The Pulaski County Tea Party sent out a press release this afternoon saying that they plan to protest Sen. Blanche Lincoln when she files for reelection on Monday. They plan to meet at the State Capitol building around noon. According the Sen. Lincoln, she plans to file around 1:30 that afternoon which will be in the capital rotunda.
This could be interesting.
Rumors have been circulating all week that Bob Porto with the Pulaski County Tea Party was considering challenging Beebe for governor. I caught up with Porto this morning to ask him about this. He said that he is not sure where the rumor started but they are not true.
“As an activist, I am going to continue holding those running accountable but I have no intention of running for governor.” said Porto. He said that he recently attended CPAC in Washington (interview on CNN) and hopes that the state Republican Party will follow the advice of Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner in regard to the Tea Party movement. “Walk among us, listen to us, but do not try to take us over. That would be a mistake.”
Porto told me that he hopes some strong conservative candidates will consider running for governor as he believes this is a real opportunity. Porto plans to carefully watch who decides to run and will be working with his Tea Party group to decide who they will support.
Here is the cover of the Times Picayune front page and sports page I would say this will one to keep. Dad said the store is only selling one per customer, that they had them behind the counter, and that they were almost out at 6:45 this morning.
Also, Arkansas unexpectedly froze over last night. What do think that means? I always thought this place was heaven (or as close as you can get to it here on the earth.)
I don’t think I can overstate how much this Super Bowl wins means to the city of New Orleans. It is huge. I spoke with my parents who live in New Orleans and said the entire town is outside cheering with neighbors, shooting off fireworks, and celebrating the win. It was so loud you would think they were actually at the game.
Check the video above for the story of Drew Brees from an interview earlier this year with Sharing the Victory Magazine. Go Saints!
Rep. John Boozman was on KARN this afternoon as part of an apparent media circuit around the state today. He said that he will be reaching a final decision on whether to run for the Senate on Thursday or Friday of this week as he does not want to drag out the decision.
He also addressed an area of criticism that he has received from some conservative, his vote for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in 2008.
“It was a very different time and a very different vote,” said Boozman. “We were in a situation where they simply wasn’t an landing going on, the stock market was in a free fall. We had all our investment banks in major trouble. In fact, there are no Wall Street banks any more they have all been sold or re-bought. And this was going on literally all over the world. The life blood of the economy is credit.”
“Because of all that, I visited with many businessmen in Arkansas. I visited with conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation. Warren Buffett was walking the halls saying this was the greatest crisis since the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. So I just can’t overestimate what a difficult time it was.”
“So, at that point, I felt like it was something we needed to do to loan the money. Now a lot of people don’t understand, they think this was just a gift. The original AIG loan was like 11% and all that was modified down to 5% which is still over the going rate. Much of that money has been repaid. I think we have made about $80 or $90 billion interest. So that was the effort. I felt like the bottom line is less of your listeners would lose less jobs, less of their pensions plans, and less of their retirement accounts. Now we could have let them go and no body knows what would have happened. But I think the danger was that it would take a generation to get through that.”
He went on to point out that he opposed the economic stimulus package and the cash for clunkers program which in his mind were “totally different.”
The whole thing is worth listening to and will no doubt be an issue if Rep. Boozman gets in the primary.
In what promises to be one of the most unique annoucements this campaign season, Dr. Carolyn Ann Smith of Little Rock unveils her campaign van for her run for State Representative District 34.
Oh, the places this blogging adventure has taken me. Last night it was to Gilllett, Arkansas for my first taste of coon. It was one of the most unique political experiences I have ever had and will most certainly be the focus of my next column. But in the meantime enjoy this in depth research I did on the taste of coon.
Opinions were all over the map.
“It taste like coon,” said U.S. Rep. Marion Berry, who is from Gillett and basically serves as the de facto host. “It’s a cross between really good barbequed pork and ham.”
“It’s a little strong and you can get a little grease on it if you are not careful,” said Gov. Mike Beebe. “It’s different but it part of the tradition.”
Both Gov. Beebe and Lieutenant Gov. Bill Halter agree that it is best covered in barbeque sauce. Potential Republican opponent Mark Darr said that it is “somewhere between chicken and pork.”
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said it is an “infrequent” taste. “Once a year you take a good nibble of it for the cause.”
U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor sort of dodged the question but said that in his opinion “It is all about the fellowship.”
“It’s like a good rib eye steak,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Ross. “It’s an Arkansas tradition.”
“It tastes a lot like bear,” said State Rep. Mark Martin, who is a potential Republican candidate for Secretary of State. Pulaski County Clerk and potential Democratic candidate Pat O’Brien said, “It is a gamy slitherly animal” and he would prefer a McDonald’s quarterpounder.
“It depends of how good a year the crop has been,” said State Sen. Shane Broadway, who gave me the invite and ride to the supper. “But if they smoked it just right it’s pretty good but it does not taste like chicken.”
Of all the views, I have to most agree with Miss Arkansas 2009 Sarah Slocum who like me was tasting coon for the first time. With a surprised face, she declared, “It’s not as bad as I thought it would be…It’s kind of like roast.” I agree with both.
Arkansas House of Representatives’ New Communication Director Amanda Manatt confirms today that they are on pace to have internet live streaming in place in time for the first fiscal session which begins in February. At first, only the proceeding on the House floor and in committee room 151 will set up with other committee rooms coming online at a later date.
However, the bulk of the fiscal session’s work will take place in the Senate committee room where the Joint Budget Committee meets. According to the Senate Information Officer John Reed, the Senate does not have plans to put their meetings online. “The House is a little ahead of us on this one,” said Reed. He did say they will try to post some videos from session on their YouTube channel.
Even without the Senate, with the House online, Arkansans can log on to the legislative website and watch some of the House proceeding live, such as the joint meeting in the House chamber where Gov. Beebe will address the both chambers. Matt DeCample confirms that the governor will address the legislators at the opening of the session. Although all the details have not yet been worked out, DeCample does not expect the governor to make a full State of the State address as is normally done during the regular session.
Anne Pressly’s friends at KATV offered a beautiful tribute yesterday to her and her life. I thought I would take a brief break from politics today to share it with you. They have also put together a book called “Making Memories” which celebrates her life. The proceeds benefit The Anne Pressly Scholarship Foundation.
I was out last week but somehow Arkansas politics survived without me and even saw several events unfold.
U.S. Senate candidate Gilbert Baker hired former Press Secretary to Mike Huckabee Alice Stewart to as his Deputy Campaign Manager / Communications Director. After hauling in over half a million dollars, more than five times the amount of his Republican opponents combined, Baker is seen by most as the frontrunner.
In s
pite of this, the Fourth Congressional District Republicans in south Arkansas held a straw poll and picked Curtis Coleman as their man for the job. There is not much details on who all participated in this straw poll over the weekend in Texarkana (if anyone was there, please pass on a report) but the Coleman campaign thought it worthy of a press release. No mention if Coleman received “a visa and a shot“ before making the trip. (Sorry, that one was too easy.)
Meanwhile, Stanley Reed’s on again off again flirtation with the U.S. Senate race went back to the on again status as he tells David Sanders that he is strongly considering running against Sen. Lincoln as a Republican. Sanders declares on twitter “Stanley Reed would be the strongest Republican if he chooses to run” but cautions me not to take this as an endorsement. Also, Reed tells John Lyons that he if he does not run, he has not decided if he will support Lincoln or not. Wait a second – WHAT???
Speaking 
of Reed, I exchanged awkward smiles and pleasantries with him for the first time on Saturday evening at the wedding of the first couple of the Arkansas new media, Jessica Dean and Blake Rutherford. They were nice enough to invite me and my fellow lonely misfit bloggers to the occasion, which was in Dean’s parent’s backyard and reminded me very much a scene from “Father of the Bride,” which is where I lifted this picture from. My wife told me that taking my flip cam to the wedding would be “creepy.” The wedding was lovely.
Back in the Second Congressional Republican race, Tim Griffin announces that he has signed the American for Tax Reform Taxpayer Protection Pledge committing in writing “to oppose any and all tax increases.” Both opponents David Meeks and Scott Wallace tell me they plan to sign this but has not done so yet. Wallace is putting on a kick-off fundraiser at Whole Hog in west Little Rock tomorrow night and Griffin will “going whole hog” as well next week on November 5.
That’s all I got for now. I am sure I missed something and I am sure you will let me know in the comments section.
Worth noting – Progressive Democrat Drew Pritt lets me know that he plans to challenge Sen. Blanch Lincoln next spring in the Democratic Primary. Pitt represents the feeling among some Democrats to the left of Lincoln that they are not being represented.
The Value Voters Summit met this weekend in Washington DC. Some reporters from MSNBC and FoxNews tried to do some live shots from the Summit. It is funny to watch the “credentialed press” get really mad when people ask them not to talk over the speakers doing the Summit.
Good live television.