Arkansas Blog

"In the Senate, Sen. Mark
Pryor of Arkansas ranks 100.
That's last, if you didn't know."

I just cannot believe that. I thought surely his work for the Republicans had won him a good deal of clout among the party in power. You'd think the name Pryor alone would give him some clout among the other senators.

Surely there is a less effective senator in Washington.

This outfit ranks Hastert, Boehner and Sensenbrenner as the top clout-wielders in the House and Frist as the top butt-kicker in the Senate.

Given this Axis of evil at the top, perhaps it's no great dishonor that our congresspeople rank low in the eyes of this gang of lobbyist-kissers.

Sort of like when the D-G used to ask lobbyists to rank the stars and duds in the Arkansas General Assembly.

What?! Senator "73 With The GOP" is ranked dead last?! I can't believe it!

General Clark, please run against Pryor in the '08 Primary...

Here's an example: Back in the '80s, Congressman Bill Alexander was getting uppity, building up a lot of clout as a Deputy Whip in the House. Bill darn near got himself whipped and was quoted as saying "Believe me, I got the message."

Then people voted for term limits. (The Supreme Court didn't like that.)

Blanche and Mark -- Your constituents don't want politicians to be around long enough to build any clout. It sounds to me like you're doing what the people want. The majority of your constituents will be proud of you for keeping a low profile in the Senate. They'll tell you, "Stay on course."

So why not just come on home.

Arkansas is ranked 50 @ 50. Pitiful.
No wonder I-49 takes a back seat to the other projects.

I could get behind Clark against either of these idiots. Let's make it happen!

(And click my name for a musical ditty currenty featured on my blog)

???!!!!!!!
http://www.falafelsex.com/sounds/GodWill.mp3

My time is short, Ma is in the hospital with a broken leg and they'll be putting a rod in her leg a little later in the day. I checked carefully to make sure it's just a rod, not Rod Bryan.

But taking a quick look at these rankings one must think this lobby research firm must be working out of Tom DeLay's house. Not so much because they rank Mark at the bottom, but because of who they have at the top.

They probably don't even know Mark or Blanche. Gosh if they did they'd know the Republicans have no better friends across the isle, except for Lieberman, Mark's buddy.

I figure until the 8th of November crap like this is going to come crawling out of the woodwork like an explosion at the P Street sewer plant. This is where having a brain comes in real handy. For those of us who bother to vote, we must take everything with a grain of salt. We must check and double check every fact some unknown group presents us. And we must be on guard to rescue those around us who are taken in by crap like this.

Ma's main concern is that she is out of rehab in time to vote. Last night she told me she was going to vote the straight Democratic ticket for the first time in her life. So unless Karl Rove can steal it all....the Republicans are headed for the spanking of their lives. And it couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of nuclear waste.

But Mark is also a first-term senator in the minority party and he was the only democrat to beat a republican incumbent in his last election. it stands to reason he wouldn't have much power. that will change when his party is in the majority in january, though.

Hope everything goes okay with Ma, DBI. Sounds like she's got religion on her ballot choices. Take those GOP goobers to the woodshed.

I personally prefer that our congressional delegation carry a little clout. Like it or not, power gets things done. Maybe it's just because I grew up in the day of Fulbright, McClellan, Mills, and even good ole John Paul.

These rankings are embarassing.

Sparky,

Power is based on seniority. Look at how long Fulbright, McClellan, Mills, Pryor and Bumpers were in Washington. That's what makes the difference.

Our Senators are relatively new compared to those guys.

Sen. Lincoln will never be an
effective senator. Pryor is in
his first term, so he's got the
ability to become more
effective.

I hope Clark runs for
President, but if he doesn't or
doesn't win, I hope he runs
for the Senate in 2010. He or
Snyder would make great
replacements for Lincoln.

"Power is based on seniority. Look at how long Fulbright, McClellan, Mills, Pryor and Bumpers were in Washington. That's what makes the difference."

So, how did Arkansas fare with the pork? Pitiful, as usual. McClellan got the Arkansas River Navagational System but it took Robert Kerr to get Congress to go along. Bumpers great legislative claim was one can turn right at a red light. Can't recall any pork sent Arkansas' way by Pryor, Mills, Fulbright, Clinton. Hammerschmidt got I-540 for NW Arkansas. But mostly puny efforts by all those Arkies to use their postitions to help Arkansas.

You are welcome to prove me wrong (as compared to other states).

Cato,

I have no response either way on your post.

My point was that it's not a surprise that our delegation does not have a lot of clout right now. Fulbright, McClellan and Mills rose to powerful positions through their long tenures. Mills (chair of House ways and means), Fulbright (chair of senate foreign relations) and McClellan (chair of Senate appropriations) were very powerful. (And Took Gathings was the chair of the House Ag committee at the time).

While you may choose to dispute their accomplishments, I am simply stating that they were powerful at the time. And there's no denying that.

"Power is based on seniority...
Our Senators are relatively new...
Posted by: Blue and Orange"

BO, did you read the article? The ratings are from a group of lobbyists and they are not based on seniority. They rank on many factors, including the number of bills the member backs, the importance of bills they introduce, the role the member took in debate, etc.

It says Pryor actually dropped two places from his ranking last year to reach the bottom of the pile.

And if seniority were the factor that decides the power ranking, how can we explain newcomers Clinton (ranked 39th out of 100) and Obama (ranked 51st out of 100)?

I can't believe that Wes Clark would run for the Senate in 2008. The field will already be crowded with Senator Pryor vs. Lt. Gov. Bill Halter.

The winner gets to take on Senator David Bisbee in the general.

Spirit,

I stand corrected. You are right.

And, please, do take into account just how rare it is for a man to admit he is wrong. ha!

"...please, do take into
account just how rare it is for
a man to admit he is wrong.
Posted by: Blue and Orange"

I did indeed take note of that, admire it, appreciate it, and now promise to stop calling you BO.

Ha! Thanks, Spirit. I may be a man, but I don't smell bad. I promise!