By Jason Tolbert
This past Monday will not be remembered as one of the best days in the life of Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. He has always been a maverick within the Democratic Party, often verging hard to the left of bemoaning party leaders and receiving frequent cheers from liberal groups typically located outside of Arkansas.
Monday began with praise from the chief of all liberal groups, MoveOn.org. The leftist organization that in 2008 helped propel a first-term senator from Illinois into the 44th president of the United States turned its attention to the lieutenant governor of Arkansas.
That morning, MoveOn.org released a poll of its Arkansas membership showing that 92 percent of them (no actual number was given) believed Halter should enter the Democratic primary and take on incumbent Democrat Sen. Blanche Lincoln.
Lincoln has upset the left wing of her party, many of whom believe she is not liberal enough. Unfortunately for her, the conservatives believe she is too liberal, hence her dismal poll numbers. Regardless, MoveOn.org was clear in its support, sending out an e-mail entitled “Run, Bill Halter, Run.”
After that, the day began to quickly spiral downward for Halter.
Apparently a beltway insider publication cornered Gov. Mike Beebe at a meeting in Washington and got him to say out loud what everyone was already thinking. Beebe is pretty good about doing that.
The governor basically said that neither he nor anyone else outside of Halter himself has a clue what Halter will run for this year. It could be Senate or Congress, or he could just stay put. But if Halter does decide to make the foolish decision to challenge Lincoln, he will get walloped.
Beebe described his relationship with Halter as “cordial,” which sounds like a word people might use to describe their relationship with an ex-spouse.
Then it was the state Legislature’s turn.
It started in the House Rules Committee when Speaker Robbie Wills introduced legislation to set up the actual scholarships from proceeds of the Arkansas Lottery and decided to name these scholarships after the late Jodie Mahony, a favorite of many legislators, including Wills. The never-shy Rep. Otis Davis, D-Earle, addressed the elephant in the room by questioning why the scholarships were not named after Bill Halter, “who was willing to put his neck on the line” to the get the lottery passed.
Wills replied that in spite of the buzz generated by Halter’s 2006 lieutenant governor campaign, it was really Mahony that did the hard work on the lottery. He added that the lottery was actually Mahony’s idea in the first place, not Halter’s.
But it did not stop there. In a surprise move that afternoon in the Joint Budget Committee, Rep. Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis, recommended a cut in the lieutenant governor’s office budget from funding four staff members down to only one. It was only supposed to be a part-time position after all, insisted Ingram.
Only after Halter’s chief of staff, Michael Cook, went to the Personnel Subcommittee and was forced to make the case for his own job did the legislators give in and say that Halter can go ahead and keep his staff. Of course, Rep. Ingram did have a point. Even Cook admitted that most of the office staff’s time has been spent spearheading the passage of the lottery amendment.
In the end, Halter took his lumps and survived the day. If the events accomplished anything, they probably will provide the impetus for him to be even more of a maverick. I can’t say that I blame him.
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Jason Tolbert is an accountant and conservative political blogger. His blog — The Tolbert Report — is linked at ArkansasNews.com. His e-mail is jason@TolbertReport.com
