I don’t know if Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln’s primary challenger, Bill Halter, is a progressive, but I have to assume he at least wouldn’t undercut his own caucus in the Senate as frequently and blatantly as Senator Lincoln has done over the past year and a half. He may not win in November, but it sounds like he stands a helluva better chance than Lincoln herself (from Mike Madden at Salon):
Halter, who’s now the Arkansas lieutenant governor, says he’s running to help turn around the economy and create jobs, and to speak for the people, not for the special interests in Washington. And Lincoln, naturally, isn’t exactly throwing in the towel. But it’s not hard to see why Halter thought he had a chance in the first place. For months, the polls back home have brought Lincoln nothing but bad news; only a few incumbents have ever dug themselves out of holes like the one she’s in. In the month since Halter finally got into the race, the trouble has kept mounting for Lincoln. A survey out Thursday showed him doing slightly better than the incumbent against possible Republican nominees. The same day, Halter’s campaign announced he raised about $2 million this quarter — even though he’s only been running since March 1. Lincoln, working for the full three months, raised about half that.
“As I looked at it — and I think this is clear from the public polling — the incumbent was and is going to have a very hard time getting reelected,” Halter says. “People from all parts of Arkansas were literally calling up or stopping me on the street, and saying, ‘Look, we want you to do this, and we’re with you.'”
Let’s refresh our recollection of Blanche Lincoln’s obstructionism on health care reform, shall we? Obstruction that nearly killed any bill, much less a bill that might have provided us a public option:
In July 2009, she offered her support for Obama’s healthcare plan and his inclusion of a public insurance option. “Individuals should be able to choose from a range of quality health insurance plans,” she wrote in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “Options should include private plans as well as a quality, affordable public plan or non-profit plan that can accomplish the same goals as those of a public plan.”
Yet two months later, after the public option came under fire from insurance companies and Tea Partiers, Lincoln changed her tune. “I would not support a solely government-funded public option,” she said on September 1 in Little Rock. “We can’t afford that.” She vowed to filibuster any healthcare bill that included the public option she once supported, even though 56 percent of Arkansans backed the provision.
In December, she supported the Senate’s healthcare reform legislation–which did not include a public option, in part due to opposition from the likes of Lincoln. Her first re-election ad this year cited her vote “against the public option healthcare plan,” along with a number of other Obama initiatives. “I don’t answer to my party,” she said. “I answer to Arkansas.” […]
In March 2010, Lincoln hailed the efforts of House Democrats to pass the Senate’s healthcare bill, noting its “significant benefits” for Arkansas. But she then opposed the efforts of Senate Democrats to pass the House’s fixes to the bill through reconciliation–the very process that enabled Democrats to agree on a final bill.
Well, Arkansas Democrats don’t like how she screwed around with health care and helped destroy any chance of a public option. She played the GOP’s game and the insurance industry’s game hoping to win over enough conservative votes this Fall to keep her seat. Instead she lost — lost her Democratic base, lost the faith of ordinary people because her mealy mouthed approach to going Republican lite played into the GOP’s scare tactics and lost the trust of political professionals who she needs to run an effective campaign.
“I’m one of the ones who have been disappointed with how far right Blanche has been over the years,” says Larry Crane, the former chairman of the Pulaski County Democratic Party, who resigned a few weeks ago to run for county clerk. “I think that she probably is where she is for self-preservation, and I think for many of us, she has misjudged where we would like her to be.”
She ought to end her bid for another term, but politicians rarely see the handwriting on the wall. I say let’s give Halter a shot. He cannot be worse. He sounds like he is a more popular political figure state wide right now and is likely the best candidate to run against the Republican. Even if he loses he sets himself up for another run in six years, or a chance at Governor or a Congressional seat.
I support his candidacy and I hope you will also. Here’s his Act Blue financing page where you can contribute to his campaign should you be so inclined. I have.