Sen. Kim Hendren: Without a Teleprompter! (UPDATE II – Hendren’s New Explanation)
The talk in conservative circles this week has been about Sen. Kim Hendren’s appearance last week at the Pulaski County Republican Committee meeting. Several Republicans on hand were live twittering the event which quickly spread the word that Sen. Hendren was “getting eaten alive” by the attendee’s questions. These whispers soon spread across the blogs, tweets, and old fashion phone calls as to what went down.
So what really happened? Unfortunately, I was not on hand with my flip cam so I have no direct film to offer. Instead, I had to go all old school and actually speak directly to several people who attended the meeting - most importantly Sen. Hendren himself – to try a sort it all out. Sen. Hendren was surprisingly (or unsurprisingly if you know him) candid about the meeting.
Much of the meeting’s discussion centered on Sen. Hendren’s vote to 
increase taxes while in the state legislature, particularly his recent vote in favor of the cigarette tax increase. “Some people at the meeting felt that anyone who votes for a tax increase is wrong,” said Hendren. Attempting to explain his vote, Hendren said, “My first reaction was no, we don’t need another tax.” But after meeting with Gov. Mike Beebe and Arkansas Surgeon General Joe Thompson, he was persuaded to vote in favor of it. He said that this is primarily due to the $500 million dollars that he was informed the state incurs from smoking related health costs. He on to say that he did not mind defending this vote saying “that is how I voted and I don’t mind being held accountable.”
The criticism also centered on Hendren’s refusal to sign the “no tax pledge” supported by the American for Tax Reform. “I can’t sign a no tax pledge because that vote does not belong to me,” he explained, “it belong to the people I represent.” Hendren went on the say that he feels too much attention is given to taxes and not enough focus is placed on spending. “If the ATR would like for me to sign a no new spending pledge, that is something I would consider.”
The other talk of the meeting involved some of Hendren’s trademark off the cuff remarks, which on this occasion included comments regarding Sen. Charles Schumer and illegal immigration. Hendren explained, “I don’t use a teleprompter and occasionally I put my foot in my month.” At the meeting, Hendren addressed the comments that Sen. Schumer made shortly before last week’s meeting. Sen. Schumer, appearing on MSNBC’s Rachael Maddow Show, said “The hard right, which still believes that when the Federal Government moves, we chop off its hands, still believes in the traditional values kind of arguments, in strong foreign policy, all that is over.” Hendren told me, “At the meeting I was attempting to explain that unlike Sen. Schumer, I believe in traditional values, like we used to see on ‘The Andy Griffith Show.’ I made the mistake of referring to Sen. Schumer as ‘that Jew’ and I should not have put it that way as this took away from what I was trying to say.”
Hendren also told me that some in crowd did not like what he had to say about illegal immigration. “I believe we should enforce our existing immigration laws but unfortunately there are many companies who are taking advantage of illegal workers as we recently saw in Springdale. I don’t think we should be turning a blind eye to this.”
Although Hendren admitted he felt some people had shown up at the meeting with an agenda, he felt the “lively discussion” was a healthy one for the Party. “I want to introduce myself for who I actually am. I will no doubt stick my foot in my mouth many times in the process but this is who I am.”
In the day where many politicians try to noance and spin their every word, for better or worse, Hendren makes no attempt to be politically correct or mask what he really thinks on the issues. If you want to know where he stands, ask him and he will tell you. The question now for Republicans is he our candidate and will anyone step forward to challenge him, particularly Sen. Gilbert Baker or Tim Griffin. But that is what primaries are all about. If the early events are any indication, this will certainly be a fun one to watch!
UPDATE - According to the New York Daily News, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) was asked about Hendren’s comment and said “Apology accepted.”
UPDATE II - Sen. Hendren offers a slightly different explanation to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette saying that he referred to Sen. Schumer as a Jew because he had trouble remembering his name. He also insists that while he called him a Jew, he did not call him that Jew.
I stand by my original quote but someone is going to have to explain the difference to me. By the way, Hendren did not mentioned having problems recalling Sen. Schumer’s name to me and the individuals I talked to at the meeting did not recall this being the way it went either.
And a little bit of press…
Video of ABN’s Zack Stoval on MSNBC’s the Rachel Maddow Show.
Video of Brad Reed Reporting for KNWA
The Big Names in Arkansas Media
Andrew “the machine” DeMillo of the Associated Press
Zack Stovall of the Arkansas News Bureau
Michael Wickline of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette
The Arkansas Blogs
David Kinkade of The Arkansas Project
Blake Rutherford of Blake’s Think Tank
Lance Turner of Lance Turner’s Blog
Zack Stovell of Unfamous First Words
Gerald Matthews of Ark Times Blog
Henry Reardon (or the masked blogger) of Ark Journal
John Brummett of Brummett’s Blog
The National Blogs
Josh Kraushaar of the Politico’s Scorecard
Eric Kleefeld of The Talking Points Memo
Mark Murrey of MSNBC’s First Read
Susan Davis of Wall Street Journal Blog
Michael McAuliff of New York Daily News
David Frum of the New Majority
Tags: Kim Hendren
May 14th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Tolbert: Sen. Kim Hendren: Without a Teleprompter!: The talk in conservative circles this week has been .. http://tinyurl.com/o2xknb
May 14th, 2009 at 8:32 am
Sen. Kim Hendren’s Interview with the Tolbert Report – http://tinyurl.com/o2xknb
May 14th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Antisemite
May 14th, 2009 at 10:15 am
[...] unreported and tucked away in Tolbert’s post is the news that Hendren, in talking about Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, referred to the New York Democrat as [...]
May 14th, 2009 at 10:16 am
[...] Republican blogger Jason Tolbert posts additional information on Kim Hendren’s intriguing appearance last week before the Pulaski County Republican Committee, and the matter grows ever more intriguing. [...]
May 14th, 2009 at 10:16 am
[...] blogger Jason Tolbert has some really good stuff on Sen. Kim Hendren today. So good, in fact, that Ben Smith of Politico picked it up for his blog. [...]
May 14th, 2009 at 10:27 am
What happens when Mr. Hendren learns that most of the writers on the Andy Griffith Show were Jewish?
May 14th, 2009 at 11:42 am
[...] State Senator, and potential U.S. Senate candidate, Kim Hendren:“At the meeting I was attempting to explain that unlike Sen. Schumer, I believe in traditional [...]
May 14th, 2009 at 11:54 am
[...] State Senator Kim Hendren, a Republican state senator angling for higher office, had a good defense: “At the meeting I was attempting to explain that unlike Sen. Schumer, I believe in [...]
May 14th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
To follow up NP’s comment above: as was the creator of the show, Sheldon Leonard.
May 14th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
[...] Sometimes the apology is as bad as the act. Arkansas Republican Senate candidate Kim Hendren explains his reference to Senator Chuck Schumer as “that Jew.” Hendren told me, “At the meeting I was attempting to explain that unlike Sen. Schumer, I believe [...]
May 14th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Hendren’s “apology” reported in the press (I shouldn’t have gotten into this Jewish business because it distracts from the issue,” Hendren said.) is not quite accurate…WHAT HE SHOULD HAVE SAID:
I shouldn’t have gotten into this Jewish business because it shows the world what a bigot I am and what an embarrassment I am to the voters that elected me…AND IT IS JUST SIMPLY AND UTTERLY A WRONG THING TO DO ANYTIME.
May 14th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
So Hendren doesn’t use a teleprompter and for that reason his racism shines through for all the world to see?
This excuse is pathetic, and you know it, but somehow you bury this among dumb details about a cigarette tax debate that isn’t nearly as interesting as a Senate candidate being outed for unabashed antisemitism.
May 14th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
“Hendren makes no attempt to be politically correct or mask what he really thinks on the issues.”
Translated from wingnut-ese: “Hendren makes no attempt to grasp that there’s a whole wide world beyond white, christian, conservative Arkansas, full of people who are not Good Ol’ Boys and who do not find it high-larious to be stereotyped or subjected to racial slurs.”
Keep it up, though. Always glad to see the GOP show their true colors and shoot themselves in the foot.
May 14th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
In response to Oh, you goyim, Senator Hendren’s remarks are not representative of the entire Republican Party. We leave the anti-Semitism to you liberal Democrats. But I digress….
The right candidate could beat Blank Stare Lincoln, but right now it seems that the RPA isn’t trying to find that right candidate. Gilbert Baker and Tim Griffin have floated the possibility of running against her, but have not yet stated so definitely. I think that Senator Baker would be an excellent candidate to run against her. I just don’t think that Tim Griffin is interested enough in the race since he’s currently working on Kay Bailey Hutchinson’s gubernatorial race in Texas. We need a good candidate who can articulate the vast differences between conservatives and liberals and who can paint Lincoln as in bed with Obama and nothing more than a shill for him. Arkansans voted overwhelmingly for John McCain in 2008 and when light is shone on Senator Lincoln’s liberal voting record (although she’s trying to move to the right currently in an attempt to mask her liberalism) for all of Arkansas to see, she can be beaten.
May 14th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
[...] “I don’t use a teleprompter and occasionally I put my foot in my month,” Hendren told Arkansas blogger Jason Tolbert. [...]
May 14th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
what a disgusting bigot Hendren is and indeed a total moron
May 14th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
[...] Arkansas GOP State Senator Kim Hendren, who has announced a run for Blanche Lincoln’ s senate seat, has apologized for calling New York Senator Charles Schumer “that Jew” at the Polaski County Republican meeting. Hendren spoke to Arkansas blogger Jason Tolbert. [...]
May 14th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
[...] Sen. Kim Hendren: Without A TelePrompTer (Update: Schumer “Apology Accepted”) – The Tolbert Report [...]
May 15th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Ha Ha to the teleprompter remark. The man’s not ready for prime time. We don’t need an Arkansan on the national stage reinforcing a particularly ignoble stereotype. The teleprompter comeback, no doubt intended as a savvy dig at the president, points instead to the problem for Hendren: he’s publicly revealed that he identifies race, religion, or ethnicity as a significant reason that people have certain political ideals or areas of interest different from his own; i.e. he’s a bigot; and that from time to time when he has to speak to people without a script, we should accept that he will embarrass himself, his state, and his nation by saying something ignorant, inappropriate, and stupid. . . . Nope. Can’t have that.
May 15th, 2009 at 9:00 am
[...] a closed-to-the-media gathering of local GOP operatives, Arkansas state senator Kim Hendren, defending against constituent accusations that he isn’t a true Republican (for not signing a “no tax increase” pledge), affirmed his party loyalty by [...]
May 15th, 2009 at 10:54 am
[...] Republican candidate for U.S. Senator against Democratic incumbent Blanche Lincoln in 2010, has apologized for referring to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as “that Jew,” at a county Republican [...]
May 15th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Sen. Kim Hendren’s new explanation regarding his comments on Sen. Charles Schumer – he could not recall his name – http://tinyurl.com/o2xknb
May 15th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
[...] Senate hopeful Kim Hendren stepped in it, and The Tolbert Report was (virtually) there! He might have buried the lede, but he still got linked the hell out [...]
May 15th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
[...] Griffith Values Arkansas Senator Kim Hendren (R) shoots from the hip and hits his mouth. I don’t recall that episode where Andy paraded his [...]
May 16th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
[...] Republican candidate for US Senate Kim “Tippi” Hendren put his foot in his mouth when he referred to NY Senator Chuck Schumer as “that Jew” at a party meeting last [...]
May 19th, 2009 at 9:49 am
[...] hate what you just said: “I don’t use a Teleprompter, and occasionally I put my foot in my month,” he [...]
May 19th, 2009 at 10:34 am
I was raised in Forrest City, and I was the only Jewish kid in my class. I got tons of antisemitism thrown at me, even from some teachers. There was a Christian prayer said everyday in the cafeteria, and they had religious assembly once a week with a Protestant preacher. I didn’t realize they were violating my Constitutional rights till I was in college.
One woman, trying to be nice, told my dad she thought Jews were as good as white people. That really says it all. Even the Catholics were hated in that town. Bigots thought the Pope ordered Catholics to hide guns in the church basement so they could take over when he ordered them too.
So Senator Kendren’s remarks didn’t surprise me. He’s an old school guy. He obviously doesn’t realize that if he weren’t antisemitic, his brain wouldn’t be capable of choosing those words in any situation. It’s scary that a man whose apology is so stupid and ill-informed could represent the great state of Arkansas in the senate.
May 19th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
[...] That’s hardly the worst of it. The Republicans’ Great Black Hope, it’s shameless attempt at projecting diversity, or at least at creating Obama’s moronic doppelganger, continues to exhibit the symptoms of a terrible case of foot-in-mouth disease. Good god I hope that’s not contagious, I just started eating bacon again! Uh oh, it is contagious! [...]
June 1st, 2009 at 8:02 am
[...] might eventually find its way onto the Web. You might as well behave as if a Tolbert Flip cam is in the room, because chances are, it or something like it might [...]
June 4th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
[...] a closed-to-the-media gathering of local GOP operatives, Arkansas state senator Kim Hendren, defending against constituent accusations that he isn’t a true Republican (for not signing a “no tax increase” pledge), affirmed his party loyalty by [...]
June 24th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
[...] can’t say this is the dumbest thing Mr. Hendren’s said in his campaign that may not even be a campaign. (He’s a bit frustrated at the amount of paperwork one has to [...]