The Tolbert Report

Gov. Mike Huckabee appeared on KARN News Radio Monday afternoon with guest host and former press secretary Alice Stewart. He addressed a wide range of issues from his current travel schedule, to his issue with bloggers, to his support for Congressional terms limits, to the Arkansas Senate race.

Huckabee began by discussing how life how changed with his new found media stardom. He was quick to point out that he has not and will not move to New York City. “You can’t duck hunt in Central Park,” said Huckabee. Instead, he flies into NYC from LIT each Thursday and back on Sunday to tape his FoxNews television show “Huckabee.” As for his radio show “The Huckabee Report,” his studio follows him as he does everything on his MacBook. He said that while he was in Israel, he recorded his show each day from his hotel room using his favorite computer.

Huckabee did not hold back in his contempt for the media, particularly bloggers, who misquote and misrepresent what he says. “The media is interested in conflict not resolution,” said Huckabee. “And this includes both conservative and liberal bloggers.” Because of this, he says he has learned to be very careful not only in what he says but how he says things.

The former Arkansas governor also weighed in on his support for term limits for Congress. He discussing the overwhelming support term limits received on the state level in Arkansas and said he would like to see members of Congress stay in Washington for no more than 12 years.

Turning his attention back to Arkansas politics, Huckabee responded to a caller question as to if he would consider running against Sen. Blanche Lincoln in 2010. “I am very content doing what I am doing right now,” said Huckabee citing his work on his television and radio show, his speaking schedule, and his work with candidates through HuckPAC. In somewhat of a tip of the hat toward his future plans, he said “I am not wired to be a Senator” and instead prefer the executive branch to the legislative branch. “Besides, there are already plenty of folks running including my friend Curtis Coleman,” said Huckabee.

He did say he believes Sen. Lincoln is certainly vulnerable in the upcoming mid-term election citing the poll released last week from Public Policy Polling showing several relatively unknown Republican candidates polling ahead or within the margin of error against Sen. Lincoln. “When people prefer ‘any of the above’ to you, then you know you are in trouble.”

More inside baseball played out today on a couple Senate candidate campaigns but that could have long term impacts. Earlier this morning, Communication Director for Tom Cox for Senate, Stefani Buhajla abruptly resigned, apparently over a dispute regarding some comments Cox made over the weekend. Cox downplayed the significance of this development calling me to respond to my tweet on the subject. “I thought you might want the truth.” said Cox. He confirmed that Buhajla resigned but said that it was only her and that five additional staff members have just been brought on.

Meanwhile over at the Conrad Reynolds camp, Reynolds reaches into the conservative blogosphere to pull out a communication director of his own. Blogger friend to the Tolbert Report and former communications director of Congressman John Boozman, K. Ryan James will be signing on to the Reynolds for Senate campaign. Reynolds’ campaign manager was Don Thomas, the former campaign manger for Gilbert Baker’s state senate campaign, but they have seen parted ways. Hmmmm….very interesting.

UPDATE – Turns out Buhajla was not the first Communication Director to part ways with Cox.  Wilson Kanaday was the original Communication Director for the Tom Cox Campaign and he also left for similar reasons.  Two months and two communications directors gone does not bode well for Tom Cox.

UPDATE II – Not sure the real distinction here but Tom Cox felt the need to personally call and let me know that Kanaday was never paid to be the Communication Director and was only doing this as a volunteer in the early stages of the campaign. So there you go.

This video from comedian Tim Hawkins would be funny is it was not so close to reality.

Add former Congressman Asa Hutchinson to the long list of possible candidates for U.S. Senate. A quick check of the blogs this morning between Sunday School and Church (I mean isn’t that what we all do with this time) reveled that Roby Brock brakes this rumor over on Talk Business’ The Political Buzz blog. Brock writes…

But is Asa even interested? A Republican party operative suggested he was in a recent conversation, so we asked.

“I am watching it all very closely and particularly the conduct of this Congress and administration,” Hutchinson tells Talk Business. “When it comes to future races, I have made it clear that I have not ruled out anything.”

Safe, vague answer, yes. But that’s as committed as several others eyeing the race. Add him to the watch list.

I am so glad to see one more name on this list. I mean we really needed some more candidates for this primary. Note to Arkansas Republicans – there are other races next year beside U.S. Senate. Can we maybe spread this out a bit? This is starting to remind me of my little league team where everyone wanted to be the pitcher and no one wanted to play left field.

Interestingly enough, Northwest Arkansas blogger Val’s Bien reported on a recent appearence of Asas before the Washington County Republican Women.  Val writes…

Asa listed 5 issues at the national level that impact our families. Health Care Reform, the Deficit and Debt, the Judiciary, National Security and Illegal Drugs.

Health care reform is necessary and important, he said. The reform needs to be continually adjusted to make sure it was responsive to the individual and meets the needs of the elderly and those struggling in life. It should not be the “one size fits all”. Quoting Obama, “If private insurers say that the marketplace provides the best-quality health care, if they tell us that they’re offering a good deal, then why is it that the government, which they say can’t run anything, suddenly is going to drive them out of business?” Asa asked does this sound like a president that understands the dynamics of the private sector in America? Asa said “I think not.”

UPDATE – I don’t know what I was thinking yesterday not checking Asa’s Facebook status but it actually sheds some light on this.  He posted the following status update last Wednesday…

“Just so everyone knows: I am enjoying the practice of law with my son, Asa III, at the AH Law Group in Rogers, Arkansas. The only problem is that he actually makes me work. On the political front, I am supporting as many quality candidates as I can in 2010. It will be a great year! Cheers!”

When asked about the health care debate, he said…

My advice is to keep working on reform but forget the public option. Also, do not add to our deficit and national debt. For the administration’s budget numbers to underestimate the debt by 2 trillion dollars is frightful.”

In a bit of inside Arkansas Republican politics news, current Chairman of the Arkansas Young Republicans (AYR) tells the Tolbert Report today that he will not seek reelection at the upcoming AYR Convention. The Convention will take place in Little Rock on September 26 although the exact time and place has not yet been announced.

AYR Chariman David Fort tells me that he is not seeking re-election as he needs to spend more time focusing on his golf business. Fort closed the driving range he owned earlier this year and is doing some public relations work for various professional golfers. “I am pleased with what the YRs were able to accomplish this past year and hope that the next chairman can build upon this,” said Fort.

This past Spring, former press secretary of the Republican Party of Arkansas Elizabeth Aymond announced that she will be running for AYR Chairman. Aymond has run a full campaign complete with a website, a Facebook group, a twitter account, and email updates. She confirmed this morning to the Tolbert Report that she still plans to run.

“Over the past few months I have had the privilege of traveling throughout Arkansas to visit with young and young-at-heart conservatives,” Aymond tells the Tolbert Report. ”The energy from people has been astounding, and the overwhelming sentiment is that we need a Young Republican organization here at home. Two of my main goals as Chairman of the Arkansas Young Republicans will be to truly utilize every avenue of this grassroots organization by keeping people informed and helping qualified candidates get elected.”

As of this posting, no other candidates have announced.

Mike Huckabee addressed the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy and its impact on the health care debate Thursday morning on his radio show “The Huckabee Report.” He began his show by criticizing President Obama and others who have used Sen. Kennedy’s passing as an opportunity to rally support for their health care proposal.

“Sen. Ted Kennedy’s death had barely hit the news before we started hearing calls that Congress must hurry and pass the health care reform bill and do it in his memory,” said Huckabee. “That not only defies good taste, it defies logic. We certainly can and should respect his years of advocacy and work for the things that he truly believed in. But there is no good reason to rush through a giant unread bill that would transform American health care and impact every citizen.”

He went on to offer another lesson we may learn from Kennedy’s death.

“But perhaps the worst reason to do it is in the name of someone who perhaps inadvertently gave us the most shining example of why this particular bill is so bad. Proponents deny that this bill will devalue older people’s lives or encourage them to except less care to save money. But it was President Obama himself who suggested that seniors who don’t have as long to live might want to just consider taking a pain pill instead of getting an expensive operation to cure them. Yet when Sen. Kennedy was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer at 77, did he give up on life and go home to take pain pills and die? Of course not. He freely did what most of us would do. He choose and expansive operation and painful follow up treatments. He saw his work and vitally important and so he fought for every minute he could stay on this earth doing it. He would be a very fortunate man if his heroic last few months were what future generations remember him most for.”

“I want to see improvements in health care too,” Huckabee concluded. “But I think a better way to honor Ted Kennedy would be to ensure that every American has access to the latest private health care as good as what Senators receive.”

Speaking of Gov. Huckabee on the radio. Alice Stewart, who will be guest hosting the Dave Elswick Show this coming Monday afternoon on KARN News Radio, tells me that she will have her former boss as a studio guest from 4:30 to 5:30. Other guests will included Arkansas political bloggers David Kinkade and Blake Rutherford, Ernest Istook from the Heritage Foundation, and pollster Scott Rasmussen of Rasmussen Reports.

UPDATE – This story was first reported here but widely circulated on major blogs such as Huffington Post, Politico, and Drudge Report.  This lead to Gov. Huckabee directly responding to this on his FoxNews show this weekend with this…

The blog Liberty Republican Forum posted a rumor earlier this week, which was spread by Arkansas Morning, that Democratic Blue Dog Rep. Mike Ross might be switching to the Republican Party. I decided the best way to determine if this was true was to ask Mike Ross (I know crazy idea.)

“Any rumor of me switching parties is absolutely false,” Rep. Ross tells the Tolbert Report. “I’m an Arkansas Democrat–always have been and always will be. I will continue fighting for Arkansas values in our nation’s capital.”

Public Policy Polling just released their numbers for Sen. Blanche Lincoln and it is not looking good. From their release…

Lincoln’s approval rating is now just 36%, with 44% of voters in the state disapproving of the job she’s doing. When PPP surveyed the state in March it was a positive 45/40 spread for the second term Senator. 62% of Democrats, 27% of independents, and 14% of Republicans give her good marks.

The Republicans eyeing a run against her are not very well known. Gilbert Baker is viewed favorably by 7% of voters in the state, Curtis Coleman by 6%, and Tom Cotton by just 4%.

That doesn’t stop them from polling within the margin of error against Lincoln though. Baker leads her 42-40, Coleman has a 41-40 advantage, and Cotton trails the incumbent 40-39.

“You couldn’t get a clearer indication that the national momentum is with Republicans right now than a poll showing some guys with single digit name recognition running even with an incumbent Senator,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “This is going to be a very closely contested race if the eventual Republican nomineedoes a good job of raising money.”

Read the full release here.  Based on these numbers there is clearly lots of opprotunities for Republicans in this race but also lots of work to do to increase their name identification.

Bill Kristol of The Weekly Standard and FoxNews Sunday weighed in on the Arkansas Senate race and had high marks for Tom Cotton. Appearing on Bill Bennett’s radio show, Kristol discussed the current health care debate saying, “I think there will be big implication for 2010. And I think the politics as usual and politicians as usual will have trouble. I think this will be a great year for outsiders. I really hope that the Republican welcome the younger candidates. I think that is one of the important aspects to 2010 – to making it a big year to change politics, which will be good.”

Turning his attention to Arkansas, Kristol said, “We can’t just be running the next guy in line, the 23 year veteran of the state senate. This is the time for young fresh outside faces. Tom Cotton who is just back from Iraq is an Army Captain and I think he is going to run for the Senate in Arkansas and he has a real chance.”

Side note – I saw State Sen. Gilbert Baker yesterday and asked him when we would be hearing something regarding the Senate race.  He reply, “Soon.”  Interpret from that what you will.

UPDATE - I spoke via email with Kristol regarding his comments about Cotton.  He sent along the following response…

“Obviously, I’m no expert on Arkansas politics and have nothing against any other possible candidates for the Senate.

“But I do know Tom, and think very highly of him. He’d be a great Senator.

“I got to know him, through a mutual friend, when he was stationed at Arlington just across the river. We’ve spent a fair amount of time together discussing politics and foreign policy and life in general. Tom is smart and strong and patriotic–the kind of candidate Republicans, and Americans, need. He’s young and has a fresh approach, but he’s also highly principled and has served his country. So, assuming he impresses his fellow citizens of Arkansas as much as he’s impressed me, I look forward to welcoming him back to Washington in January 2011 as our nation’s youngest Senator.”

An organization called the Coalition to Protect Patients Rights held a press conference yesterday to discuss their opposition to President Obama’s health care proposal. They group gave some good information on how the proposal, particularly is it includes a public option, will have a negative effect of the health care we receive. They discussed the problems with the Medicare programs price fixing and point out that many doctors and clinics limit the number of Medicare patients as they have to treatment them at a lose. If this system is expanded, it will mean many doctors will have to go out of business or refuse patients on the public planning, which will mean even fewer options for health care consumers.

I did find one proposal tucked away in their message surprising and somewhat troubling. Panelist Joe Carter, who is in the insurance business in Arkansas, recommended several way to improve the health care system other than Obama’s proposal. One suggestion – tax fattening food to create a disincentive for eating unhealthy.

“We have certainly done things in this country to tax tobacco products; we have certainly done things in this country to tax alcohol; but we have not done things to tax high fat or sugary convenience store foods,” said Carter. “And I think we are at a point as a society that we might want to consider a disincentive to eat lunch out of a vending machine for thirty years.”

Spokesman for the group Donald Palmisano later clarified that this is not the official position of the coalition but only one suggestion offered.

Watch out fellow twinkie fans!