Posted on 05/14/2003 12:05:25 PM PDT by LdSentinal
First it was the state budget -- with all its nasty wrangling over taxes, schools and prisons -- that was said to be distracting Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee from a possible Senate race.
Then it was the special, five-day session that Little Rock lawmakers had to hold earlier this month to deal with of a $200 million spending impasse.
Now, at last, the Republican governor can safely turn his sights on Washington -- and the prospect of challenging first-term Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln next year.
State Republicans have said that they expect a "consensus candidate" to emerge by mid-May, but they're careful not to appear too pushy when it comes to Huckabee, the party's near-universal top pick.
"I hesitate to put a timetable on it," said Mitchell Lowe, executive director of the Arkansas Republican Party. "We think we'll have a credible candidate for the United States Senate."
Still, there's no doubt pressure is building, in Little Rock and Washington, for Huckabee to run.
Asa Hutchinson, a former congressman who now serves as undersecretary for border and transportation security at the Department of Homeland Security, the Republicans' second choice, has all but said he's not planning to make the race.
The Huckabee decision is all the more important because in the past month Republicans have been dealt setbacks in Washington state, where Rep. Jennifer Dunn declined to challenge Sen. Patty Murray, and in Illinois, where former Gov. Jim Edgar bowed out of the race to succeed Sen. Peter Fitzgerald.
What is more, the GOP also has yet to come up with declared candidates in Wisconsin, California and South Dakota. Some Republicans in Washington also fear that Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) could face a debilitating primary challenge on her right flank.
All that means Huckabee's decision about the race, which state Republicans expect within the next few weeks, has acquired a far-reaching significance that extends way beyond the Ozarks.
State Rep. Marvin Parks (R) said no one -- not party officials in Arkansas, not National Republican Senatorial Committee bigwigs in Washington, not state legislators who have worked closely with the governor -- has any inkling what Huckabee's going to do.
"I think now that the session is past, he's going to sit down," Parks said. "I really don't have a feel for what he's going to do. He's definitely keeping his cards close to his vest."
Parks, for his part, may challenge Democratic Rep. Vic Snyder in Arkansas's 2nd Congressional District. The state representative said time away from home -- and his wife, Kristi, and seven children, ages 7-17 -- has made him think twice about running.
"It would be a major upheaval if we were successful," he said.
If he opts to run against Lincoln, Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist preacher, he can expect widespread support from the state's roughly 1,500 Southern Baptist pastors.
One pastor, Michael Adams of Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro, said pastors typically don't tell their flock which candidates to support but they do circulate literature at Sunday services detailing candidates' positions.
Referring to Huckabee, Adams said: "He shows that he's anti-abortion, pro-sobriety, pro-life, pro-morality -- those kinds of issues, he's going to get strong support."
Lincoln has worked assiduously to placate her Democratic base -- black voters and labor unions in the Little Rock area and rice and cotton producers in the 1st Congressional District, which she represented in the mid-1990s --” while avoiding alienating conservatives.
Last week, the senator threw her support behind the Republicans' tax-cut bill, days after President Bush visited Arkansas.
Lincoln has worked assiduously to placate her Democratic base -- black voters and labor unions in the Little Rock area and rice and cotton producers in the 1st Congressional District, which she represented in the mid-1990s --” while avoiding alienating conservatives.Those votes against Estrada and Owens will alienate conservatives when highlighted during the coming campaign.
And Huckabee has never seen a tax he didn't love.....
I guess Zell Miller is onboard as well.
And Hollings is not supporting it? Very interesting.
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