Video: Clinton Accuses Griffin of “Ethical Problems”
The scuttlebutt this morning on the Elliott for Congress fundraiser with President Clinton was that the press would not be allowed in. But it turns out after the event Clinton made himself available to the reporters gathered on the sidewalk outside Cooper Grill in downtown Little Rock. And he had some tough words for State Sen. Joyce Elliott’s Republican opponent Tim Griffin.
Clinton began by admitting that the report that Sen. Blanche Lincoln is the most endangered incumbent this year “may be true.”
“It’s a tough state but I think that the real danger to America is the combination of anger and apathy and amnesia. What the voters need to decide is what do they want and who is most likely to give it to them in terms of action. People have a right to be mad; we are not out of this mess yet,” said Clinton.
He went on to make the case that the programs “from the last two years” have help prevent a worse economic downtown and that a vote for Republicans would be a step backwards saying “They (Republicans) just want to do what they did before.” While careful not to mention President Obama by name, he insisted that his economic stimulus programs have created jobs.
He pointed toward Sen. Lincoln’s role as chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee and State Sen. Joyce Elliott’s support of Gov. Mike Beebe’s economic proposals as reasons to support them over their Republican opponents.
Focusing on Elliott – Clinton said, “She has a record of actually doing things for people. She is the only one running who has a record of really doing things for people.”
He then turned his attention to her Republican opponent Tim Griffin.
“There is none of the kind of ethical problems and political abuse of power charges and all those other things that have come out against her opponent. And the main thing is he wants to join that group of people that will go back and do those things that got us in trouble in the first place. It’s not about blaming them for the past it is about what they want to do tomorrow,” said Clinton.
The Griffin for Congress Campaign did not respond to Clinton’s charges of “ethical problems” directly but they respond to his visit by turning attention back to the current President.
“If Joyce Elliott were asking to go to Congress to help President Clinton, some Arkansans might feel differently, but she would be going to help the Obama administration, and that’s why Arkansans are rejecting her campaign,” said Griffin Campaign Spokeman Ryan James.
Arkansas Election Line Moves AR1 to “Leans Crawford”
Arkansas Election Line, a joint project of Roby Brock of Talk Business and Matt Campbell of Blue Hog Report, is making our second ratings change for the general election with the race for Arkansas’ first Congressional district race between Republican Rick Crawford and Democratic Chad Causey. Previously, we had this race as “Leans Causey” but today we are moving this one to “Leans Crawford.”
This is the first ratings change for AEL to flip from blue to red and is part of the overall shift we have seen in Arkansas develop over the past few months. Crawford is currently helped by a generic Republican advantage sweeping the country included his district. The most recent Talk Business poll showed Crawford with a 16-point advantage going into the last two months of the campaign.
In addition, Crawford has had fundraising success during a time when that has been difficult for some candidates. Sources confirm that Crawford has topped the $600k mark in total contributions and has well over half this amount still available to spend in the last eight weeks of the election.
One bright spot for Causey is that the poll revealed both candidates are largely undefined at stage of their campaigns. Although Crawford had very strong favorable numbers (+30), 45 percent of those polled had no opinion of either candidate. Due to this factor as well as the strong Democratic organization in the first district, we are currently keeping this race a lean but may revisit this at a later date.
UPDATE – In a key indication that our assement is correct, Chad Causey rolled out an ad today from the classic Democratic playbook – attacking Crawford for wanting to “privatize Social Security.’
His proof? A Facebook post where Crawford discusses his support for ten items including this one…
“End Generational Theft. As few believe America’s entitlement programs will be able to pay benefits to future generations, provide younger workers the choice of diverting payroll/Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts.”
I will be exploring this topic further in coming days.
Flashback Video: Beebe – “I Stand Squarely With Barack Obama.”
I honestly did not know this video existed until someone sent it to me today but apparently Gov. Beebe’s views on President Obama have changed quite a bit since his election in 2008.
In the video above taken during the 2008 election cycle at a rally in North Little Rock, Gov. Beebe thanks President Obama for “caring enough about what is in the best interest of (Arkansas)” to campaign on his behalf at the state capital in 2006. Beebe goes on to say that he is “happy to return the favor and speak up for Barack Obama” before the crowd burst into chants of “Obama! Obama! Obama!”
“So there wasn’t any equivocation – anybody that asks me questions, I told you where I stand. I told you a couple weeks ago. I told you a month before that. And I will tell you again, I stand squarely with Barack Obama,” said Beebe in his 2008 campaign speech on his behalf.
But his tone definitely changed today when asked about Obama by reporters as I posted earlier.
Different times.
Flashback Video: Beebe – “I Stand Squarely With Barack Obama.”
I honestly did not know this video existed until someone sent it to me today but apparently Gov. Beebe’s views on President Obama have changed quite a bit since his election in 2008.
In the video above taken during the 2008 election cycle at a rally in North Little Rock, Gov. Beebe thanks President Obama for “caring enough about what is in the best interest of (Arkansas)” to campaign on his behalf at the state capital in 2006. Beebe goes on to say that he is “happy to return the favor and speak up for Barack Obama” before the crowd burst into chants of “Obama! Obama! Obama!”
“So there wasn’t any equivocation – anybody that asks me questions, I told you where I stand. I told you a couple weeks ago. I told you a month before that. And I will tell you again, I stand squarely with Barack Obama,” said Beebe in his 2008 campaign speech on his behalf.
But his tone definitely changed today when asked about Obama by reporters as I posted earlier.
Different times.
Video: Beebe Touts Education and Job Creation; Distances from Obama
Gov. Mike Beebe kicked off his campaign for re-election today at his campaign headquarters in downtown Little Rock. A crowd of around 100 supporters (Beebe’s campaign says they counted 250) gathered for hot dogs and barbeque across the street from Cotham’s and few blocks south of the state capital.
Beebe’s ten minute speech was a similar theme to other speech from recent appearances – that his administration has had success in midst of “the worst economy since the Great Depreciation.” He pointed primarily to improvement in education which has brought Arkansas to be ranked tenth by Education Week. He credited the hard work of educators, previous governors (including Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee), and even the Arkansas Supreme Court in addition to himself for these improvements.
With a banner behind him reading, “25,000 Jobs,” Beebe also pointed to the jobs that he help to create or incentivize through the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. He acknowledged that overall jobs had gone down but argued that things in Arkansas are better than the economies in surrounding states both in terms magnitude of job losses and the condition of the state budget.
Beebe also made some interesting comments after his speech when talking to reporters. AP reporter Andrew DeMillo asked if former President Bill Clinton’s visit tomorrow for various Democratic campaigns was an indication that Clinton was more popular than President Obama.
“Judging from the polls I have seen on approval ratings, President Obama couldn’t help many people in Arkansas,” responded Beebe. “That’s about as candid as I know how to be. Clinton can still help some but you know most people rise or fall on their own…. (Arkansas) voters are pretty independent. They vote for who they like and trust and believe they will do the best job and represent what they believe in the most. And that goes much further than coattails.”
Beebe went on to point out that Obama lost Arkansas worst than any state other than Oklahoma. “Arkansans are pretty conservative and Arkansans like to make sure that the money is there before they spend it. And I think people don’t like. But I think they would not like it even if the Republicans were in office. I think people don’t like deficit spending,” said Beebe.
(Side note – I also believe I got a wink and laugh from Gov. Beebe when he responded to a question about criticism of the job decline while he was in office. Looking over at me, he laughed and said, “There has been criticism for just a couple folks.” Thanks for reading, Governor!)
You can also watch the entire campaign speech from Beebe here.
UPDATE - A spokesman for Jim Keet sends along this quote in response to Gov. Beebe’s statement that he has never tried to hide the state’s job losses.
“Governor Beebe says he never tried to hide the job loss, that statement is simply not true,” said Keet spokesman Richard Atkinson. ”His campaign video and banner at the event tout what he has been saying all over the state, that there have been 25,000 announced jobs. Today Governor Beebe has finally admitted that during his time in office Arkansas has lost thousands of jobs.”
Video: New Boozman Ad Plays on Razorback Theme
Rep. John Boozman released a new ad today that plays on the Razorback theme. He stands in front of Reynolds Razorback Stadium and discusses the fact that he learned “to stand his ground” from his time playing football for the Razorbacks and that he will stand his ground “against Obama, Pelosi, and their job killing legislation.”
Sen. Lincoln also played the Hogs card in somewhat of an ad this weekend. Her campaign flew a banner during the Razorback game this weekend that read “BLANCHE SAYS RYAN MALLETT FOR HEISMAN BALLOT.”
Something tells me Boozman’s Hog play will work a bit better.
Arkansas Election Line Moves AR2 to “Safe Griffin”
Arkansas Election Line, a joint project of Roby Brock of Talk Business and Matt Campbell of Blue Hog Report, is making our first ratings change for the general election with the race for Arkansas’ second Congressional district race between Republican Tim Griffin and Democratic State Sen. Joyce Elliott. Previously, we had this race as “Leans Griffin” but today we are moving this one to “Safe Griffin.”
Polling data has consistently shown that Griffin enjoys a comfortable lead heading into the last two months of the election. Most recently, a Talk Business poll showed Griffin with a 17-point lead with only 9 percent undecided. Perhaps even more significantly the poll showed that 53 percent viewed Griffin favorable while only 21 percent viewed him unfavorably. By contrast, only 32 percent of those polled viewed Elliott favorably while 45 percent viewed her unfavorably.
In addition, Griffin enjoys a significant advantage with cash on hand with $315,663 to Elliott’s $106,334 at the latest filing at the end of June. And campaign sources confirm a strong fundraising for Griffin for July and August as well with campaign cash on hand close to the half million dollar mark. This war chest will be enough for Griffin to get his message out in the final stage of the campaign and also to combat any attack ads against him.
Although we expect Elliott to be bolstered by some assistance from outside groups, such as a visit from President Clinton and a barrage of ads from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, at this point the race is Griffin’s to lose.
Lincoln Launches First Attack Ad of 2010 General Election
When you are trailing as bad as Sen. Blanche Lincoln, you have to do something to kick start your campaign. So she is going back to her playbook from the primary by launching an attack ad distorting her opponents record this time on taxes.
Her ad hits Rep. John Boozman for his support of the FairTax plan. She says that he supports a 23 percent national sales tax on everything you buy. Of course, anyone familar with the FairTax knows in reality this replaces all federal taxes included the income and payroll taxes, include a prebate, and is expected to greatly reduce the tax burden on everyone.
But on a positive note, it appears the extreme left is taken with the ad. Max Brantley says he thinks Lincoln went easy on Boozman and should have used the tax exclusive calculation to say the tax was 30 percent instead of the standard 23 percent calculation. If Lincoln can shore up this far left base, she might top 30 percent in the next poll.
Another View on the Hogville Legislative Meetings
Northwest Arkansas conservative blogger Mark Moore offers another opinion on the legislative practice of holding committee meeting in northwest Arkansas on the weekends of Razorback football games. In short, he says they are worth the cost.
He attended the meeting on Friday afternoon and had a chance to speak in favor of a proposal supported by Rep. Mark Martin that would assist families dealing with children with autism. He appreciated the chance to speak with the committee directly in his part of the state.
Moore makes a good arguement but does admit there was much chatter about the football game so business with mixed with pleasure. I still say the time and the scheduling of meetings on both Friday afternoon and Saturday morning which allows double per diem is a little suspect. Could the committee’s work not get completed in one day, perhaps by meeting eariler on Friday and going longer cutting the cost to taxpayers by almost half?
Still, some fair points from Moore.
U of A’s Selective Application of the First Amendment (UPDATE – Okay, Maybe Not)
Max Brantley reports this morning that the University of Arkansas plans to crack down on signs on campus today including for tailgate parties. I understand the point of protecting thier paid advertiser from those who did not pony up putting up signs but apparently they will also be targeting political signs as well. Here their policy…
Political signage that implies endorsement of any political candidate or any political issue may not be displayed nor may political materials be distributed without prior approval by The University of Arkansas.
But here is a picture from Mike Beebe for Governor’s Facebook page of an Arkansas cheerleader wearing a Mike Beebe sticker. They also have a mascot holding a sticker as well. The pictures were taken at an on campus pep rally last night.
Was there “prior approval by the University of Arkansas?” If so, does this “imply endorsement?” Hmm…
UPDATE - Reports from the hill are that there have not been any problems and the Unversity of Arkansas staff has been very accomodating to all the campaigns out at the tailgate.
Nothing to see here. Move along.