SPRINGDALE — The Democratic Party of Arkansas held a state committee meeting in Washington County for the first time since 1996, but don’t read too much into the location of Saturday’s get-together, said newly installed party chairman Vincent Insalaco of North Little Rock.
The Democratic Party will appeal to constituencies, not regional interests, in 2014, Insalaco said afterward. Those constituencies will include people threatened by recent Tea Party inspired votes in Congress on issues ranging from interest on student loans through farming to Social Security.
That appeal will draw votes in Northwest Arkansas despite the region’s Republican record in past elections, he said.
“Explain to me how somebody living in Fayetteville who receives Social Security and worries about how their grandkids are going to pay back their student loans is any different from somebody facing the same issues while living in Little Rock or Blytheville,” Insalaco said.
Insalaco’s name was put forward as the replacement for departing chairman Will Bond of Jacksonville at the request of both Mike Ross, the sole declared Democratic candidate for governor, and Gov. Mike Beebe, the Democratic incumbent in his last term.
Insalaco was elected without dissent by committee members from around the state in a vote held at the Springdale Holiday Inn and Convention Center. The meeting was attended by incumbent U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, Ross and all the declared Democratic candidates for state constitutional office.
Later that afternoon, the candidates went on to the Little Flock Picnic, the Benton County Democratic Party’s biggest annual fundraiser.
Doyle Webb, Republican Party state chairman, responded to Insalaco’s comments. “I’m not surprised that the new chairman of the state Democratic Party started out using smoke and mirrors in an attempt to distract Arkansans from the failed policies of President Barack Obama,” he said. “The devastating effect of Obamacare on the economy and the lackluster economic recovery. The fact is they have nothing positive to run on but I look forward to working with him in the future for the betterment of Arkansas.”
Tyler Clark, Washington County Democratic Party chairman, outlined on Tuesday much of the same strategy for the region as Insalaco described for the state. The campaigns of 2010 and 2012 resulted in legislation by a Republican majority, and there is a backlash, Clark said.
Announced Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tom Cotton “never would have been elected in the 3rd Congressional District,” which includes Northwest Arkansas, Clark said. “While a lot of us certainly don’t agree with Rep. Steve Womack (R-Rogers) much of the time, at least he did serve as mayor in Rogers and is somewhat pragmatic. We’ve always insisted on politicians who can work together for the region’s interest, Democrat or Republican. That’s not what the Republican Party’s offering.”
Insalaco’s involvement in state Democratic politics spans 33 years, starting when he was the 18-year-old driver for then-candidate for governor Bill Clinton.
Democrats let the Republican Party “nationalize” the state’s last two election cycles, Insalaco said. “They had fliers saying my state representative supported a national tax on gasoline,” he said. “Billionaires spent $100 million getting state representatives slots in the state of Arkansas. It was a game-changer.”
The GOP gained a majority in the state House for the first time since the 1870s in the 2012 elections.