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Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitting It

By Last Night in Little Rock, Section Elections 2006
Posted on Sat May 20, 2006 at 06:35:27 AM EST
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by Last Night in Little Rock

Primary day in Arkansas is Tuesday, May 23d. I first notice this about three weeks ago but had to confirm it first: Republicans are not admitting it.

A friend of mine, a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is running for Lt. Gov., and there is a primary. Neither candidate has "Republican" on their yard signs.

There is a contested Republican primary for the Second District of Congress between two seemingly nice fellows, one with cheesy ads playing on the "Mayberry" theme because that's his name: Andy Mayberry. The other is irrelevant to you if you're outside this District. (The Democratic incumbent, Vic Snyder, lives two blocks from me. He's one of the few to vote against the "permanent tax cuts" that have gutted the economy.)

Asa Hutchinson, formerly of the DEA and DHS and one of the House Managers in the Clinton Impeachment, is running against Democratic Attorney General Mike Beebe for Governor. No contested primary there; just a November election. Early odds: Beebe wins 56-44. Beebe's already raised more than double the money.

Anyway, back to my point: For three weeks now, I've been consciously looking for campaign signs and television ads from Republicans, and none of them admit their party affiliation. This is not a scientific survey by any means, but it is the first time that I've seen Republican actively in denial of their political affiliation in the this state.

The interesting thing will be to see whether anybody from the White House or other big Washington guns will show up for Asa. Just as important, does he want them here? Somebody will show. Perhaps Sen. McCain. Asa's a nice guy, and he was an effective Congressman from NW Arkansas' Third District, except for that stupid impeachment process. You could call him and actually talk to him. Well, I did, even when he was head of the DEA. Then he got sucked into the Bush Administration, and wisely got out before he could get tainted by anything other than being affiliated with Bush. As a candidate, he's toeing the Republican line on all the hot button issues. No word on immigration yet, however, since Hispanics are an exploding population segment in Arkansas.

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    Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitting It | 22 comments (22 topical)
    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#1)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat May 20, 2006 at 07:35:02 AM EST
    there is a primary. Neither candidate has "Republican" on their yard signs.
    Sounds like the Repubs will know and the Demos don't count.

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#2)
    by john horse on Sat May 20, 2006 at 08:33:07 AM EST
    In Tallahassee, there is one candidate who doesn't hide his party affiliation like some of the folks in Arkansas. He had a big billboard proclaiming himself as the "Reel Republican". Someone went and underlined the word "reel" in phlorescent orange. Alas, by that afternoon, the sign was replaced and the spelling corrected.

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#3)
    by Edger on Sat May 20, 2006 at 08:36:36 AM EST
    John Horse, and the guy is probably reeling in the polls by now. ;-)

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat May 20, 2006 at 08:47:59 AM EST
    This is hardly limited to Republicans. During the Virginia race last fall, the Democratic candidate (now governor) didn't identify his party on signs, TV ads, or radio ads. There's anger directed at both parties at this point.

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#5)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat May 20, 2006 at 09:32:47 AM EST
    JR -
    This is hardly limited to Republicans. During the Virginia race last fall, the Democratic candidate (now governor) didn't identify his party on signs, TV ads, or radio ads. There's anger directed at both parties at this point.
    This is Arkansas. It's hardly unusual for Democrats to be somewhat less than candid about their party affiliations in red states. But Republicans?

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#6)
    by Edger on Sat May 20, 2006 at 10:20:55 AM EST
    It's rather telling when a republicans in a 'red' state think that they need to distance themselves from the republican party to have a chance of winning a republican primary race. Deceitfulness and deception. The two keys to success. These repugs just never learn... Soviet 'red' star. Republican 'red' state. is it just a coincidence that television networks began in 2000 to use the color red as party's color in election maps?

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#7)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat May 20, 2006 at 10:23:11 AM EST
    Let's face it, a close inspection reveals that there's not much difference between the two parties down that way to begin with. I recall a certain Arkansas Democrat that did more damage to FDR's social saftey net than any Republican ever dreamed of.

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat May 20, 2006 at 11:09:07 AM EST
    Looks like the Republicans have finally signed on to Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat May 20, 2006 at 11:24:24 AM EST
    meanwhile, Giuliani and McCain endeavor to snuggle up to the lunatic fringe in a subterfuge of their own. so which is the better strategy, to hide your affiliation and pretend no one's watching, or pretend you are not a centrist out holding your breath while kissing the base's tuchas in the early months of a campaign? "we will know them by their fruits" (Matt. 7:16)

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat May 20, 2006 at 11:35:43 AM EST
    abi, very witty!

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#11)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat May 20, 2006 at 01:54:39 PM EST
    Last Night... Is AR an open or closed primary?

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#12)
    by Sailor on Sat May 20, 2006 at 02:57:02 PM EST
    Is AR an open or closed primary?
    open

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat May 20, 2006 at 05:18:15 PM EST
    He's one of the few to vote against the "permanent tax cuts" that have gutted the economy. How have tax cuts "gutted the economy"?

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#14)
    by dalloway on Sat May 20, 2006 at 05:18:42 PM EST
    And about McCain and Guiliani -- doesn't it seem that they're like those generals who keep fighting the last war? They've drunk enough Kool Aid to believe it was the wingnuts who put Bush over the top, not the conservative and moderate Republicans (and Democrats) he flimflammed with that compassionate conservative crap, who are now so over him. The true believer wingnuts will never vote for McCain or Guiliani and the more they pander to the extreme right, the more of the middle they're going to lose. The more they embrace Bush's brain and his base, the more disgusted most of the electorate will be with them.

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#15)
    by Sailor on Sat May 20, 2006 at 06:06:36 PM EST
    How have tax cuts "gutted the economy"?
    Dumb attempt at hijacking ... now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#16)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat May 20, 2006 at 06:09:56 PM EST
    Open? Then party doesn't matter. Besides, it has been a long tradition for one party to cross over and try to elect what they consider to be the weakest candidate in the other party.

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#17)
    by Sailor on Sat May 20, 2006 at 07:23:58 PM EST
    it has been a long tradition for one party to cross over and try to elect what they consider to be the weakest candidate in the other party
    yeah, of course, that's exactly why rethuglicans are ashamed to admit what they are. Sheesh!

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat May 20, 2006 at 07:58:39 PM EST
    Same thing, different party in the Dallas suburbs. Most Democrat signs are missing the word "Democrat."

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat May 20, 2006 at 08:25:37 PM EST
    Sailor, how is it "hijacking" to ask a question about something stated in the post itself?

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#20)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun May 21, 2006 at 06:51:20 AM EST
    MDP - This thread is about bashing Repubs, not asking questions or commenting about what is in the post. How dare you? (sarcasm alert) et al - What we have here is a Repub Primary. That means no Demos are running. In other words, "I'm a Repub running in a Repub Primary." Duhhhhhhh. It is also Open. This means that any registered voter can vote. As I noted above, Open primaries afford the opposition to try and elect the weakest candidate (in their opinion) for them to run against in the general election. That is why many states have closed primaries. If you aren't a registered party member, you can't vote. The real question in my mind is why LNILR had to go to such a minute and contestable detail to find something bad to say about Repubs. It is somewhat like forecasting the weather by counting the bands on caterpillar's. BTW - Colorado has closed Primaries. I can't remember the Demo candidates making a big deal that they were Demos.

    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#21)
    by Sailor on Sun May 21, 2006 at 09:17:47 AM EST
    It ain't just arkansas:
    With President as the Guest, the Hostess Sends Regrets Ms. Drake's office said she had no choice but to skip Mr. Bush's visit on her behalf because she had to be on Capitol Hill for an important appropriations vote involving $150 million in military spending for her district, much of it for veterans' health care.
    The appropriations were approved 395 to 0.
    "Faced with a decision of missing the vote to go to a fund-raiser or staying in Washington to do her job, she had to stay in Washington," said her campaign manager, Tim Murtaugh.
    Re: Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitt (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon May 22, 2006 at 12:32:39 AM EST
    I got 2 absentee ballots in the mail. The First One reads RP49. Recently I gave up on my lifelong journey as a meaningless Rep. and then the day came when I recieved my NP49 in the mail. Boy was I elated it was now offical I'am no longer Idenified with Bush,Cheney or even the famous Actor. So I called this 800 number and they said it was OK to ditch the RP49 Ballot. You mean I don't get to vote for the famous actor. Why Bother I'am now offically a Non Partisan Voter. It feels great.

    Ark. Primary 06: Republicans Not Really Admitting It | 22 comments (22 topical)