
If you have ever thought to yourself, “Man, I would love to go watch Michael Gravel have a serious debate with Ron Paul,” then you - one probably read this blog several times a day and - two you are in for a major treat tonight in [...]

If you have ever thought to yourself, “Man, I would love to go watch Michael Gravel have a serious debate with Ron Paul,” then you - one probably read this blog several times a day and - two you are in for a major treat tonight in [...]
Over the weekend speculation grew that Kim Hanke of Hanke Brothers was considering jumping into the race for Lieutenant Governor as a Republican. The news first broke on twitter from Bradley Phillips and then spread to the Arkansas Blog with Max Brantley posting…
Kim Hanke [...]
The above audio clip is from Mike Huckabee’s radio program “The Huckabee Report” on Monday, November 30, 2009.
According to reports breaking late Sunday, Maurice Clemmons is being sought by police in the killing of four Washington state police officers. Clemmons had been sentenced to prison in Arkansas for [...]

Appearing today on Fox News Sunday, Gov. Mike Huckabee debated health care reform with Howard Dean but he also indicated for the first time that he is currently leaning against running for President in 2012. Huckabee cited several factors that will be influencing his decision.
Host Chris [...]
Conrad Reynolds spoke earlier this month and offered some interesting insight into his campaign strategy. He indicated first that he believed it was not necessary to nominate someone who had raised a lot of money but that Republicans should stay away from anyone who has held elected office.
“This is [...]

Editor of the Arkansas Times Max Brantley slices up a nice piece of Senatorial politics in this week’s publication. He has tough words for Sen. Blanche Lincoln who is getting it from all sides right now. Brantley writes…
Several political professionals knock Lincoln for not spending enough [...]
In the second part of my interview with state Sen. Gilbert Baker, we discuss his thoughts on the Republican primary, specifically he answers my question as to why someone should support him instead of one the other candidates.
“First of all, I am thrilled that all these folks are running,” said Baker. [...]

I received President Obama’s Thanksgiving message Wednesday evening (on the jump.) It was not sent as an official Office of the President press release but through his Organizing for America list. It included a good positive message of being thankful for his family and for the [...]

Today is sort of a slow news day in the lull before Thanksgiving so I thought I would take the opportunity to do what most bloggers do and try to make much ado about nothing by highlighting some interesting twitter conversations from last night.
There were several interesting [...]

We all set breathlessly waiting last Saturday for Sen. Blanche Lincoln to announce her vote on the motion to move the Sen. Reid’s Health Care Bill to the Senate floor. With 59 Senators all lined up to vote for the motion, Sen. Lincoln finally announced in her [...]
I sat down with state Sen. Gilbert Baker this afternoon at his campaign headquarters in Conway. We spent several minutes discussing why he was running for the Senate, his thoughts on the current health care debate, and even got into a bit on the field of Republican primary opponent. [...]

Max Brantley is hearing some of the same buzz I am hearing – that a Senate announcement could be coming very soon for Jim Holt who challenged Sen. Blanche Lincoln in 2004. I have a call into Holt, and I am waiting to hear back but [...]

The Pulaski County Quorum Court is scheduled to meet Tuesday evening at 7 pm in what proves to be a showdown on several issues in their budget. Notably the budget includes a four percent pay increase for quorum court members shortly after receiving a four bonus in [...]

Sen. Blanche Lincoln flew back into Arkansas today to host a field hearing for the Senate Agriculture Committee on “Revitalizing Rural America.” As the new Chairman of this committee, I am sure Sen. Lincoln hoped that this would be a welcome relief from the heated debate [...]

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will be speaking at the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, Arkansas on December 14. He will be speaking to the public and signing copies of his new book “A Simple Christmas” at 2:00 that afternoon.
Gov. Huckabee spoke [...]
Mike Huckabee interviewed Patti and Guy Cannady over the weekend on his Fox News television show “Huckabee.” The Cannady’s truly are amazing people. My prayer are with them.
[...]
While many criticized Sen. Lincoln’s vote over the weekend to move the health care reform bill to the next step, she was abundantly clear that she would not vote for the next cloture vote if the bill includes a public option. This lead several left [...]
The Republican National Committee has a video out this morning on the Senate vote to move along the health care reform bill over the weekend. On our own Sen. Blanche Lincoln, they said she “voted for the bill, when she said she would oppose it.” In fairness to Lincoln, she still has [...]

Sen. Lincoln’s just announced that she will vote for cloture and her potential Republicans opponents were quick to react.
“The people of Arkansas now know that Blanche Lincoln is more beholden to the Washington establishment than to the people who elected her to office,” said State Sen. Gilbert [...]

Speaking on the floor of the Senate, Sen. Blanche Lincoln announced that she will vote for the motion to begin debate of the health care bill. This vote is the last vote needed for Majority Leader Harry Reid to move the bill to the floor…developing…
Sen. Lincoln said, [...]

My political intuition tells me that Sen. Blanche Lincoln will vote for the motion to proceed on the Senate Health Care Bill when it comes to the floor tomorrow. I thought I would go ahead and take a crack at what her statement will be following her vote. [...]

If my email inbox is any indication, then tomorrow’s vote on the health care bill is huge. Democrat Majority leader Harry Reid has scheduled a test vote for his health care bill for 7:00 CST Saturday night. The bill was unveiled late Wednesday night. The Saturday night vote [...]
Press Releases regarding Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s vote on the Health Care Bill are coming in faster than a politician can spend money so I will post this on this thread and keep the top thread open for developments in Sen. Lincoln’s vote.
From Republican Candidates
Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter was on MSNBC last night discussing the free health clinic in Little Rock this coming Saturday. The Arkansas politico types are all a buzz if he will be soon jumping in the race for U.S. Senate. Some say he will get in if Sen. Blanche [...]
If you were curious where Fox News contributor Dick Morris stands on the Health Care Bill, he cleared it up today at an Americans for Prosperity Rally in Little Rock. He is against it. Surprise!
Morris threw out the red meat to the crowd after first being worked up to a [...]
A new ad from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) targets Rep. Vic Snyder’s vote on health care. This one takes an interesting twist by quoting what several fellow Democrats have to say about the bill.
“The worst thing you can do in a recession is raise taxes and this bill [...]

With much fanfare, the Senate Democrats unveiled their long awaited health care reform bill last night. Weighing in at 2,074 pages, I have obviously not digested the whole thing but one part of it jumped out at my CPA brain while skimming it last night.
If passed [...]

Everyone who expected the Republican Primary in the Second Congressional District to be a heated one will not be surprised to see the latest press release from Scott Wallace. Last month, Wallace took issue both with incumbent Democrat Rep. Vic Snyder and Republican primary opponent Tim Griffin [...]

Public Policy Polling has yet another poll showing Sen. Blanche Lincoln is in serious trouble. In hypothetical match-ups with Republican opponents, Lincoln trails state Sen. Gilbert Baker by 43% to 38% and former president of Arkansas Farm Bureau Stanley Reed by 42% to 39%.
But what may [...]

With the pending release of the Senate Health Care Bill from Sen. Harry Reid, I just thought I would remind everyone of the letter signed by our two Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor about a month ago. In it, they demanded that the full text [...]

Gov. Mike Huckabee was on KARN news radio this morning discussing his new book “A Simple Christmas” but also discussed politics as well some current hot topics, specially the new guideline issued yesterday on mammograms. Huckabee’s latest book is currently 18th on the New York [...]
Republican Senate Candidate Conrad Reynolds had some fun today at the expense of a glaring error on the U.S. Government’s recovery.gov website, which is used to track where the Federal stimulus dollars are spent. Currently, the website shows stimulus money was spent and created jobs in [...]
I had the chance to visit with Rick Crawford a couple weeks ago when he was speaking to a group here in Little Rock. Crawford is a Republican candidate for the 1st Congressional District of Arkansas and is looking to take on incumbent Democrat Marion Berry.
“I think we need a [...]

The Republican Party of Arkansas announced their schedule for their upcoming U.S. Senate straw poll as well as their committee meeting and grassroots training. The event will be at the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs on December 5, 2009.
“We are looking forward to this weekend” [...]

Public Policy Polling conducted a political survey last week which reveals trouble for Rep. Vic Snyder in his bid for reelection. In potential head to head match ups with his three announced Republican opponents, Snyder was in a statistical dead heat with relative unknowns. Little Rock [...]
A right of passage for conservative candidates has become the signing of the Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge. In short, the pledge commits the signer to oppose any increase in federal taxes on individuals and corporations.
“As a strong fiscal conservative, I’m happy to sign [...]

As the Republican National Convention (RNC) deals with the embarrassment of discovering that their employees’ health insurance plan covers elective abortions, the Republican Party of Arkansas (RPA) confirms that they do not offer such coverage.
Politico broke the story yesterday that the RNC’s current health insurance plan [...]
A conservative seniors group called 60 Plus is launching the above ad in television markets in Central Arkansas in what promises to be a “major ad buy.” The ad features seniors who are upset with Rep. Vic Snyder for his vote last Saturday on the health care.
“I don’t want [...]

A conservative group called the Arkansas Women’s Prayer and Action Group has been floating around a press release on State Sen. Gilbert Baker’s voting record in the most recent legislative session. They based their analysis on the vote rating of a liberal group called [...]
Anne Pressly’s friends at KATV offered a beautiful tribute yesterday to her and her life. I thought I would take a brief break from politics today to share it with you. They have also put together a book called “Making Memories” which celebrates her life. The proceeds benefit The [...]
It has become increasingly different to follow exactly what Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s position is on a variety of issues. The funding of abortions as part of the health care debate is just the latest example. If seems her position has changed again today from what she told me when we [...]

Stanley Reed is all the buzz right now in Republican circles as a candidate for U.S. Senate. Many Republicans have personally testified that although he has leaned Democrat in the past, he is a solid conservative, particularly on the social issues. They have pointed to his strong [...]

One of the chores of running a blog is reviewing and approving comments. We bloggers all have our standards for what we will allow and not allow. I for example will allow pretty much any comment that is not profane, does not make outrageous accusations, is not way [...]
The drama surrounding Saturday’s vote on the health care bill had many people flipping back in forth from football to CSpan. But before the final health care bill was passed by the slimmest of margins, a major pro-life amendment was set to be voted on that would [...]

Arkansas Congressional delegation split on their vote on the Health Care Bill which barely passed the House over the weekend by a vote of 220 for and 215 against. Democrat Rep. Marion Berry and Rep. Vic Synder both voted for the bill while fellow Democrat Rep. [...]
Remember the video “The Scary Seven” that the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee released a couple weeks ago attempting to paint the seven Republican Senate candidates as extremists? Today the Republican National Committee has hit back with a video of their own which connects Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s “flip flopping” on [...]
Last Thursday, State Rep. Dan Greenberg made his candidacy officially, speaking to a crowd of around 50 supporters in the Saline County Republican building in downtown Benton. Greenberg is running for the open seat vacated by Sen. Shane Broadway and Greenberg had high praise for the current state [...]

Sarah Palin’s much anticipated new book arrives on the shelves on November 17, a day after she is set to appear on Oprah’s show for a sit down interview. According to the release, “’Going Rogue’ traces one ordinary citizen’s extraordinary journey and imparts Palin’s [...]

Appearing on KARN’s radio show “Ask the Governor” this morning, Gov. Mike Beebe said that he had “big concerns” over the potential impact of the health care bill that is up for a vote in the House on Saturday. He went on to say that [...]