The Tolbert Report

I just got back from the Central Arkansas Republican Club lunch at the Little Rock Club.  French Hill presented a good analysis of the economic situation from a knowledgeable banker’s perspective but did not offer any blog fodder or juicy political gossip on the rumors circulated as to whether he will run for Congress against Rep. Vic Snyder.  He was asked the question to which he said, “I am not going to comment on that at this time.”  Sorry, blogosphere we will just have to wait.

Hill did specifically thank myself and Max Brantley for helping turn out the crowd for lunch to hear what he was going to say.  Next time I am going to have to ask for a commission or something.  Oh, and Hill did ask me not to flip cam or live blog the meeting.  Not sure why as it pretty much a thoughtful discussion of the issues (ie boring) - nothing juicy. 

I  will try to update this tonight with a bit more detail on Hill’s comments.  I am sure you will wait with bated breath.  By the way, anybody know a good place to pick up some arugula.

Potential candidate for U.S. Senate Curtis Coleman appeared this afternoon on KARN Newsradio in Little Rock with David Sanders in his first media interview since announcing that he formed an exploratory committee.  Coleman spent an hour on the air with the first half discussing why he is running and the second half fielding questions from callers.

Coleman said that he is running because as a business executive he is worried about the decisions being made in Washington and how these could affect our economy.  Although his business, Safe Foods Corp is doing well, he has seen many others around him fail.  He criticized Sen. Lincoln for her ever changing stance on card check, pointing out that she previously supported the ECFA bill that she now opposes in its current form.  Coleman also said that he is getting in the race because of how our growing national debt and out of control spending will affect our children and grandchildren.  In his view, the effect is an erosion of our personal liberties and freedom.

Perhaps the most interesting portion of the interview happened when Sanders opened the phone line for questions. Coleman was immediately faced with questions about his past personal life.  A caller asked Coleman how Arkansans can trust him to keep his commitment to represent our values after his difficult divorce.  Coleman responded that the divorce was sixteen years ago and was a very painful end to a twenty-five year marriage.  He pointed out that the Bible says God hates divorce.  “If anybody hates divorce as much as God, it is the divorcee.” He went on to say that one of the first people he spoke with regarding his potential candidacy was his ex-wife.  He quoted her response to him as “I think you will make a great Senator. I will support you and vote for you.”  When asked by Sanders, Coleman said that he supports the covenant marriage set up by then Gov. Mike Huckabee.  Huckabee and Coleman are long time friends.

Coleman also fielded phone calls regarding his stance on cap and trade which he said he does not support due the increase financial burden this would place on energy consumers and on border security which he said he thinks it is important to strengthen the security at borders.  He said that there is not a timeline for when he will announce but instead is “working through a checklist” but he does expect to know for sure by the fall.

As an Arkansas political observer, one has to ask the question does Curtis Coleman have a Tim Hutchinson problem.  Coleman’s divorce took place back in 1993, just after he managed Mike Huckabee’s unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign and around the same time that he left the ministry as a full time evangelistic for a career in the food industry.  In 2002, then-incumbent Republican Senator Tim Hutchinson narrowly lost to current-incumbent Democrat Senator Mark Pryor.  Some believe that Hutchinson’s 1999 divorce played a role in losing the close election.

Will voters ignore Coleman’s divorce as a personal family matter from his past or will the fact that it took place while he was a minister matter?  Will the fact that his ex-wife now supports his candidacy make a difference or does Curtis Coleman have a Tim Hutchinson problem?

Today, the Republican Party of Arkansas announced that Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty will be the keynote speaker for their annual Governor’s Dinner.  The dinner will be held on Friday, June 26^th, 2009 at the Embassy Suites in Little Rock.

The annual dinner is one of the RPA’s major fundraisers.  Past keynote speakers include Governor Mitt Romney, Governor Jeb Bush, Governor Mike Huckabee, Governor Haley Barbour, and Governor Mark Sanford.

In addition to Governor Pawlenty’s speech, former Arkansas First Lady Gay White will present the annual award in honor of her husband Governor Frank White, the “Hi, I’m Frank White” award. 

For more information contact the Republican Party of Arkansas at 501-372-7301, or visit our website at www.arkansasgop.org.

by Brett Hooton

CNN is reporting that the National Republican Congressional Committee is running a radio ad attacking, among others, Congressman Vic Snyder.  The ads focus on Snyder’s vote to block an investigation into when Speaker Pelosi learned about waterboarding by the CIA.  The Speaker claims the CIA misled her and lied to Congress.  Since it is a crime to lie to Congress some Members pushed for an investigation into Pelosi’s claims.  This was blocked with Snyder being one of the votes against the measure.  Republicans were hoping to investigate whether Pelosi can substantiate her claim or is simply blaming the CIA to deflect criticism.

It is interesting that the NRCC has targeted Snyder this early without there even being an announced Republican candidate.  It was previously reported that the NRCC was running ads against Congressman Berry but this is the first time they’ve targeted Snyder this year.  It may be the earliest in an election cycle they’ve ever run an ad against him.  Will we be hearing from a potential Republican candidate for the 2nd District soon?

(Tolbert Note – The ad above is from the NRCC for Rep. Frank Kravotil of Maryland but the ad targeting Rep. Synder is almost identical. My sources tell me that there will soon be an announcement regarding a potential Snyder opponent).

State Rep. Jonathan Dismang spoke to the Central Arkansas Young Republicans on Wednesday over lunch, which gave me a chance to dust off the Tolbert Report flip cam.  Dismang discussed the current state of Republicans in Arkansas using two analogies – the prodigal son and an oak tree.  What does that mean? You will have to watch the video to find out.

As one of the up and comers in the state legislature, Rep. Dismang has formed an exploratory committee to consider making the leap to the State Senate to represent district 29 where the current State Senator John Paul Capps is term limited.

In what could be the worst kept secret in Arkansas politics, Pulaski County Clerk Pat O’Brien announced today that he is running for Secretary of State.  The current Secretary of State Charlie Daniels is term limited creating an open spot.  However, I am not sure about his chances.  Although, like Daniels, he does share a name with a celebrity, his celebrity namesake is a television gossip show host not a famous county music singer.  O’Brien most recent political endeavor was as a chief volunteer for Arkansans for Obama and as an Obama delegate at the Democratic National Convention.

O’Brien’s website says that he wants to do for the state of Arkansas what he has done for Pulaski County.  He states, “When I took over in 2005, the Pulaski County Clerk’s office was an embarrassment. It had been investigated by a Grand Jury and was under a Federal Consent Decree. The citizens had no confidence that their right to vote would be protected. Now, everything is running smoothly and confidence has been restored.”

Conservative columnist David Sanders offered a testimonial to this today on KARN saying that he could not figure out where to vote, called O’Brien’s cell phone, and quickly got direction so I guess he has that going for him.

According to Capsearch, other rumored candidates are term-limited State Land Commissioner Mark Wilcox, term-limited State Senator Steve Farris, and President of the Arkansas Association of County Clerk Doris Tate.

American Idol winner and Conway, Arkansas’ favorite son Kris Allen will be on Mike Huckabee’s Fox News show “Huckabee” this weekend, according to Huckabee himself on his radio show “The Huckabee Report.”  Gov. Huckabee reports that Allen will sit down for a visit and maybe even sing with the band.

Gov. Huckabee has made no secret that Kris Allen was his favorite to win this season of American Idol as he cheered him on along with the rest of Arkansas.

“Huckabee” is on Fox News at 7:00 CST on Saturday and Sunday night.

For someone not officially in the U.S. Senate race, Curtis Coleman certainly is looking like a candidate.  Today, he launched a full-fledged campaign website completely with a flash video introduction, online giving, testimonials from supporters (including Brenda Turner, Huckabee’s former chief of staff), and a place to sign up for updates.  A quick look at the site’s design and you can quickly see that Coleman has already started investing some money in this campaign.  Add to that his new twitter, facebook, and even a blog and you can see he is serious about running.

Coleman’s website includes a biographical sketch which highlights the portion of his career spent at Safe Foods Corporation (which also had a recent website redesign – hint more flash video), his motivational speaking at the University of Arkansas, and his management of Gov. Huckabee’s unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate in 1992, although he leaves out the portion of his career as a Southern Baptist evangelist, which is when I knew him.

He also posted his first blog entry. I will cut him some slack, as this was his first blog post but I cannot help but make a few observations.  First, the post is well over a thousand words.  My advice – keep it shorter.  People don’t read long posts.  (In fact, I bet most of you already stopped reading this one by now.)  Also, you might avoid referring to people as “red, yellow, black, brown and white” as people can be somewhat sensitive about that sort of thing.  Other than that, I will give the web effort a big thumbs up for a good looking website and using all the different types of social media.

Blake Rutherford Thinks (get it!) about the same as me – nice website – not so much on the blog.  I guess we are blog snobs.

Keith Sloan of Noland in Randolph County has announced his plan to run for state representative in district 80.  Incumbent Rep. David Cook is term limited and cannot seek reelection creating an open seat.

At the age of 19, if elected Sloan would be the youngest member of the state legislature.  In his release, Sloan says that he is “not ashamed to be pro-life, pro-gun rights, pro-traditional marriage, and against high taxes and pork barrel spending.”  Sloan is a student at Black River Technical College where he is studying history and political science.

“Let’s face it,” Sloan stated. “It is difficult for our young people out of high school and college to find work in District 80. Why should we have to leave our hometown to find jobs to support our families? We must bring jobs to the hardworking people of District 80 so they can continue to raise their families in a community with family values.”

Linda Collins-Smith, a hotel owner and a commissioner on the Arkansas Ethics Commission, has also expressed interest in the running for the seat.

As we examine the record of newly nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor, an important question is what will our Arkansas Senators do.  Both offices put out press releases that may offer some clues.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln, up for re-election next year, speaks rather glowing regarding Sotomayor. “Judge Sotomayor has an inspiring story of success in the face of hardship,” says Lincoln.  “Arkansans can appreciate the fact that she has been no stranger to hard work, and her academic and professional record speaks for itself.  She has been nominated by both Democratic and Republican Presidents and has been confirmed twice by the Senate with strong, bipartisan support under both Democratic and Republican majorities.”  She concludes by saying that she looks “forward to carefully reviewing the qualifications of Judge Sotomayor as her confirmation process moves forward.”

Sen. Mark Pryor offered similar praise saying, “Judge Sotomayor has impeccable credentials and an extraordinary American story.”  However, he was quick to point out that it is “critically important that she possess the proper judicial temperament and the ability to be fair and impartial. I believe this criterion is essential; activist judges have no place on the highest court of the land.”  (Perhaps he should watch this.)  Pryor concludes by saying “I believe Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing should be rigorous, but fair.”

Both stop short of offering their full support to Judge Sotomayor but it seems to me that Sen. Pryor’s statement tends to offer a tough line than Sen. Lincoln’s statement.  There is little doubt that Arkansans will be closely watching how this two self-professed blue dog Democrats vote on this nominee from the far left.