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Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - 21:21:22
Working in Iowa
Des Moines Register reports on a couple of Huckabee campaign hires in Iowa. They may be fine fellows and bellcows in the GOP primary. But, by ballot box standards, losers.
In finding this, we also ran across the Club for Growth's slam of Huckabee as a big-spending traitor to the conservative cause.
President's stepfather dies
UPDATE TO EARLIER: We just got word that Dick Kelley of Hot Springs, Bill Clinton's stepfather, died today. He'd been released from the hospital after a long illness this week for hospice care. He was 91. Funeral is Saturday, but we have no details yet.
Clinton had a last visit with Kelley Monday. The Washington Post reported earlier today that Sen. Hillary Clinton had cancelled a presidential campaign visit to New Hampshire because of Kelley's "grave" condition. The Clinton family had a close relationship with Kelley, widower of Clinton's mother Virginia. The retired businessman was a familiar sight on all Clinton's visits back home to Arkansas, as well as a frequent White House visitor during the Clinton years. A nice guy with a perpetual smile.
AP has a full obit here. Bad link fixed. Sorry folks.
Halter's lottery proposal
The Arkansas Video Blog has a piece about the lottery proposal Lt. Gov. Bill Halter unveiled at a press conference earlier today. The video includes comments by lawmakers supporting the measure, as well as lottery opponent Larry Page, the executive director of the Arkansas Faith and Ethics Council.
Grounded
The new Arkansas Times is now on the web. Check the Insider for another asset used up by Mike Huckabee just as he hit the door -- the State Police King Air, which has only a handful of hours of flying time left before it must be grounded under FAA rules for up to $750,000 in engine overhaul. Thank the 1,500 hours that the governor and friends flew on the plane for the biggest single part of the usage, worth some $1.3 million.Am I blue?
Not about these numbers. Thanks to Daily Kos for an item on new Gallup polling that shows a growth in the percentage of people nationally who self-identify as Democrats, now 34-30 over Republicans.
But read on to the state-by-state figures. Arkansas, where 60 percent self-identify as Democrats (34 Republicans), is the fith-most Democratic state. What Gallup doesn't tell you is that our Democrats include people like Jack Critcher, etc.
Cluck, cluck
Delphi tried, but the skids were greased. A couple of tax bills routed by Speaker Petrus away from the Revenue and Taxation Committee to the agri committee zipped through that august body like you-know-what-through a goose. And the comparison is apt for these stinkers -- a huge tax break for purchases of off-road diesel and a tax credit for chicken litter haulers.Dancing in the streets
Given the interest in the recent post about the first dance at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, I think readers will enjoy a further post on the potential perils of dancing. Robert Randolph and the Family Band played at Harding University last Friday and the crowd simply couldn't stay in the seats.
And then security couldn't stay in their seats what with trying to curb those krazy kids. Stewart Deere earlier wrote about this action for our Little Rocking Blog.
Some good Harding student commentary can be found on the excellent blog maintained by Harding University poli/sci teacher Mark Elrod. And you can click on YouTube for the video: