Arkansas Democrats

McDaniel To Testify for Sotomayor. Why?

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel is going to testify on behalf of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor? Huh? For the life of me, I can’t figure out why McDaniel would borrow this trouble.

Now, this isn’t going to make or break a campaign when McDaniel runs for governor, but it sure isn’t going to help and it there is no point in it.

The Democrats have a super majority in the Senate. There is no way McDaniel’s testimony is going to sway any senator, especially the odd Democrat who may have wandered away from the fold against the command of the President and Harry Reid. No offense to McDaniel, but he’s doesn’t have the stroke to matter much in D.C.

Either McDaniel knows this or he doesn’t. If he knows it, then his intention has nothing to do with the confirmation and has everything to do with trying to elevate his status to help in his future campaign for governor.

If he doesn’t know that he doesn’t have the stroke to matter, then he probably doesn’t have the political acumen to become governor. His testimony is totally unnecessary. It opens him up to criticism. The only up side I see is that it buys him political capital with the White House. But Obama isn’t exactly a popular figure in Arkansas.

So why would McDaniel ignore the example of Gov. Beebe and do anything to rock the boat? He claims he is speaking out for Sotomayor because she stands for the police; to which I say, what?

McDaniel was a member of the Jonesboro constabulary for a year, and I appreciate that. I love the police. I am certified as a specialized law enforcement officer myself. I was a member of the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not claiming to be a cop. I was an attorney when I went through the certification and only did it because I supervised police officers. Those are the very same officers McDaniel used to justify the addition of law enforcement officers to his AG staff. These are men and women that put on a gun and a badge and went out and arrested people for burning down their houses, for dumping cars in the river and cheating old ladies out of money.

But I know a lot of cops and I can guarantee that 98 percent of the cops aren’t going to think McDaniel is their kind of guy over this. In fact, I know a lot of cops who are really upset because they experienced something similar to what the New Haven firefighters experienced in the Ricci case.

I don’t want a judge who is “for the police” just as I don’t want a judge that is “for criminals” either. I want a judge that is neutral and detached. I don’t want a judge who is “for” anyone. I lament judges who bend the law to release criminals and am terrified of judges who have a tendency to side with the government to the detriment of the citizens, especially this government.

Of course, it is possible that McDaniel’s reasons are completely apolitical and altrusitic. And it is also possible that the people of the state of Arkansas truly need to see their Attorney General enough that he needs to commandeer the prison plane countless time so he can fly to see them.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln has no choice but to take a position on Sotomayor. McDaniel is doing it by choice. I’m cynical enough to wonder if by his speaking out, it makes Lincoln look mainstream. It takes some of the heat off her.

But that would mean that the Attorney General is doing something for politics only, albeit a very selfless act that could hurt him. Why McDaniel is doing this is as much a mystery to me as why he thinks he needs his own police force. It doesn’t make any sense at all.

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17 thoughts on “McDaniel To Testify for Sotomayor. Why?

  • Sally Lesien

    This is the guy who is riding around in airplanes for political purposes and standing with a Judge who is on the far left proves he doesn’t have the political touch that our current Governor has. I think his future is limited. I am amazed no one has stepped up on the Republican side to run against him. He is entirely unimpressive. We have three metro regions that rank in the top 25 as the most dangerous, we have Little Rock itself listed as one of the most dangerous cities to live in. We have a murder rate three times the national average, rape almost three times the national average and violent crime almost three times the national average… you should do a article just on this David. I can guarantee that Max Brantley won’t be stating this in his blog. Our Attorney General is highly ineffective and him testifying for a liberal Obama Judge will not help him one bit.

    Reply
  • Cornelius

    Let him dig his own political grave…

    Reply
  • SouthArkie

    These stats should be published in a David Sanders article… I bet a lot of folks don’t know about this…

    Reply
  • AKA Bryce

    He claims to be a former police officer but created a racial profiling hotline in the AG’s office. Total waste of money, if he was a police officer he knows it. He didn’t make any friends in the law enforcement community with that one.

    I wish a good candidate would step into that race.

    Reply
  • The folks that see this as “trouble” for McDaniel aren’t going to vote for him anyway. Also, I’m not sure how Judge S can be called “liberal” since we don’t have a firm grasp of her rulings. I know that many on the left are afraid she could be a GOP version of Souter. Time will tell I suppose.

    Back to Dustin Mac, I suspect this is an attempt to raise his profile among the state’s growing Hispanic voting population. He also needs to play to that liberal base in central Arkansas given his right-wing stand on guns.

    With all this stradling and stretching, you’d think he’d be thinner.

    Reply
  • Sonya Sotomayor is a racist. She has spent her entire career trying to advance affirmative action and quotas because she thinks “wise latinas” are better for our society than stuffy old white people.

    McDaniel is making a play to the Democratic Party’s primary voters in this state. He’s worried about beating Bill Halter and Mike Ross for his party’s nomination for governor in 2014. He needs to be careful. The average voter in this state isn’t nearly as liberal as himself or the typical Democrat primary voter. McDaniel will be very vulnerable to a good Republican candidate because of his positions on homosexuals, racial quotas, and suing gun manufacturers.

    Reply
  • David Kinkade

    You know, in all the analysis of the political utility of this move and how it serves McDaniel’s aspirations, I’ll point out another reason he might want to do this: It’s kind of a cool thing to be able to do. I mean, all ideological stuff aside, what lawyer wouldn’t want to say that he or she had gone to the Capitol to testify on behalf of a Supreme Court nominee?

    F**k it, Dustin, go testify. Have fun. (Though it would be best if you’d spend your own money to get there.)
    D.

    Reply
  • The last thing I want to see is Dustin McDaniel taking a position with, on, or near homosexuals.

    Bad mental picture

    Reply
  • Fourche River Rex

    Well, hell Kinkade. It would probably be a lot of fun to snort coke and have an orgy with some hookers. But that wouldn’t play too well with ole’ Joe Lunchpail over in Wooster either.
    Ahhhhh….hookers.

    Reply
  • David Kinkade

    That is a lot of fun, Rex. Or so I’ve been led to believe. That’s what somebody was telling me, anyway. I think it might have been Zack Stovall.
    D.

    Reply
  • Fourche River Rex

    I didn’t know Zack Stovall was a hooker.

    Reply
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  • Who paid for McDaniel’s trip to D.C? I assume the Arkansas taxpayer. He’ll likely turn it into a mini vacation. I would say to the tune of several thousand Arkansas taxpayer dollars wasted.

    Reply
  • David Kinkade

    My understanding from the Attorney General’s office is that McDaniel funded this trip out of campaign funds.
    D.

    Reply
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