BENTON COUNTY — Watching the news on television, listening on the radio and reading in the newspapers, the same message seems to come across.
Information gleaned from those sources leads me to believe our once arrogant Congress is questioning its approach to dealing with the citizens of the United States. A single election in a normally Democratic party state seems to have humbled the Democratic leadership and the Congress has gone from telling us what we are going to do to asking what we want to do.
It is amazing what the fear of losing their power and position can do to change the tone and manner of those elected to office to represent us in Washington. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has gone from “forcing an issue” (reforming health care) to saying “they” are “not in a big rush” to pass currently proposed legislation.
The loss of a single Senate seat has shifted the solid voting majority of 60 partyline supporters to a greatly weakened 59 votes which changes attitudes and game plans. Not only did the voters of Massachusetts reject a Democrat candidate, but they ignored the Kennedy connection, the Senate leadership and the president of the United States. That’s a pretty impressive statement no matter how you view it. There is a bit of hope in those election results if you believe our nation has been taken over by the politicians.
Scott Brown, a Republican, is the newly elected senator in Massachusetts replacing the deceased TedKennedy. He apparently came from the Massachusetts state legislature with minimal name recognition which may be a good sign for all states in this election year. Maybe the time has come for “real change” from life-time politicians to service-oriented people who don’t try to make a career of the perks of political success and end up finding themselves pawns of the lobbyists and political parties.
The “message of Massachusetts” may even have a greater impact on Arkansas than we would have expected before the election.
If all incumbent Democrats are starting to think about their voting record, the least we can expect is some soul-searching. However, the potential impact on our incumbent U.S. Senator Lincoln’s seat may give the people of Arkansas an opportunity to make a national statement about the tactics demonstrated by Congress over the first year of President Obama’s term. If current Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter should actually challenge her in the Democratic primary it would say a great deal about the need (and desire) for actual change in Washington regardless of the party.
It has been reported that Senator Lincoln’s campaign war chest exceeds $4 million which gives her a significant head start overany challenger regardless of party. It is evident there will be some serious money spent between now and November’s general election if you consider northwest Arkansas’ 3rd Congressional District House seat and the Senate seat in question. With Vic Snyder not running for reelection another change will take place in the 2nd Congressional District of Arkansas. This could be a watershed year in our great state of opportunity.
The number of candidates seeking the Senate race in the Republican Primary seems almost endless in the early stages.
Throw into the already announced list of nine or so, the potential for incumbent Congressman Boozman to leave his House seat to oppose Lincoln - or seek the Republican nomination at least - and you have a lot of very muddy water. If Boozman does shift to the Senate race, we could see a major change in the list of people seeking the Republican nomination for that position. And, we could see some of them appearing in the race for his vacated House seat. In addition there will probably be additional names bantered around as potential nominees in either of these races before the actual filing deadline March 8.
As voters, we are going to have ample opportunity to read about the candidates as the dates for filing end and it is not too soon to start to formulate our own questions about their qualifications and decide if we are comfortable that they actually share our views.
That is the beauty of a large number of candidates in an election with no incumbent - choice. We also need to consider, to the best of our abilities, their primary reason for running. Since so many elected officials become too much a part of the Washington establishment, we need to consider their ability to quit when they have “overstayed their purpose” and before they have become too close to the lobbyists.
Senator Lincoln has apparently served four years in the U. S. House and 12 years in the Senate for a total of 16 years. I don’t know how long is too long, but Senator Kennedy served over 30 years in the Senate and his seat was vacant only because of his death.
I personally don’t want an institution or family name representing me.
Congress Boozman is completing his 10th year (five terms) in the U. S.
House and is a shoo-in for a sixth term if he chooses. A Senate term would add six years if he were successful in that choice of elections, and that would equal Senator Lincoln’s service period.
The fun will really start when the music stops for the primaries May 18.
Leo Lynch, a native of Benton County has deep roots in the area with family connections dating back to Elkhorn Tavern prior to the Civil War. A retired Industrial Engineer and former Justice of the Peace he believes all government should be servants of, and accountable to, the people. He can be contacted at [email protected] .
Opinion, Pages 4 on 01/27/2010