The Arkansas Project

What Are You Doing Reading This? Go Do Something Patriotic!

By David Kinkade - July 3, 2009 9:45 am

Look, you’re welcome to keep clicking over here to see if something new has happened, but you’re bound to be disappointed, because I’m taking a couple of days away from the blog. You find something else to occupy your time, because I’m going to be very busy driving around to every fireworks tent in Central Arkansas stockpiling munitions.

In the meantime, just go look at this. Or you can listen to the national anthem. Have a happy one.

Remembering Justin Mitchell

By Cory Allen Cox - July 2, 2009 8:57 pm

I just got word that my good friend Justin Mitchell is dead. A lot of people in Arkansas politics knew Justin. He held several positions with the Democratic party throughout the years. His death leaves a lot of us shaking our heads as it cuts short a life that contained much promise.

I met Justin when we were at Arkansas Tech. I was a paid poll worker for the Pope County election Commission. I got the job because I was volunteered for the Pope County Republican Committee and knew the Chairman, Ina Martin, well. Likewise, Justin was a worker with the Democratic Central Committee and a good friend of their chairman, Dale Brown.

The job wasn’t glamorous. We moved and set up tables and voting boxes for elections. After that first election, we sat on the curb outside the courthouse and dipped Skoal as we waited on the returns to be tabulated. We joked and laughed, these two young activists on opposite sides of the fence, so much alike and so dissimilar.

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Stuff From Around Arkansas, July 2

By David Kinkade - July 2, 2009 1:47 pm

2012 Watch: “Is Mike Huckabee the new Jesse Jackson?” the headline asks. I’m going to say “no,” until he starts talking in rhyming couplets and fathering illegitimate children. (Includes a terrifying Photoshop job that will haunt your nightmares.) (The Five Thirty Eight)

Whaaaa…?: Wait, is that liberal columnist John Brummett saying something nice about GOP state legislators Davy Carter, John Burris and Jonathan Dismang? No, no, that’s impossible—I must have misread it. (Arkansas News Bureau)

Ed.-Case: In case you were wondering if Oxford American editor Marc Smirnoff is a raving psychotic, I believe we can answer that question with a definitive “yes.” (Oxford American)

From the Right: Newbie conservative blogger John Allison III attends a campaign event for potential GOP Senate candidate Curtis Coleman and likes what he sees. (America, You Asked For It)

Blinded Me With Science: Little Rock may get a research park, meaning I’ll finally have a place to conduct my experiments on the effects of gamma rays on the human body. (Talk Business)

Testy Liberal Bloggers Targeting Lincoln on Health Care

By David Kinkade - July 2, 2009 1:15 pm

While we’re on the subject of harassing Sen. Blanche Lincoln, you might want to check out this piece from the liberal Daily Kos blog, where they’re looking to put pressure on Lincoln to support Obama’s health care proposal. They’re pushing readers to this site where they can vote on which ads they’d like to see run in Arkansas (in conjunction with a financial contribution) to persuade the state’s senior Democratic senator to support the public option proposal.

Meanwhile, Lincoln tells Talk Business/Political Buzz blogger Roby Brock that a health care bill may materialize as early as next week.

“Blanche and Me”

By David Kinkade - July 2, 2009 10:15 am

The Arkansas Project’s favorite long-haired right-wing hippie agitator, Rob Richard of the Central Arkansas Campaign for Liberty, is ready to go all Michael Moore on Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln. He spent his morning Tuesday hanging around outside the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock during a VIP breakfast to lobby Lincoln to sponsor the “Audit The Federal Reserve” bill, a favorite CAC4L cause.

Will Rob get to meet the senator and put his letter in her hand? Watch and find out:

At 10 minutes, it’s admittedly a little long for web video, at least by my lights, but it’s not like you were doing anything else today. I mean, you’re probably unemployed anyway, based on the numbers.

(H/T Kenneth Wallis at Little Rock Examiner)

Arkansas Tea Party Animals At It Again

By David Kinkade - July 1, 2009 8:53 am

For those looking to mark the July 4 holiday with a patriotic hoisting of a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, look no further: There will probably be another Arkansas Tea Party demonstration in a community near you.

If you haven’t had enough, here are some resources with events around the state for the July 4 holiday. (If I’ve missed any send me the link or drop a note in the comments section):

Arkansas Tea Party Inc. lists three events

Tea Party Patriots lists nine events

Earlier this month, I wrote a lengthy guest perspective piece for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on the Tea Party phenomenon in Arkansas, which includes a consideration of the challenges the movement will face in making the jump into a legitimate political force. It was “a very nice little story,” according to my mother.

Creekmore Joins Senate District 22 Fray

By David Kinkade - June 30, 2009 4:59 pm

As expected, term-limited Democratic Rep. Dawn Creekmore jumped into the race for Arkansas Senate in District 22 today. The Arkansas Project’s own Dan Greenberg has already announced he’s running on the GOP side for the race to replace outgoing Sen. Shane Broadway. Others are rumored to be waiting in the wings.

Wandering blogger Jason Tolbert is everywhere you wanna be, if where you wanna be is holding a video camera on the Saline County Courthouse lawn while Creekmore announces.

The Ricci Decision: A Game Changer? Hardly

By Cory Allen Cox - June 30, 2009 8:22 am

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned the decision of the 2nd Court of Appeals in the Ricci v. DeStefano case. The case was decided by one vote, with Justice Anthony Kennedy siding with Roberts, Alito, Scalia and Thomas in the majority. That decision overturned an earlier one in which Judge Sonya Sotomayor, President Obama’s nominee for the court, sided with the majority.

The case is unique in that a nominee’s decision has been overturned right before her confirmation hearings begin. Some speculate that the case presents a new obstacle for Sotomayor in her quest for confirmation.

My thoughts are it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. Sotomayor’s proclivities are known. It isn’t as if this decision enlightened us to anything we didn’t know before.

But the time is propitious as it presents us a classic example of how divided the court is. In a nation that increasingly relies on Washington to make decisions for us, more often than not our futures are contingent upon the whims of strangers. The opinion of one man, Justice Kennedy, directly affected the careers of dozens of firefighters in New Haven, Conn., and millions of other unknown persons around the nation.

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Kevin Holmes To Run for House District 66 Seat

By David Kinkade - June 30, 2009 8:16 am

Kevin Holmes of Van Buren announces he will run for Arkansas House of Representatives in District 66. Holmes, a Republican, is an attorney and member of the Crawford County Quorum Court. The seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Rick Green, who is term limited.

Full news release from Holmes at jump.

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New Development in Tina Sherman Nude Photos Case!

By David Kinkade - June 30, 2009 7:57 am

On the other hand, it gives us a chance to use this shot again.

Thanks to an Arkansas Project reader for sending along the link to the latest turn in the long-running tale of Tina Sherman of Bella Vista, Ark., whose nude photos found their way onto the Web, supposedly, when her husband left his cell phone at a McDonalds. The Shermans claim that McDonalds is liable and sued for $3 million.

Now McDonalds says “Not it!” and is suing some other character, because he’s the one behind this devilish scheme, the Morning News of NWA’s Ron Wood reports.

Whatever, who cares. I did another quick search on the Tina Sherman nude photos this morning and just got a bunch of static, so this story gets unsexier with every iteration.

Meeks Says He’ll Challenge Snyder

By David Kinkade - June 29, 2009 1:10 pm

Conway Republican David Meeks, who just a few weeks ago announced he was exploring a run against Rep. Vic Snyder for the Arkansas Second Congressional District seat, says he’s had enough of this exploratory business and is getting in for good. Here, go spend some time poking around on his website.

Pawlenty Rallies Republicans in Little Rock

By David Kinkade - June 27, 2009 4:54 pm

Yes, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota was in Little Rock last night as the keynote speaker at the Republican of Party of Arkansas’ big annual fundraising dinner. If you didn’t hear much about it, fear not, as very little news broke out.

AP reporter Andrew Demillo asked Pawlenty about South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and his spicy affair, to which Pawlenty offered a fairly pat response. Blogger Jason Tolbert got video, naturally.

(Tolbert notes that he and I attended the media availability session prior to the dinner, but he gives me too much credit. It was really more like Jason was attending the media availability and I happened to stroll by on my way to the cash bar and noticed it kicking off, so I lingered around for a bit.)

But Pawlenty gave a nice little pep rally speech to the crowd, which probably numbered around 400 people. Having attended last year’s event, I’m pretty sure that this year’s crowd was quite a bit larger, which was a reassuring sign.

A lot of potential candidates in the crowd, including most of the U.S. Senate hopefuls (I think—I really can’t keep track of them anymore) and lots of state legislative hopefuls. First District congressional candidate Rick Crawford got to be the hero of the evening when he swung down to Memphis on his way to Little Rock to collect Pawlenty at the airport, after the governor’s flight was delayed.

So attendance was fairly solid, though I always have trouble understanding why the Arkansas GOP insists on charging so much money for these things. $125 a ticket? That’s steep. Why not slash the ticket prices, putting the costs in the reach of more people, and maybe packing the room for a show of strength and getting more people involved in the cause? Surely I’m not the first person to ask this.

Beats me. But then I’m probably the wrong guy to ask, since I didn’t pay for my ticket anyway and was only there because I managed to scam a freebie off Greenberg.

Blogger, TV Chick To Wed

By David Kinkade - June 27, 2009 4:12 pm

Sweet romance fills the air as Arkansas Project pals Blake Rutherford (of the Blake’s Think Tank blog) and Jessica Dean (KATV’s Little Miss Choose Your News 2009) are engaged to be wed. Congrats to the happy couple, pictured here in the studio on 103.7 The Buzz on a recent radio outing.

Stuff From Around Arkansas, June 26

By David Kinkade - June 26, 2009 3:12 pm

Party Line: Some 33,000 people have participated in Lt. Gov. Bill Halter’s telephone town halls on the Arkansas lottery, for some reason that is simply beyond comprehension. (Political Buzz)

Big Guns: General Wesley Clark is making a big online money push for Sen. Blanche Lincoln as second quarter fundraising period draws to a close. (WesPAC)

Cap and Tweet: One man with a Twitter account may or may not be able to singlehandedly stop terrible cap and trade legislation, but blogger K. Ryan James is sure as hell gonna try. (K. Ryan James Twitter Feed)

Tolbert, Stalker of Candidates: Blogger Jason Tolbert is on the prowl again, today capturing video interview with possible GOP Senate hopeful Curtis “Curt” Coleman. (The Tolbert Report)

That’s Ignorant!: Blogger Blake Rutherford is pissed that Michael Jackson’s death didn’t make the front page of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Man, I don’t know why he “Wanna Be Startin’ Something,” but I think the ADG should just tell him to “Beat It,” because this accusation is totally “Off the Wall.” I mean, I know it seems “Bad,” but these kind of editorial decisions aren’t always “Black or White.” And, uhhhh….OK, I think I’m just gonna let this one go now. (Blake’s Think Tank)

New ‘Edifice Complex’ Development: The Use of Force

By Dan Greenberg - June 26, 2009 11:59 am

Apparently, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calf.) takes her earmarks very seriously, given this story about yesterday’s shouting and shoving match on the House floor over “monuments to me.”

Previous discussion of “Edifice Complex” issues in Arkansas here and here.

Here Are Some Things Going On Today

By David Kinkade - June 26, 2009 8:05 am

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty

If you like eating food and listening to Republican political people talk, boy, are you gonna like this day.

At 11:30 a.m., you can head down to the Little Rock Club at the Regions Bank Building in downtown Little Rock, where the Central Arkansas Republican Club will be hosting possible U.S. Senate candidate Curtis “Curt” Coleman. If you can’t make it, never fear: blogger Jason Tolbert promises to be there with his dorky little video camera.

And as if that weren’t enough—and dear God, shouldn’t it be?—Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty hits Little Rock this evening to serve as keynote speaker at the Republican Party of Arkansas’ annual Governors’ Dinner. That kicks off at 7 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Little Rock.

Stuff From Around Arkansas, June 25

By David Kinkade - June 25, 2009 4:10 pm

Beebe and Hutchinson

Gaffe Du Jour: Potential GOP Senate candidate Curtis Coleman says something crazy, and columnist John Brummett explains that candidates should steer away from saying crazy things. That is good advice. (Brummett’s Blog)

Showdown: It’s a blog battle royale between Rep. Robert “Robbie” Wills and Arkansas Times blogger Max Brantley on the lottery and gambling. I’m going to go with Max on this one, because at least he doesn’t use emoticons to signal when he’s trying to be funny. (Arkansas Times/Robbie Wills Blog)

Really?: Former Clinton aide Paul Begala will be keynote speaker for big Democratic dinner in July. Begala? Blegh.  I would have thought Arkansas Democrats had the pull to land someone better than that. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

Rematch!: In speech to GOP women, Asa “Ace” Hutchinson calls for review of Arkansas’ prison system following recent disclosures of general management suckiness. A first salvo in 2010 gubernatorial grudge rematch? Yes, let’s all just act like it is and see if we can get anyone to start believing it. (Morning News of NWA)

Another Roadblock for “Monuments to Me”

By Dan Greenberg - June 25, 2009 11:25 am

The dramatis personae: two Members of Congress. One wants to fund a building named after herself; the other wants to block the funding. I meant to write about this story last week when I saw it, but I’ve been too busy. Or, more precisely, too lazy. Instead, I’ll just quote from it.

The Roll Call article, Earmark Ban Sparks A Spat, is full of juicy details. Here are a few paragraphs:

A plan by House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) to ban “monuments to me” in this year’s appropriations bills has been sharply criticized behind closed doors by a senior Democrat who wants to direct $1 million to an employment center in her district bearing her name.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) confronted Obey in the Democratic whip meeting Thursday, complaining about his refusal to fund her earmark request for the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center in the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education appropriations bill, according to another Democratic Member and aides.

Obey told Waters that he was no longer allowing earmarks named after Members and would only make exceptions for people who are “dying.”
…
Obey appears to be pre-emptively and quietly enforcing a ban on earmarks named after sitting Members, hoping to avoid a floor fight with Republicans intent on banning the practice.
…
Republican earmark foes, meanwhile, were jubilant at the apparent change in policy — provided Obey follows through.

“If that in fact is happening, it means there’s a recognition among an increasing number of Members that these ‘monuments to me’ are a really bad thing that the public believes is emblematic of waste and self-dealing,” Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) said.

“If this is the Obey policy, it is a big victory for us,” said Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), the only appropriator who does not request earmarks and one of the chief critics of earmarks named for Members.

Based on the incredible resistance I faced in the Arkansas General Assembly when trying to block politicians from naming things after themselves, I had no idea that I was part of a larger movement! Previous post dealing with similar issues here.

Tom Cox Talks to Central Arkansas Young Republicans (Updated!)

By David Kinkade - June 25, 2009 8:27 am

Here’s your Arkansas Political Fun Fact for Thursday:

If you laid every Arkansas Republican who says he’s running for Senate in 2010 end-to-end, they’d reach from here to the Missouri border…and back!

And you can see one of the multitudinous potential challengers today in Little Rock, when businessman and (now former) Arkansas Tea Party organizer Tom Cox (here’s his campaign website) visits with the Central Arkansas Young Republicans at Loca Luna. That kicks off at noon, and it’ll set you back 12 bucks.

Or, if your mean ogre of a boss won’t let you get away for lunch, you can just approximate the experience by watching the following video of Cox repeatedly at your desk whilst you consume your sad little microwaved Lean Cuisine plate and a diet soda. How I pity you:

UPDATE: If this video left you thirsting for more, then you should head over to The Tolbert Report for a four-minute exclusive video interview with Cox.

Searcy’s Ramey to Join GOP Senate Primary Field (Updated! Hendren Sighting!)

By David Kinkade - June 23, 2009 1:36 pm

Hmm, let’s see if we can make this easier: Will all the Arkansas Republicans who are NOT thinking about running for U.S. Senate raise your hands? A fellow named Fred Ramey, a Republican from Searcy, announces today that he’s going to file paperwork to run against Sen. Blanche Lincoln.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, Sen. Kim Hendren, another GOP candidate for Senate, wonders if maybe we shouldn’t revisit this whole business about popular election of senators, the AP’s Andrew Demillo reports, because….oh, hell, I couldn’t even begin to explain why this is now an issue.