Lincoln Loses in a Landslide?
March 19, 2010 Has anyone not seen the movie “Jaws?” If you haven’t, here’s the takeaway: They say when you hear ominous cello music, get out of the water.
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) was set to deliver the keynote address at the National Cotton Council’s Annual Meeting in Memphis in early February, but Washington was covered in four feet of snow and she couldn’t get out.
Too bad ― she could have used a friendly audience. Everyone kicks you when you’re down. And Lincoln is definitely down, as you know if you’ve been keeping up with the polls. You’d think a farm girl from Arkansas who is chairman of the Senate Ag Committee would be unbeatable.
Well, think again. Lincoln is up for reelection in November, but if the election were held today, she would lose in a landslide to U.S. Congressman John Boozman, a Republican who represents Arkansas’ Third District. The latest Rasmussen poll has it 54%-34% in favor of Boozeman; the Public Policy poll has it 56%-33%.
Other polls show she could lose to any of five Republican challengers.
So what happened? Barack Obama’s health care plan happened. Lincoln cast the 60th vote needed for the Senate version of Obamacare to advance to the floor for debate last winter. And it didn’t matter that she voted to open it to debate only. She could and would vote against certain elements, she insisted. But in the eyes of the good people of Arkansas, Lincoln voted yea on the bill, while 60% of them would have voted nea.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is as vile as it gets. When he popped the champaign corks in victory, Lincoln was guilty by association.
What’s sad is that Lincoln was a Blue Dog Democrat before the Obamacare vote and has been since. But it’s no longer about what she stands for, nor her excellent performance as chairman of the ag committee. If, as it appears, Lincoln’s race becomes a referendum on the Democratic leadership in Washington ― Obama, Reid, Nancy Pelosi ― then agriculture will likely lose a very good friend.
Had Lincoln not cast that pivotal vote on health care, would the Democrats have stripped her of the Ag committee chairmanship? There’s that theory, and that’s all it is. But so what? All she had to do was become a Republican. If the GOP reclaims the Senate this fall, they’d give it right back. (Someone suggested the whole scenario to me. There’s no way I can claim that sort of thought process.)
Can Lincoln fight her way back by November? A long-shot comeback is not unprecedented for an Arkansan. See Bill Clinton. I don’t know whether she can or not, but I can offer some advice: Listen for the ominous cello music and avoid Obama-infested waters.
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