By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Sen. Blanche Lincoln became the center of attention in Washington earlier this month when she was the last Democratic holdout to say she would support advancing the debate on the Senate health care bill, but some question whether the attention has been good for Lincoln.

“It was a colossal political blunder to put herself in that position,” said Republican political consultant Bill Vickery of Little Rock. “All the polling data points to Arkansans understanding this as an economic issue and not favoring it, and she put herself to be in position to be the deciding vote putting it forward.”

Lincoln voted for cloture, giving Democrats the 60th vote they needed to prevent a Republican filibuster and allow the bill to be debated on the Senate floor.

She gave a speech explaining that she was voting only to begin debate and did not support the bill in its present form, but Vickery said many may not see a distinction.

“To try to explain why you’re voting the way you’re voting is always a smart thing to do,” he said. “The problem is, if you can’t do it in one sentence then it becomes almost indecipherable. … Her speech was longer than the Gettysburg Address.”

According to a University of Arkansas poll released earlier this month, 48 percent of Arkansans oppose a government-run health insurance option, compared to only 39 percent who support a public option — though 56 percent of uninsured Arkansans favor a public option.

Lincoln has said she opposes the public option currently included in the Senate bill.

Vickery said no one knows what will happen as the debate proceeds, but after Lincoln’s procedural vote to move the bill forward, “it’s very difficult to come up with any scenario that she can come out with a positive.”

But Art English, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, didn’t see any blunder. By holding out, Lincoln was able to achieve her goal of having the bill held open for public view for three days prior to the vote, he said.

English also said he believed Lincoln did herself more good than harm by explaining her vote.

“She was in the spotlight already,” he said. “You really have to educate your voters and constituencies, and when she comes back I think she will really spend a lot of time explaining those votes. Obviously the opposition is going to focus on that vote and this vote, but I think she did very, very well.”

Seven Republicans have said they will seek the GOP nomination to challenge Lincoln when she runs for re-election to a third term next year. The candidates were quick to criticize Lincoln for her Nov. 21 vote.

“In what other deliberative or legislative body on the planet can one vote for something while saying they’re voting against it?” Curtis Coleman of Little Rock, former CEO of Safe Foods Corp. and a Republican Senate hopeful, wrote on his blog.

Lincoln also has been targeted by liberals unhappy with her opposition to a public option. An online ad by the liberal FDL Action PAC that debuted last week contrasts Lincoln’s statements on the public option with stories of uninsured Arkansas, including a woman with cancer who was denied coverage and man who has been unable to afford an artificial leg.

“I do think that there is a sense that she is going to get hammered by both sides on the way to a decision, and by one side once she makes that decision,” said Hal Bass, a political science professor at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia.

Bass said Lincoln is “on a limb right now” but he isn’t sure if she’s done herself lasting harm.

“I think it’s possible, but there’s going to be lots of things happening between now and 11 months from now that are going to also be in the mix,” he said.

Bass noted that Lincoln recently became chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee as the result of a shuffle following the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.

“Obviously her ascendancy to the chair of the Agriculture Committee is going to be a very consequential factor going forward. It’s just not something that’s very much on the radar screen right now because everybody is so consumed with the health care debate,” he said.

Lincoln may have increased awareness of her committee chairmanship when she held a field hearing of the committee in Little Rock last week. Holding the hearing in Arkansas was “a smart move,” according to Bass.

“It’s one of her high cards — the highest card she has to play, it seems to me,” he said.

During that appearance, Lincoln showed an eagerness to talk about issues other than health care. The economy is her No. 1 priority, she said.

Lincoln appeared frustrated when reporters greeted her with a barrage of questions about health care.

“Has anybody else got something about this (hearing), I hope?” she asked.