Elections As Marathons

For weeks, attention has been focused on the race for the Democratic nomination for U.S Senate in Arkansas.

Embattled incumbent Sen.

Blanche Lincoln has been campaigning for months, though more intensively since Lt. Gov. Bill Halter on March 1 confirmed speculation that he would oppose her in the Democratic primary. Voters cast ballots Tuesday in this costly slug-fest, which has seen millions spent on TV attack ads, with many of those ads funded by outside interests.

Meanwhile, in Britain then Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced April 6 that a general election would occur May 6, a one-month campaign period. While the Arkansas Senate race relentlessly drags on, the British carried out a national election campaign in just over four weeks.

There are, of course, a few points to note here. First, the British campaign had effectively been under way for many weeks prior to the dissolution of Parliament, which triggered the election timing. And although the incumbent Labor Party was turned out, the election failed to produce a decisive party victor, resulting in a “hung parliament,” in which no party has a clear majority.

Although the U.S. system is considerably different, congressional elections this year could lead to a divided government, in which one party controls one or both houses of Congress while theother party holds the White House.

As for the Arkansas race, Tuesday’s Democratic primary is only one step in a marathon process. With three candidates on the Democratic ballot, there’s a possibility of a runoff on June 8 if no candidate gets a majority. And though the Democratic race has gained more attention for now, there’s also a Republican Senate primary with no less than eight candidates.

Halter is running an aggressive campaign, hoping to capitalize on the anti-incumbent fever sweeping the nation (and was also evident in Britain).

That fever contributed to decisions by a bevy of experienced legislators, mostly Democrats, not to seek re-election. Others face serious challenges and already Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett, a hidebound conservative, was deemed an apostate by Republicans in his home state and denied re-nomination.

It is unusual for incumbent senators to be challenged within their own parties.

Halter is doing that even though Lincoln now chairsthe Senate Agriculture Committee, a position of obvious importance to Arkansas. While rare, a primary challenge to a Senate veteran is not unprecedented. The best known Arkansas examples in recent decades saw Gov.

Dale Bumpers taking on Sen. J. William Fulbright in 1974 and Rep. David Pryor going against Sen. John McClellan in 1972. Pryor narrowly failed in his bid to depose McClellan in a rancorous battle in which McClellan demonstrated his resilience and fundraising ability, and attacked Pryor for his support from organized labor.

Like McClellan, Fulbright was an entrenched power in the Senate. However, Bumpers was a highly popular governor while Fulbright was identified with Washington at a time of great controversy and discontent. Bumpers said the public lacked confidence in Congress at that time, a sentiment strongly echoed today, and ended Fulbright’s Senate career.

The Bumpers-Fulbright race was notoriously civil, a description that would hardly be applied to the assault TV ads that characterize the current Democratic primary.

The Democratic victor will face the Republican primary winner in the November general election, meaning many more months of campaigning in an atmosphere deemed to be especially difficult for Democrats. For many Democratic voters, theirchoice in the primary may hinge on which candidate would be the stronger against the Republican nominee. Despite the Washington incumbent baggage Lincoln carries, polls show her running ahead of Halter.

Polls also show Rep. John Boozman leads the Republican pack, although, with such a crowded field, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a runoff for the nomination.

In this time of antiincumbent zeal, Boozman is something of an anomaly.

Though now running for Senate, he has been in the House of Representatives during this period when Congress has sunk so low in public esteem. And he voted for some of the measures, including the TARP bill, a.k.a. the “bank bailout,” which induced apoplexy in certain conservative circles.

However, Boozman, like Lincoln, gamely defends that vote as necessary in a time of jeopardy for the nation’s financial system. Though he has drawn criticism from Republican rivals, Boozman has tried to stay above the fray.

The party nominees, whether determined Tuesday or in a June runoff, face long days of campaigning and uncertain twists and turns ahead, a reminder that American elections have become, certainly in comparison to those in Britain, a marathon, not a sprint.

HOYT PURVIS IS A JOURNALISM AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS PROFESSOR.