Free Republic

This season’s darling of the political left, a man who has generated millions of dollars in his quest to stop Senator Blanche Lincoln from serving a third term, took a seat in the Gunsmoke Room at the Western Sizzlin restaurant here and explained his ideology. The word Democrat came up only a time or two. The word liberal? Never. “I don’t want the simplistic labels to get in the way of what’s really going on here,” said Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, a Democrat whose primary challenge to Mrs. Lincoln has ignited enthusiasm among activists who want to purge the party...

MAINSTREAM PRESS CONTINUES THE LIE THAT HAWAII “OFFICIALS” SAY OBAMA IS A “NATURAL BORN CITIZEN” A contender for the U.S. Senate seat in Arkansas currently held by Blanche Lincoln (D) has publicly stated that Obama may not qualify for the office he holds. One news release incorrectly reports that “Hawaii officials have issued multiple statements saying records prove Obama is a natural-born U.S. citizen, and Obama’s campaign posted a copy of his birth certificate on its Web site during the 2008 presidential race.” The Post & Email has reported on multiple occasions that Hawaii officials, including the attorney general, have...

Blanche Lincoln, Arkansas’ Democrat Senator, is quickly learning the price of her vote in favor of ObamaCare. The latest poll show that she’s trailing five – count ‘em, five – different Republicans. In fact, it looks like she could lose to pretty much anyone who doesn’t have a “D” after their name. Look for members of the Whig and Bullmoose parties to throw their hats into the wide open ring. Rasmussen reports the depressing Democrat details:

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter said Monday he's seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Blanche Lincoln, challenging the two-term incumbent as she faces the toughest fight of her political career. Halter's spokesman provided a statement Monday in which the one-term lieutenant governor said he would file papers this week for the U.S. Senate. Halter is the only Democrat to formally announce a challenge to Lincoln, a moderate who has been under pressure in Washington to support President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

By most accounts, the two most vulnerable senators up for re-election this year are Democrats Harry Reid of Nevada and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. The problems for Reid have been well chronicled. He has to balance his role as Senate majority leader, shepherding a mostly liberal party in Washington to pass President Obama's agenda, while retaining appeal among more conservative voters back home. Reid has been trailing generic Republicans in the polls for months; his supporters insist that when the GOP nominates someone real and not generic, the senator will win. Lincoln's problems in Arkansas may be more severe. In...

A well-known Washington insider has been telling Arkies this weekend that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is trying to talk Sen. Blanche Lincoln out of running for re-election. That would open the door for a Wes Clark candidacy. And U.S. Rep. Mike Ross would be in the race in a heartbeat

Princella Smith, 26, will announce on Saturday that she is running for Congress in Arkansas’s 1st District. Some would say she is too young. Others might point to other potential hurdles: She’s running in eastern Arkansas, a district that hasn’t elected a Republican since 1872 in a Southern state that has never elected a black person to a congressional or state-wide office. “I think I’m the person to do this,” Smith said. “I’m going to tell people to come on board with me, listen to these ideas, and that we can get people excited again about the Republican Party.”

I posted the video of Sarah Palin on The O'Reilly Factor talking about The Family Guy episode and a couple of locale news channels at the GOP fundraiser. I also posted a couple of photos of Sarah Palin at the GOP fundraiser. I was there (ten hour drive) but I was not able to take photos or video.

Jones joins race in 8thBy: GARY WECKSELBLATT The Intelligencer February 14, 2010 03:34 AM Calling it "a historical moment," a black man from rural Arkansas raised as a sharecropper officially entered the 8th District congressional race for the Republican nomination Saturday. "This is Black History month," James Jones told a group of family and friends. "What better time to stand in front of you?" Describing himself as a "Tea Party guy," Jones, who fought in two wars with the Navy and also served in the Middle East, spoke out against government spending, deceitful politicians and the "killing" of the U.S....

President Obama’s sharp exchange of views with House Republicans made a splash the other day -- though for civility and substance, I much preferred the excellent left-meets-right encounter between Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and our very own wunderkind Ezra Klein. In any case, for those seeking a true measure of Obama’s judgment, on both policy and politics, the meeting between the president and Senate Democrats yesterday was much more instructive. Obama’s words made it clear that, notwithstanding his party’s recent election losses at the polls and its declining poll ratings, he has no intention of embarking on a Bill Clinton-style...

What's the quickest way to go from United States Senator to "whatever happened to..."? Completely ignore the calls, letters and poll results from your constituents and vote for Obamacare anyway. That's the lesson Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas) is learning the hard way as her job approval rating and poll numbers are plummeting since she cast the all-important 60th vote for President Obama's health care reform legislation.

U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, said today he will make an announcement Feb. 6 regarding his political future. In a news release, Boozman said, “Over the course of the last few weeks, I have been encouraged by many Arkansans who are very concerned about the critical issues facing our state and our nation to consider where I can best serve the people of our state. The response has been overwhelming. “I will be in Little Rock next Saturday to make an important announcement, and I look forward to continuing these conversations with Arkansans during the weeks and months to come.”...

Barring a last-minute change of heart, Rep. John Boozman (R) appears set to jump into the Arkansas Senate race in the coming days. Sources on Capitol Hill said Wednesday that Boozman, the lone GOP Member of the state’s congressional delegation, has made it clear that he intends to challenge Democrat Blanche Lincoln in November. Boozman already has much of his Senate campaign team in place and the announcement is expected to take place in Arkansas before the weekend is out. When asked about a potential Senate bid Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Boozman would only say “nothing has been announced officially.”...

U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln's big news appears to be up on her webpage before her promised Twitter. Nonetheless, it is indeed about money. She raised more than $1 million in the fourth quarter, for a total of more than $7 million for the campaign cycle and she has more than $5 million on hand.

uh-oh another major Dem retirement? RT @blanche4senate Stay tuned for an important campaign announcement tomorrow morning. - ed henry CNN VIA TWITTER Blanche Lincoln's site says announcement coming in morning...

Washington (CNN) - Democrats reeling from last week's upset loss of Ted Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts suffered a new setback in Arkansas on Monday as a longtime Democratic House incumbent announced his intention to retire at the end of this year. The party's hopes also dimmed in Delaware, where popular Democratic state Attorney General Beau Biden declared that he will not seek his father's former U.S. Senate seat this November. Joe Biden vacated the seat after he was elected vice president in 2008. The twin announcements increased speculation that the Democrats may suffer major congressional losses in the...

As for Smith’s future, the press secretary says she’s toying with the idea of running for office in Arkansas one day. Her fans are already one step ahead of her. The Facebook fan group Draft Princella for U.S. Congress is steadily gaining names of voters who want Smith to run against Rep. Berry, the incumbent in her home district. “I think in the long run she will be an elected official,” says Gingrich. “Her desire to serve people and her passionate interest in public policy make her somebody who will run for office.”

Arkansas Rep. Marion Berry is expected to announce his retirement tomorrow morning, according to three sources briefed on the decision. Berry will become the sixth Democrat in a competitive seat to leave in the last two months but the first to announce his retirement since the party's special election loss in Massachusetts last Tuesday. "The message coming out of the Massachusetts special election is clear: No Democrat is safe," said National Republican Congressional Committee communications director Ken Spain. Berry, first elected in 1996, had been noncommittal about his re-election bid for months although, privately, his allies insisted he was planning...

Congressman John Boozman says he's considering running for Senator Blanche Lincoln's senate seat in November. Congressman John Boozman says he's received calls from supporters, asking him to run against Senator Blanche Lincoln in November. A recent poll shows less than 40 percent of Arkansans support Senator Lincoln. Right now state Senator Gilbert Baker leads Lincoln by 12 points. State senate minority leader Kim Hendren leads her by 8 points. Businessman Curtis Coleman and Arkansas TEA party leader Tom Cox both have a ten point lead over Lincoln. 5News spoke with Senator Lincoln's office today, and they issued this statement: "The...

Republican Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts should be an “air raid siren” for Democrats, alerting them to the possibility of further tough Senate seat losses this fall. That’s what veteran political prognosticator Charlie Cook wrote Friday in National Journal – and he’s not alone in making such a prediction. Brown’s upset win provided the GOP more than just a 41st vote to disrupt President Obama’s agenda, according to Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. It’s also given Republicans momentum, and a big boost in morale. Democrats will probably retain control of the Senate...