Benton Courier - Lincoln's new 'theme' for herself puzzling indeed

For whatever reason, political candidates love to attach a political positioning line to their campaigns. Bill Clinton defined himself as a “new Democrat.” George W. Bush said he was a “compassionate conservative.” Al Gore, the former vice president, often regarded himself as a “raging moderate.” And John McCain was a “maverick.”
These political tag lines often mean nothing. None of us can say with precision what a new Democrat, raging moderate or compassionate conservative actually means. But they all sat well with voters for whatever reason, and political candidates, particularly those in high profile races, do their best to try and define themselves in as few words as possible. It’s a race to the bottom.
We are beginning to see evidence of this in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Sen. Blanche Lincoln has begun a similar race to the bottom by trying desperately to find the right words to capture the perceived public sentiment: We hate what’s going on in Washington.
John Heilemann, a political reporter for New York magazine and the co-author of “Game Change,” wrote this in a piece for his magazine this week: “For all the predictions about an anti-incumbent or anti-Obama wave about to crash down on the country, it appears that the most salient sentiment animating the electorate today is more precisely (and more broadly) anti-Washington.”
As veteran political operative Paul Begala told me in an e-mail exchange: “Democratic candidates are going to have a tough time in 2010. The best way to counter the tide is to show you’re on the side of the people: willing to take on big banks that need stronger rules of the road; willing to take on big insurance companies that jack up rates when you’re healthy and dump you when you’re sick; willing to take on corporate lobbyists who dominate Washington.”
Last week Lincoln launched her first television advertisement. In it, she took a remarkable and unlikely approach towards her own re-election. In 30 seconds she sought to define herself, a two-term senator, as a Washington outsider.
The ad begins with her stating “I’m Blanche Lincoln and I want to show you what it’s like in Washington these days.” This is followed by a clip of children beating each other with plastic baseball bats. (I’m serious.)
It continues with a listing of all of the things Lincoln is against: more money for Wall Street, the automobile bailouts, the public option health care plan and the cap-and-trade bill. Echoing the Republican’s darling term of 2010 — “No” — Lincoln launched her re-election campaign.
The ad concluded with the following line: “I don’t answer to my party. I answer to Arkansas.” A theme for the campaign was born.
I’m not entirely sure what it means. For whatever reason, I was reminded of the scene in the film “Primary Colors” where a group of campaign operatives are trying to advise presidential candidate Jack Stanton’s wife about potential campaign problems.
After a metaphor about doves and a boar goes awry, Lucille Kaufman (played by Caroline Aaron) remarks, “That’s ridiculous. That’s the media’s game. We play the people’s game. We say to them — the Republicans and the media — we don’t want this election to be about trash. We want this to be about your future. We don’t shoot doves in this campaign, Richard. We protect them.” To which Richard replies, “What do you mean?”
I had the same reaction upon hearing Lincoln’s campaign theme.
After all, it is fantastic (and I don’t mean that as in “good”) to suggest that Lincoln can run an outsider campaign. To be genuine in such an endeavor would require her to disavow all allegiance to her political party — to quit, as Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh did. Or, perhaps more appropriately, to run as an Independent, free from the constraints of the Democratic Party, as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman have done.
Instead, she has opted for a different approach, which blends insider accomplishments with outsider rhetoric.
On Wednesday, for example, her office announced that she played an integral role in the Senate’s passage of a $140 billion tax relief bill that would “provide financial certainty for Arkansas families and businesses.”
And this is the ultimately the point (and the fallacy of her theme): re-elect Lincoln because a senator in her third term and chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee can deliver. Mr. Halter, as a first-term senator relegated to the back bench, cannot.
Put another way: Seniority matters.
But that has proven to be a difficult political play in the past. In 1974, the last time that an incumbent Democrat senator faced a major primary challenge, then-Gov. Dale Bumpers, barely into his first term, was running against Sen. William J. Fulbright, a long-standing incumbent and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, when he he remarked in their only public joint appearance that the seniority system had not served the country well. Mr. Bumpers won easily.
So why should the Lincoln campaign be fearful?
According to a poll released by Gallup this week, “Democrats lead Republicans by a slight 47 percent to 44 percent margin when registered voters are asked which party’s congressional candidate they would support in their district “if the elections for Congress were being held today.”
The more voters learn about the Republicans’ approach to governance the less they seem to like.
But political campaigns are strange things. And political candidates, with their future in the balance, embark on puzzling exercises in political definition. In 2010, Lincoln is proving to be no different.

Blake Rutherford is an Arkansas political analyst and public relations executive. He is the publisher of Blake’s Think Tank, a public affairs blog, and the host of Arkansas Sunday Edition on 103.7FM The Buzz. You can e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or follow him on Twitter: @blakerutherford. His column appears in the Courier on Fridays.

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