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Bill Halter came close but he didn’t make it. The Arkansas Lieutenant Governor lost narrowly in a runoff primary to Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln, 48 to 52 percent, with 94 percent of precincts reporting. The four-point margin is very close to the difference in the primary a fortnight ago.
The incumbent Senator, who was plagued by charges she’s flip-flopped on the health-care public option and has supported wealthy special interests over her Arkansas constituents, called in the biggest gun possible in the last days of her campaign: former Pres. Bill Clinton. Halter countered with a great deal of support from unions and grassroots campaigners. Their anti-establishment efforts were frustrated by an unusual, last-minute shutdown of polling places in a county where Halter had been strong in May’s primary.
Lincoln will face Republican John Boozman in November.
41 Comments
Spit.
Buh-bye Blanche. Let’s see Bubba and your cheating officials pull this out in the fall. I don’t think so.
Oh, great, eMeg won. The evening gets better.
Angle leading 36/31 in NV-Sen (GOP)
Moonbeam and The Cockspaniel will be interesting to watch.
Meg must be feeling swelled and spent.
fuck. i had such high hopes that tonight was the night blanche said buh bye
Probably had a party that cost 3 million.
It really muddies the message. If Halter had won it could be argued that it happened because she sold out to the corporations.
When she loses to a Republican in November it will be attributed (erroneously) to her having been too liberal.
Me too. sigh.
The worst part is you just know she’s gonna be all smug and insufferable, rubbing everyone’s noses in it. I can’t wait until November.
Say goodbye to any influence the democratic wing of the Democratic Party might have had. All the Dem corporate toadies, Blue Dogs, and New Democrats will all feel safe to continue business as usual. The House Progressive Caucus may as well disband. The long corporate grind against workers and unions will continue unabated. The social safety net will be dismantled by the deficit hawks. The ordinary people of the United States are screwed.
This is bad.
What’s the strategy for stealing the election in the general? Can they close down polls in purely GOP strongholds? Yeah, right.
And thanks, Bill Clinton, for showing once again you side with corporatists.
Can you imagine spending that much on a bid to win a job no sane person should want?
According to Politics Daily, “A lawsuit on behalf of three Arkansas voters against the Garland County Election Commission was filed late Tuesday afternoon…” by Hot Springs attorney Ben Hooten, who, in the lawsuit, claims the Garland County Election Commission closed all polling sites but two for “the purpose of disenfranchising ” minority, elderly, poor and disabled voters in the county.
Perhaps this lawsuit will prove to have teeth. Garland County has been considered Halter territory, and the closing of the 41 sites to only two smells worse than the Gulf of Mexico.
To read the Politics Daily article: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/08/voter-lawsuit-filed-in-arkansas-blanche-lincoln-bill-halter-se/
No, I can’t imagine it. I wouldn’t run for office if someone promised me a win. It’s a nightmare.
Begging the question, WHY does she want the job?
The rich are plenty stoopit. Also.
They also filed suit after a similar occurrence in 2008. I’m guessing that lawsuit went nowhere.
I applaud the effort but most likely of symbolic benefit only.
Hubris.
Hey Rahm fix this have Blanche retire for health reasons. Why because we won’t be showing up to vote for Blanche.
The whole point of stealing elections is not to get caught. Get caught and you really can’t expect the people you robbed to vote for you.
Did you read that AR elections are run by volunteers? That is some crazy-ass shit, I know from experience.
If you can’t win over enough voters, then stop your opponent’s voters from voting. It’s the Republicant and CorpoDem way in this bastion of freedom and democracy called the U S of A – taken to an art form in the South. PPFFFFTTTT! Bubba can’t save you next time Bitch, I mean Blanche.
Not certain what you mean exactly. The polling places here are staffed by volunteers during every election.
This is the best news I have heard all day. If the case goes to the Supremes they have to use Bush vs Gore to take away White People’s votes.
The Voting Rights Act stops attempts to suppress votes based on color.
Blanche hates White People! Why else deny their votes?
the election officials are volunteers is how i took it.
Blanche does not discriminate on the basis of race, she hates all poor people equally.
Whoops, looks like some ballot boxes got lost in the trunk of Blanche’s caddy…
Fine but she has to prove that in court first.
lisa has late nite upstairs
They have 10 days to certify the election, so that will be the crucial time frame to get this heard.
Question is . . are the progressives going to provide any volunteer/financial support to Blanche in the fall. Methinks that our support is spent better elsewhere.
One more thing: Is this the revival of Bill Clinton? Or just proof that his power is best used in small, dedicated doses, like this race and the release of the reporters who were imprisoned in North Korea? It didn’t work that well on behalf of Hillary.
He is, after all, from Arkansas.
I disagree that we should stop/disband the progressive wing. This is the exact thing the corporatists and the Rethuglicans wants. The going gets tough, the professional hacks toe the corporate line and the public becomes apathetic. Apathy enables the back room deals, the corruption, the incompetent governance. Win or lose, this is no time for apathy.
Psychologists have determined that Arkansas has the highest concentration of the public suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.
This was going to be a tough one to win: a small, right-to-work state, with huge corporate influences, and the influence of a former President, native son. Progressives made this close and painful for Buy-me Blanche, and proved we will put our money and actions against those Democrats who seem to be uncomfortable being Democrats. This morning, she looked like a sure loser, and somehow pulled it out. Other candidates won’t be so lucky.
Hey, man! Please reconsider. We’ll never get anywhere with that kind of attitude. It’s an uphill fight, it’s going to be an uphill fight, and we will not win every battle. But never, ever forget the uphill fight of 1776!
The Obama and Blanche the people in Arkansas do not know
Obama and Blanche both love war
Obama and Blanche hate the idea of a public option
Obama and Blanche hate the idea of Drug Importation
OBAMA and Blanche hate big Labor
Obama and Blanche love BIG OIL
Obama and Blanche love Big Banks
Obama and Blanche love Hoover Economic Policies.
Obama and the corporate dems will gloat a little over this win, but Robert Gibbs and David Axelrod know that the road to white house in 2012 will have to go thru Progrssive Land.
Progressives must realize Obama and Corporate Dems are sponsored by the Corporate media and the corporate media protects them. The New York Times attacks Halter today? (is the New York Times a protector of liberal values?)
Daily Kos, MoveOn.org, can they be trusted?
SUN TZU says it best, Know Thyself and Know Thy Enemies and you will never be defeated in WAR. (Halter did not force Blanche to show her true colors, he let her play the role victim. Halter like most young politicians thinks there is a middle? there is no middle! the MSM and Corporate Elites live in the MIDDLE.)
Madison Ave. is using an old trick lie, lie, lie, and people will eventually believe the lie,
What about Obama says he is a Liberal, a Progressive? The MSM tells us he is a Progressive, who owns the MSM? The people who control and package Obama and Blanche.
Madison Ave. knows that the AVG person in Arkansas thinks the current people calling themselves Democrats are people like FDR, JFK, Ted Kennedy, etc. they have no clue that OBAMA and Blanche are closer to Bush and Reagan,
Progressives must show the Avg. voter that Obama and FDR would hate each other. FDR would never have allowed someone like OBAMA to call himself a Democrat.
Obama also knows that speaking like MLK, makes people believe he is MLK, would MLK increase WAR? would MLK make people buy health insurance? would MLK fight for Wall Steet over Main Street? don’t under estimate OBAMA ability to use the Hope a Dope.
Obama is not Martin Luther King, MLK would not have loved OBAMA policies. African American un-employment is sky high! None of Obama policies will help the plight of African Americans any time soon.
Well. Proof, if proof were needed of my ‘you’re all screwedandfucked’ hypothesis.
I keep saying it. Get the hell out of there while you still can.
Well. Proof, if proof were needed of my ‘you’re all screwedandfucked’ hypothesis.
I keep saying it. Get the hell out of there while you still can.
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