Arkansas Blog

i would subscribe the most recent poll numbers to many "quirks" in Arkansas in 2008 combined (pardon the pun)
if what i've read on the internet is correct, AR has the second highest percentage of elderly (behind FL)
also the most unusual quirk of having all of the HoR races and the Senate seat uncontested by major party candidates. and the Hillary factor (the legacy, the primary vote, and fundraising for Obama only passing the $1million mark in the past two weeks)

and even with all that, i still anticipate that AR will be the "last domino" when the votes are totaled, as GOP voter depression translates into votes for Barr to the extent that Obama takes home AR's 6.
(plus, do not discount the possibility of an Obama visit before election day)

and one last word if i may, if AR(izona) winds up in Obama's column (most recent statewide poll has JM with a 4 point lead) and AR(kansas) does not, there are going to be a lot of red (pardon the pun) faces in the higher levels of the state DEM party.

as someone who spent far too much of my time and energy for over two decades working against the Clintons, i must add that their efforts for Obama during the past 10 weeks have been exemplary and are extremely appreciated. (especially the discipline Hillary has shown in refraining from attacking Gov. Palin)

"Why is it, exactly, that Obama is so far behind [in Arkansas] relative to other states?"

Darned good question. I just don't get it. Hopefully, we Arkies will surprise the world and go Obama.

Perhaps he believes that since a majority of Arkansas cling to God and/or guns, the state is not "worthy" of him.

"Why is it, exactly, that Obama is so far behind [in Arkansas] relative to other states?"

We have the racism of the south but a much smaller black population.

Besides, John McCain has a crack campaign team looking out for him. Click my blue name to see them in action.

I posted this comment back in early March,2008 to Alternet.Com. Roy

March 4,2008The fact that McCain is a snake is beyond dispute; the only question being," Where does he slink to shed his melanomically challenged skin? ".
To help one wrap ones mind around the utter depravity of John McCain, lets use the numeral FIVE and its derivations, shall we ?
Unlike the FIVE foot, seven inch Dennis Kucinich; the FIVE foot, seven inch John McCain is not only elevation challenged, he is also mentally challenged.
Despite being passed along at Annapolis with a ranking of FIFTH from the bottom in his graduating class, his four-star admiral father and four-star admiral grandfather enabled him to leap-frog over hundreds of truly " qualified " naval aviator candidates which allowed him to eventually become a spectacularly incompetent pilot. Again, family connections kept him in the air despite the fact he " lost " FIVE military airplanes during his pathetic naval piloting career! He ended his navy career as.....I'm not making this up...a Flight Instructor!!
His FIVE years in supposed captivity has never been fully vetted as McCain and his grotesquely influential family have devoted decades to sealing records related to POWs of the Viet Nam era.
His marriage to trophy wife,wealthy Budweiser Beer heiress, Cindy Lou Hensley, occured FIVE weeks after he divorced physically- challenged-as-a-result-of-injuries sustained-in-an-auto-accident first wife, Carol. He was also the point guard,presumably, on the starting FIVE of the Keating Five.
His cozy relationships with the K street crowd is fully exemplified by the fact FIVE of his top six current campaign advisors are lobbyists !
I'm predicting that even though Barack Obama will suffer markedly from racist voting, especially here in Arkansas and the rest of the red state south; he will nevertheless destroy George W. to the second power, a.k.a. John McCain come November.
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I find it FASCINATING that people believe if I vote against Barack Obama, then I must be "racist."

I am voting against Obama because a lot of his values are not the same as mine. His economic plan is the same as Jimmy Carter (tax and spend) and his social plan is one of "feed them a fish" not "teach them to fish." I grew up in the LBJ Great Society and I see how it has become a disaster. I cannot vote for somebody to repeat history.

On the other hand, John McCain is an idiot. And I canot vote for him for that reason.

I wish I could vote for Ron Paul.

I've wondered what makes Arkansas so different from other southern states...still don't have an answer. All I do know comes from forty some years of looking around, listening and living...first-hand experience, which is not the most trustworthy measure. But Arkansas seems to have two distinctly different kind of racists: Southern and hillbilly. (A Southern racist is more easily moved/bought/ whatever than a hillbilly redneck...have to wait till they die out.) And, like MJD said, the black population is relatively small (compared to other southern states). Then there's the Hillary factor, and as evidenced by our primary, Hillary has a lot of friends/supporters...and many of us have, well, lingering negative feelings. So, sadly, it's all stacked against Obama. And, for us, it'll be one more piece of history we aren't proud of.

I hope I'm wrong and Obama wins Arkansas...by a landslide.

Considering Obama's policies are about as Clintonian as one could possibly be without actually being a Clinton.. I have to think it's much more about race than policy or other issues.

What did Clinton capture in the AR primary, 64 percent of all Arkansans who cast a vote? And Obama is only expected to capture a little over 40 percent now.. That's a lot of racism.... especially considering how far so many of those racists are willing to go (supporting McCain)... against almost all of their country's own best interests.

I don't agree with anything Slingerland said about Obama, or Carter.. and no matter how you slice it, lowering taxes and increasing spending while borrowing money to wage wars.. is complete lunacy... which of course is what the McBush Republicans just did... while printing and lending nearly 5 trillion so far, for bailing out the financial industry robber barons... for robbing us all blind.

But I have to admire a Republican who refuses to vote McCain Palin. Kudos!

In analyzing Obama's lack of support in Arkansas, don't overlook the solid Bible-belt core (and corps) of single-issue (abortion) or two-issue (add anti-gay) voters.

Of course, a lot of the anti-black sentiment may be masked by those two issues (since a lot of those voters may also be anti-black) but that probably produces three "anti" groups who would support anyone other than Obama.

It would be pretty difficult for any candidate to eke out a majority vote in a state with those three "anti" groups in play.

Arkansas Democrats are not party-loyal enough to vote in opposition to those prejudices, even if voting for the opposition amounts to voting against their own self interests in other spheres.

IMHO

I don't think it's racism. I think it's outrage at how the Clinton's were treated by the Obama campaign, and how the Arkansas votes went for Obama at the Convention, when the state went for Clinton.

Bet there will be quite a few votes going to McKinney or Nader.

Thanks JOHN ARKANSAWYER! That was hilarious. I would feel sympathy for McRage but
he chose this path.

Why is it, exactly, that Obama is so far behind here relative to other states?<< MB

This is the state of Central High School Crisis. Ten years after Central Ark voters elected George Wallace for President.

Now we have messicuns over running the state, esp where I live.

We do cling to bibles and guns and stating that truth means what? It's a fact.

And as two educated medical people remarked to my girlfriend last week:

"I will not vote for a nigger."

.

To Eureka:

I didn't approve of Bush/Cheney either, for EXACTLY the reasons you stated: cutting taxes and getting us involved in a no-win war was complete LUNACY. They were not "Republicans"... they were simply cronies who took over the party and ran it in the ground.

What worries me going forward... and the only reason I am opposed to Obama... is that he wants to raise taxes and increase federl spending going into a recession. This has been tried time and again and it never works. The Keynesians claim it will work, but Hoover tried it and failed. FDR. Truman. Eisenhower. Johnson. Nixon. Carter. All tried to diddle with the currency and all failed. Keynesian economics are a proven failure and trying it again won't change that.

JFK had the right idea: to freeze his deficit as a percentage of GDP and try to expand the economy so the deficit becomes a smaller percentage of GDP. His tax cut (passed postumously) actually increased tax revenues since there was less incentive to cheat. Reagon's Tax Reform Act of 1986 accomplished the same thing.

Unfortunately, Johnson blew the budget on Viet Nam. Reagan teamed with Tip O'Neil in the the Democratic House and both spent, spent, spent.

Now Senator Obama will rasie taxes on the very people who could invest in new jobs. So... why should they? Senator Obama will raise taxes on Social Security... and use the money for other spending.

I fear that Senator Obama will find himself under the thumbs of the extreme liberal left, and will spent gazillions on useless social programs. Just like the cronies took over the Republican Party and spent gazillions on bridges to nowhere.

I have voted Democratic, and I have voted Republican. I look at each candidate, not at whether they are a loycal party person. Right now, both sides seem pretty bad to me.

Again. i disagree with much, but you won't see me voting for Obama because he's not left enough, nor concerned with the constitution. restoration of rule of law and civil liberties through accountability, getting out of all our needless military aggression and other absurd MIC spending... or prepared to raise taxes on the rich or big corporations enough, imo. His health plans are like a band aid on a broken hip.

First I've heard mention of him raising SS taxes with intent to grift.. I thought that was reagan thing.

But the country has to eject the current republican criminals first... so at least we are off to a decent start this year.

In my discussions with people, there are always several reasons given. He is a liar, he is a socialist, he's a Muslim, he's gonna take my guns away (they said that about Clinton too) but when I get past all that, it boils down to the N*****
(I can just hear them if he wins, "He's not my N****r President!")
it makes me sad, because I feel like we have come further than that, but fear brings out and lot of stupid sh*t. They sure do like to listen to a lot of the rap music though..

One other thing I've noticed, is that you can proudly display your McCain-Palin sign at the edge of the road, but all the Obama signs are planted much closer to the house. Because you know damn well some idiot is going to mess with them?