BENTON COUNTY — How concerned are you about the condition of our nation? Does the size of our national debt frighten you?
Do you feel the elected officials in Washington ignore you and all those “common folks” back home who elected them? Do you feel like it is time for change in the way we elect, then re-elect, those that have gotten our nation into the high unemployment, TARP dependent, economic state that we are struggling in today?
If you are unemployed or underemployed, have a mortgage that is “underwater,” and/or have health issues with little or no insurance, you are mainstream America. If you are a legal resident of the United States and a registered voter (or can legally register) you can do something about our country’s leadership - thisis an election year. You can obtain information on the candidates for the United States Senate representing our state. And, you can obtain information about the individuals running for the Congressional District 3 seat in the House of Representatives. The question, of course, is are you willing to devote the needed time to know who best represents your views?
Both major political parties will have a contest for the U. S. Senate in their primary elections in May.
In addition, the Green Party will have a candidate and there is at least one announced Independentcandidate. The Republican Party will grab the attention in the U.S. House District 3 race since we have eight candidates vying for the primary victory. We are a week past filing and the politicking will get serious since we only have two months for the candidates involved in the primaries to make their cases.
The District 3 Congressional Republican Primary has been of particular interest to me because one of the candidates actually made the decision to oppose the incumbent Representative John Boozman before Boozman opted to seek the Senate nomination. Many Republicans consider it a major sin to oppose any Republican incumbent in a primary.
Having violated that sacred party tenant personally, I consider it a badge of courage to acknowledge dissatisfaction with an incumbent. In my article of Feb. 24, I noted the willingness to be “independent” of the party and this seems to be an example of what is needed to emphasis this requirement. In the same article, I expressed my belief that any candidate getting my support would have to support term limit legislation at the national level.
Interestingly as I reviewedGeneral Bernie Skoch’s campaign literature, he specifically notes that he “will introduce a Constitutional Amendment calling for term limits for U.S. Representatives and Senators.”
This particular primary race is of interest to me since my friend and state Senator Cecile Bledsoe is a candidate as is Rogers Mayor Steve Womack. I admire both of them personally and applaud their success in their chosen political arenas. It would be easy to support either of them on strictly a personal knowledge basis and I’m sure each of them is equally capable and, if elected, would represent us with dignity and principle. And, I’m sure there are other equally qualified individuals among the additional candidates, and information on them can be foundon-line.
It would be easy to support either of the two individuals I know personally and not try to learn how they compare to other candidates and it is my fear that too often that is the way we make our decisions about elections. That is too much like a popularity contest - if it was simply a beauty contest Senator Cecile Bledsoe would win handily. However, if we are going to make serious changes in the way our government works we must send the best qualified individuals to Washington now. If Arkansas is a typical state and willing to contest anincumbent U. S. Senator in the Democratic primary and in the general election in November, we need to take advantage of the opportunity to contribute to an overall change in the House as well.
When I look at the things which are important issues to me, they include a balanced budget, term limits, illegal immigration, foreign policy, transparency in proposing legislation and less emphasis on political party power. Getting manufacturing jobs back to the United States to provide jobs and reforming our healthcare system are near the top also because our economy will not grow on a strictly service job basis.
The only candidate that seems to meet my criteria at this point is Bernie Skoch, in the Republican District 3 House primary.
It is early in the campaign, but we will have to spend some serious time if we evaluate all eight candidates fairly and find the one that best lives up to our specific criteria. There are two other races in Benton County which will draw on our time as well as these two congressional races with long-term national implications.
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Leo Lynch, a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at prtnews@ nwanews.com.
Opinion, Pages 4 on 03/17/2010