Lincoln won with Clinton and anti-union message

[WI_DEM]

well it is Arkansas...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln survived a bruising Democratic runoff thanks to former President Bill Clinton's starpower and her argument that labor unions were trying to interfere in state politics.

In the final days of the campaign, Lincoln's campaign increasingly relied on an ad from Clinton, the former governor who remains popular in his home state, that warned about special interests.

"This is about using you and manipulating your votes," Clinton said in ad, which featured a clip of a speech the former president made at a rally for Lincoln last month.

Lincoln's campaign said it believed the former president's clout helped further an argument that Lincoln had made for weeks, that outside groups and labor unions were trying to buy Arkansans' votes.

"It really did help frame the race," Lincoln campaign manager Steve Patterson said last week. "Coming from our campaign, it wasn't quite as resounding and I think it was viewed by people in your profession as whining."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_LINCOLN_HOW_SHE_WON?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-06-09-03-21-04

[marmar]

1. DLCers seem to hate unions as much as Repugs do.

Wither the Democratic Party.

[w4rma]

2. The heck with Clinton. Everyone should remember what he said and did here. (nt)

[patrice]

3. I. cannot. fathom. a. Democratic. Party. that. is. anti-Union . . . This is just too much for me.

I am very disappointed.

[blm]

4. BULLSHIT...she won because Clinton's MACHINE there made sure polls in Halter's strongholds were

cut down to the barest minimum.

Nothing to see here, eh?

Funny how Clinton and DLC always use GOP thug tactics to attack progressive Dems but never use them to attack GOP.

[WI_DEM]

5. Yes, I've heard that 40 polls in a Halter stronghold were cut to 2 yesterday

is Halter going to challenge that?

[flpoljunkie]

9. It pays to have 2 precincts open! Garland County had a 10% turnout! 7286 of 70,637!

County by County turnout: http://www.votenaturally.org/electionresults/index.php?ac:show:turnout=1&elecid=221

[bornskeptic]

14. Actually Lincoln beat Halter by 46 votes in Garland County,

so I find it hard to believe that the low turnout had any significant effect.
http://www.votenaturally.org/electionresults/index.php?ac:show:contest_countywide=1&elecid=221&countyid=26&contestid=4

[sweetloukillbot]

16. Or were the polls closed because they only expected a 10% turnout

They do that in Arizona, lower voter turnout expectations means less polling places. I had to drive several miles to vote for our recent tax increase, and walk a block to vote for president.

[karynnj]

11. I think it would be really hard to challange that after the fact

Did he challenge it yesterday? (This is Ohio 2004 on steroids - they just cut the number of voting machines below primary election level - here it seems they closed most of the polling places.

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. Garland County is too small to make a diffence. Halter conceded

[denimgirly]

6. Sad to see how much Democratic Party is bought and owned by Corporate America too.

I know the Clintons were corporate owned but its really a shame people have no real genuine person to vote for that looks out for their interest any more. I will NOT be voting for anyone this November...democrats are as bad as republicans.

[flpoljunkie]

7. Guess those Lincolns ads run by Republican business group 'Americans for Job Security' don't count

We will indeed see if Lincoln will vote like she understands people want politicians in Washington to work for them.

Will Lincoln still be supporting her bill with Jon Kyl to increase the estate tax exemption to $10 million? That's really working for the people!

[flpoljunkie]

10. Lincoln can kiss any ads from these pro business front groups in November.

Republican John Boozman will be their guy.

[vaberella]

8. Will BC EVER retire?! Lordy. n/t

[Beacool]

13. I don't know why you are all wringing your hands over Lincoln.

Arkansas is a pretty conservative state. The Repug will probably send Lincoln home in November.

:shrug:

[Codeine]

15. I'm sure Arkansas' anti-union sentiment played a role,

but don't discount the fact that voters are often angered by out-of-state interests getting involved in an election. It pissed me off royally when the Mormons stuck their noses into California's proposition system and pushed through Prop H8.

There's also the question of seniority. A senator who is lower on the food chain pulls down less cash for their state.