Our other favorite sport

— Football and politics have this much in common; winning or losing usually comes down to the fundamentals, and the clock governs both of these contact sports.

There is a practical political application here relating to the unfolding Senate race.

If we were to extend the football analogy just a bit, it would be reasonable to say that we are somewhere in the first quarter. Pollsters, Republicans, reporters and members of her own party have tackled U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln. This is not the first time in world history that some lower-level team sneaked in a touchdown during the opening period.

If you watch Lincoln long enough, she will make you crazy. Because of her pigheaded refusal to support the public option, the American people will be denied a needed program of national health insurance. Republicans ought to be sending her flowers.

In a world where sound public policy and perfect adherence to principle were highly regarded attributes for those seeking elective office, Lincoln might be in trouble. The politics of reality is quite a bit different.

Lincoln, by appearing to be at the center of negotiations, is beginning to cast herself as an effective leader. Her direct mail advertising emphasizes hard work and the personal insistence that Congress has to get it right.

Remember that old hand at Arkansas politics, the late Jerry Russell? He tormented us with an endless flow of radio jingles in support of his numerous candidate clients.

After 20 years, I can still remember “Shirley Smith for secretary of state. The only qualified candidate for secretary of state.”

Jerry got some things wrong, but he correctly emphasized that, in campaigns, appearance equals reality. He would certainly approve of Lincoln’s self-depiction as a detail-oriented public servant with no other interest than the general good. What’s more, she has set up the final act so that it will seem as if those previously cast as the careless, reckless, wide-eyed supporters of government-run health care now must come crawling to her for permission to enact a fiscally responsible version of this milestone legislation. Frankly, one must admire such artful improvisation.

Looking at the recent public opinion polls, some Republicans are getting ready to tear down the goal posts and throw a party, but to borrow a phrase from Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friends!” Such things as primaries, runoffs and general elections are not piddling technicalities.

The former president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, Stanley Reed, is the eighth announced Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. He has a network of supporters and access to the mandatory ton of money. He faces two distinct obstacles on his way to a victory in November 2010.

Even for a guy with more loot than Scrooge McDuck, setting oneself apart from seven not so brilliantly drawn cartoon characters is going to be an ordeal. State Sen. Gil Baker certainly will not roll over and play dead. In a recent straw poll, Curtis Coleman ran a close second to Baker, so he has some credibility. This is already a tight race.

Then there is the “real” conservative, Jim Holt. Although Holt has not announced his candidacy, he would play a deciding role in a Republican primary. He would dismember Reed, who has previously been a financial backer of Lincoln and Bill Clinton. That would be some major fun.

Holt has a network of activists and is able to run a statewide campaign on a shoestring. He scared the daylights out of Lincoln a few years back. If he gets in, he will be in the runoff. Write it down.

Stanley Reed’s other challenge is Stanley Reed. He is asking Arkansas voters to let him start at the top with no previous experience. A man like Reed expects those under him, and that is just about everybody else, to defer to his superior judgment. He is going to wake up in the middle of the field and wonder what hit him.

A more immediate concern for Lincoln is the possible candidacy of Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. Some liberal bloggers and other Democrats have encouraged Halter. These are fine people who have not a clue, but concentrate on the grave policy errors embraced by our senior senator.

Arkansans will not, at this time, vote for a real Democrat. Halter is vulnerable because of the state lottery, and the only possible outcome of a contested Democratic primary is to force Lincoln to spend her campaign’s money.

Next November, one particular individual who has earned the Republican nomination will have the unenviable task of convincing voters to turn out a familiar and generally trusted public servant. Keeping in mind that this is the first quarter, those who would presume to remove Lincoln have, so far, not even gotten their uniforms dirty.

Free-lance columnist Pat Lynch has been a radio broadcaster in Central Arkansas for more than 20 years.

Editorial, Pages 15 on 12/14/2009

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