytes spread about Obama during the primary).

Sen. Blanche Lincoln

Sen. Blanche Lincoln joined in the fun:

Lincoln also pointed out a number of Senate races in other states will be close, giving the Democrats the possibility of gaining enough of a majority to allow the party to “get some things done” in improving the lives of hard-working American people.

The punchline? This event was billed, according to the aforementioned Fort Smith magazine and an area Republican legislator who received an invitation to attend, as “a bipartisan event open to everyone.”

Goodness, I’d sure hate to see how they act at the partisan functions. I presume those events would include burning effigies of Dick Cheney and sacrificing virgins on an altar in tribute to Lyndon Johnson.