[Arkinsaw]

If he's pro-abortion, I don't think he can win.

If Bumpers and Pryor can win with that stance then its really not that big of a factor in Arkansas. But Rockefeller isn't a real politician in many ways and I'm afraid he would have trouble when the campaign turned nasty, which it always does. Can taking the high road win these days?

[JohnnyZ]

"I was distressed with the Roll Call story because it was inaccurate and gave the impression I was somehow seeking this," Hutchinson said after arriving at Little Rock National Airport. He is scheduled for two public appearances in Little Rock on today.

http://www.baxterbulletin.com/news/stories/20030501/localnews/216786.html

[votelife]

if Bumpers and Pryor can win with pro-choice...

they're both DEMS...Dem's can win with that. In Arkansas basically forget about a Repub winning like that.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"If Bumpers and Pryor can win with that stance then its really not that big of a factor in Arkansas."

---

A Democrat can win in Arkansas even if he's not anti-abortion, but it would be nearly impossible for a pro-abortion Republican to win. The RATs start off with a huge registration advantage, and traditionally get over 90% of the black vote no matter what. For a Republican to win, he has to carry economic conservatives (which are a minority in Arkansas) and get a fairly large percentage of social conservatives who are attracted to economic populism to come over from the Democratic side. Thus, if a Republican in Arkansas is pro-abortion, he will never beat an incumbent Senator like Blanche Lincoln (who is also pro-abortion but hides it by voting for the partial-birth ban), since Lincoln's promise of more pork will keep Democrats happy and there won't be many compelling social issues to get Democrats to jump to the GOP candidate.