Arkansas Democrat Gazette Endorses Hutchinson Campaign

Arkansas Democrat Gazette thru "Hutchinson for U.S. Senate" webpage ^ | Oct.20, 2002

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Arkansas Democrat Gazette Endorses Hutchinson Campaign Arkansas Democrat Gazette October 20, 2002 For Tim Hutchinson We know where he stands RULE NO. 2 in taking on an incumbent politician is: Explain why the voters should make a change. (Rule No. 1 is: Raise lotza money.) The principal argument Mark Pryor has made for unseating Senator Tim Hutchinson is this: My last name is Pryor. That may have been good enough for his father, but it isn't good enough for us. And it shouldn't be good enough for serious Arkansans, either. Even on the most important of issues, Mark Pryor just smiles his smile, awshucks his way through the question, and all but sketches imaginary circles on the floor in front of him with the toe of one shoe. It's almost as if he's counting on some kind of automatic voter reflex to put him in the United States Senate. (Ballot says Pryor, vote same.) Agree or disagree, Arkansans have the right to know where their senator stands on abortion. Mark Pryor was prochoice in 1998 when he ran for attorney general, or said he was. Now he says abortion is wrong but he wouldn't do anything to stop it. And while he's opposed to abortion personally, he thinks women should be able to abort their children. Well, sometimes. After all his talk, all we know is this: If Mark Pryor gets pregnant, he promises to have the baby. As attorney general, he aw-shucked his way past those payday loan lenders who take advantage of the least among us. He was satisfied to take their money and leave them to prey on the desperate. He also defended an unconstitutional law that branded homosexuals as criminals. And our attorney general showed even less backbone when it came to thoughtcrime. Maybe you remember that. Maybe not. We don't blame you if you don't. His rationalizations weren't worth remembering. But Attorney General Pryor once backed a hate-crime law for Arkansas. He said the bill would punish only conduct, not thought. Nice sound bite. But it made no sense. The proposed hate-crime law would have increased penalties for those who commit an offense if their thoughts were in the politically incorrect place. Beating up somebody over his race/color/ religion/gender/sexual orientation would have got you a 20 percent higher sentence. Beating up somebody else because of his class, dress, political affiliation or for just his wallet would get you a 20 percent discount. Thought had everything to do with it. That's why these laws are a species of what George Orwell called thoughtcrime. They create "protected classes" that divide ordinary victims from special ones. We ourselves would prefer to treat all criminals equally. And severely. Granted, our conversation with the attorney general on this issue got ridiculous at times, but that's what happens when an attorney general supports a ridiculous law. Our minds fog just thinking about it. We were thinking of that weird conversation when some simple, sensible thoughts intruded: Tim Hutchinson deserves a second term. Yes, there have been times when we didn't like how he voted or what he was saying, but we knew where he stood. And could understand it. He gave the conversation some traction. The senator is gaining in seniority, which helps small states like Arkansas in Congress. He's a solid supporter of the Second Amendment and gun rights. He's a member of the Armed Services, Veteran Affairs, and the Agriculture committees, among others. He has taken a consistent, principled stand on abortion. (He's agin.) And you never have to wonder what the heck he's trying to say. But, we've forgotten the most important reason of all to vote for Tim Hutchinson. It's more important than bringing home the bacon, more important than his opponent's non-answers to tough questions. The president needs Tim Hutchinson in the Senate. So do all those who value freedom abroad and a free market at home. This isn't to say Mark Pryor wouldn't lend W. a hand if it were the popular thing to do, as on issues like the War on Terror. He would. As long as the polls held up. But this president needs a Republican majority in the Senate to push through other legislation - like making his tax cuts permanent - and to approve judicial nominees now stuck in the long, long partisan pipeline. The 107th Congress is still sitting on dozens of judicial nominees, and it's tying up the court system in elaborate knots. (Strom Thurmond pert-near birthed a cat the other day when the Judiciary sat on one of his favorite nominees. But it was kind of fun to see the Senate's oldest member "ever" raise Cain with these 70-year-old whippersnappers.) The Homeland Security Bill is stuck in the mud, meaning the Senate. And in the next couple of years, a couple of vacancies could be opening on the Supreme Court of the United States. Who will fill those seats - a Scalia or a Ginsburg? A thinker or another vague mediocrity? The answer could determine the course of constitutional law for the next decade. Or more. Do the people of Arkansas want every nominee to kiss current Majority Leader Tom Daschle's ring before a vote? Mark Pryor could prove to be another arrow in Sen. Daschle's quiver. A vote for Tim Hutchinson could prove a vote for a much-needed new majority leader for the U.S. Senate. A Republican-controlled Senate could clear the way to exploration of oil drilling here at home, and that would mean less reliance on Middle Eastern mullahs. Other needed legislation is also knee deep in the Senate. A lot could depend on your vote November 5 th. (Or tomorrow, when early voting starts.) Will we reform the Social Security system, letting folks decide to invest a portion of their own money, or let the system get as close to bankruptcy as possible before rushing pell-mell to save it? You have a close race and some great issues in your hands, Mr. and Mrs. Arkansan. Lest we forget, at critical times like these, all politics is national. Every seat in a closely divided Senate is decisive. A smile, a familiar name, and a handshake shouldn't be enough to win your vote. Arkansas needs to send an experienced, principled senator, one with the president's ear, back to Washington.

[flaglady47]

That's too bad that your mother and your friend can't see the forest for the trees. So, they would rather have a democrat in office who will support pro-abortion laws (which is more important, a broken marriage and divorce; Ronnie Reagan was divorced, so was Bob Dole, as were many other Republicans)or dead babies. How about gun control laws. Is it better that only the criminals have guns? How about homeland security and getting it passed, will it be better for your mom's and friend's security if a dem gets in and votes against legislation to keep our country safe, both from massive illegal immigration and borders that are like sieves, and votes against national defense? Does not a broken marriage pale against the security of our country? Your mom and friend are myopic, and are an equal danger to our national well-being by sitting on their duffs and thereby potentially allowing a dem to get in office to the detriment of our country. Your mom/friend's "morals" will be the death of us.

[Darlin']

"My friend will not vote for Hutchinson and she's never voted for Clinton (governor or president). She will not vote for Pryor"

If your friend doesn't vote for Senator Hutchinson she is in effect casting a vote for Pryor or rather for the puppetmasters who will control him.

As much as I admire and respect her strong faith and the high moral ground she has staked out, my faith calls on me to pray for Senator Hutchinson and others who have stumbled. My bible tells me that we have all sinned and fall short of the grace of God but that He is merciful and forgiving. I am grateful for that for I have needed His mercy and His grace.

[conservative_2001]

"Half the time, donors gave to Davis within three months of their permits appearing on a commission agenda, records show."

It just royally pisses me off that we may lose a fine Senator because a group of jerks who think they're more pure than the Virgin Mary herself want to stand in judgement of Senator Hutchinson's personal life.

"BTW, I'll be crawling over hot coals and broken glass to cast my vote for Hutchinson."

I would too if I could. Instead I sent him $80.

[conservative_2001]

IGNORE LAST POST OF MINE. Proper post below:

"Don't waste your time. Some people are clueless and take a stand based on NOTHING but rumors."

It just royally pisses me off that we may lose a fine Senator because a group of jerks who think they're more pure than the Virgin Mary herself want to stand in judgement of Senator Hutchinson's personal life.

"BTW, I'll be crawling over hot coals and broken glass to cast my vote for Hutchinson."

I would too if I could. Instead I sent him $80.

[kcvl]

Thanks for the support of Hutchinson!

[AxelPaulsenJr]

A friend of mine who lives in Arkansas will not be voting for Hutchinson for the reasons you cited. She won't be voting for Pryor, but she cannot bring herself to vote for Hutchinson.

Is she smart enough to realize that she is in effect voting for Pryor?

[Coop]

A much needed endorsement for Sen. Hutchinson.

[mywholebodyisaweapon]

From some of these posts, one would think that Tim is running for deacon rather than for senator.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Yep. Dead on about the Senate. The slogan for the Kamikaze Conservatives seems to be better 10,000 more dead babies than one more philandering Senator.

A little crudely put, but never the less, is right on. Just the same as those who stayed home in 1990 because Bush, Sr. went back on his no tax pledge, boy did they get a real tax cutter as a result! (sarcasm off)

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Yup, I think you just got the handle on what old Catspaw is about. Good catch.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Pinging for #44...and muleboy, about that "11th Commandment" thread, please do. (^:

Our team / Their team
Who do you trust?

[AxelPaulsenJr]

To: Catspaw The only difference between the two is that Hutchinson married his paramour. Clinton just masturbated in a sink. Only in a sink? Not on a Gap dress? You see no difference between the two? Now I am starting to get your drift. You wouldn't vote for a Republican because you are a Democrat. Go eat your Meow Mix. Or barf up a hair ball.

Sorry meant to include this in my earlier post. Yesterday at Jones Cafe in Pine Bluff I sat at a table next to two demorat staffers who were bragging about how tough they were going to get with Republicans. I suspect Catspaw is probably working for them.

[Lauratealeaf]

Yesterday at Jones Cafe in Pine Bluff I sat at a table next to two demorat staffers who were bragging about how tough they were going to get with Republicans.

It must have been hard to keep your plate and cutlery on the table. I am afraid I might have hurled them at the idiots.

[Sloth]

Character Doesn't Matter!

Sorry, everyone, but it's no more true when Republicans say it than when Democrats say it.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Yup, specially when I could see the smirking looks on their faces.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Character does matter, breaking the law also matters. Has Tim broken the law, like Klintoon did?

[Sloth]

It's not about crime, it's about honesty. Al Gore is a liar, and he switched from 'pro-life' to the baby-killer stance. Hutchinson is a liar (per breaking of marriage vows), so where's the assurance that he won't switch, too?

[AxelPaulsenJr]

It's not about crime, it's about honesty. Al Gore is a liar, and he switched from 'pro-life' to the baby-killer stance. Hutchinson is a liar (per breaking of marriage vows), so where's the assurance that he won't switch, too?

There are only two absolute guarantees in life, birth and death. All the rest is up to chance.

But I will postulate this: The voters stand a better chance of getting a pro-lifer in Tim, than they will in Pryor.

[Sloth]

Well, duh. Anyone who votes for Pryor is simply evil, IMO.

[Catspaw]

Sorry, after years of Clinton, she's not much into moral equivalency.