First Look at Curtis Coleman on KARN; Does Coleman have a Tim Hutchinson Problem?
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?
Tags: 2010 Candidates
May 28th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
[...] Coleman dispatched the question pretty handily, I thought, or as handily as one could, talking about how difficult the divorce was for his entire family. Jason Tolbert at The Tolbert Report, who rather luridly frames Coleman’s divorce as a “Tim Hutchinson problem,” recounts much of Coleman’s response in a post this afternoon. [...]
May 28th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Tolbert: First Look at Curtis Coleman on KARN; Does Coleman have a Tim Hutchinson Problem?: Potential ca.. http://tinyurl.com/kmbbso
May 28th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
I just wanted to let you know that I was listening to Art English the other day on the radio talking about contenders for the republican nominee in the senate race. He was bad out of date, and I thought, they have the wrong guy, Tolbert should be doing this. You have kept me up to date on things, and I appreciate it.
May 29th, 2009 at 8:17 am
[...] blogger Jason Tolbert filed a lengthy post yesterday on Curtis Coleman, a former evangelist, who launched a nifty Web site announcing his U.S. Senate [...]
May 29th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Not his first interview with the media, I spoke with him for about thirty minutes when he first announced the committee, but his first public appearance, yes.
http://arkansasnews.com/2009/05/15/gop-coleman-files-for-exploratory-committee-for-us-senate/
May 29th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Sorry, Zack. I meant first “real” interview.
May 31st, 2009 at 2:30 pm
[...] First Look at Curtis Coleman on KARN; Does Coleman have a Tim … [...]
June 14th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
[...] from way back then are still upset and angry in their emails and comments to his posts. The Tolbert Report refers to the divorce as a possible Hutchinson problem, referring to Arkansas’ former Senator [...]