Artur (no h) is clearly more Conservative than Earl Hilliard, but he has tried to position himself as “moderate” enough to win statewide (Zero, by comparison, never left the extreme left of the spectrum*). I’m not sure he can beat the Ag Commissioner for the nomination, but if he does, I think virtually any Republican can defeat Davis, including Chief Justice Moore, given what the climate will be in 2010.
(*As an aside, the worst thing to have happened to Zero would’ve been his beating Bobby Rush, he certainly wouldn’t have ended up in the Senate and Presidency as he did)
Artur? Ar-ter? Ar-tour? Ha I never noticed. Or forgot if someone told me before.
Hillard was an anti-semite wackjob in the McKinney mold so yes Davis is to his right. He’s definitely voting with a statewide race in mind though. In his heart I’m sure he supports Obamacare.
It’s true the younger black dems are less radical then the previous generation. Part of it is those old pinkos are just plain out of touch with reality. And I’d guess another part of it is ambition. Hillard was never gonna be more than a congressman. People like Davis and Ford Jr. (he wanted to be the first black president) and Newark Mayor Cory Booker had aspirations to higher office.
Obama is an exception in that he’s totally radical, University radical types like Ayres put him up to run. But he was also called “white” even “halfrican” by Bobby Rush’s people. I actually remember reading an article about that congressional primary at the time. A third candidate in the race was some cop, I was hoping he would win. He probably just ran to split the anti-Rush vote.
I don’t know what would have happened to his career if he had won. Maybe he would have been pigeonholed as a congressman from a black district and been unable to run his ‘outsider’ campaign for the Senate.
It’s fascinating how Obama, W. Bush, Clinton, (and John Kerry) all lost races for the house (and HW Bush for the Senate, twice). I wonder how that would have effected their careers.
Clinton wouldn’t have lasted long in the NW Arkansas district. Out by ‘80 if not before then.
Bush and Kerry likely could have stayed in the house as long as they wanted.
HW still probably would have ended up as VP under Reagan if not before then.