Parents of Cotton, Pryor on stump to define sons

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN --07/16/2014--
Avis and Len Cotton, parents of Republican Congressman Tom Cotton, work on their farm in Dardanelle in between helping their son with his upcoming US Senate campaign where he will be running against Democrat Mark Pryor.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN --07/16/2014-- Avis and Len Cotton, parents of Republican Congressman Tom Cotton, work on their farm in Dardanelle in between helping their son with his upcoming US Senate campaign where he will be running against Democrat Mark Pryor.

Avis Cotton and Barbara Pryor both wear mementos near their hearts that remind them of their sons.

For Barbara Pryor, it's a shiny silver antique broach shaped like a donkey that Mark Pryor and his brothers gave her decades ago.

"I've worn it every time we've campaigned since they gave it to me. It's my lucky charm," she said during a campaign stop in Conway for her son, Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, who is engaged in a highly contested re-election bid.

Fifty miles away in Dardanelle, sitting with her hands clasped around a red coffee cup at her kitchen table, Avis Cotton's small, metal, ribbon-shaped American flag pin almost blends into her blue shirt. The pin shows her support for her son and all the others who have fought for their country.

Avis and her husband, Len Cotton, have also been working to help their son Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton with his challenge for the Senate seat -- sometimes in front of the camera for commercials or standing in for him at award ceremonies and dinners -- but the two, who didn't have any events planned this week, spend most of their time helping out in support roles, checking the campaign's Dardanelle post office box, putting up yard signs and delivering brownies to the campaign staff.

David and former Arkansas first lady Barbara Pryor are front-line politicians who have been asking for votes since the Eisenhower administration. David Pryor, who became a state legislator in his 20s and a U.S. representative in his early 30s, served as governor before winning a seat in the U.S. Senate. Barbara sets the pace, moving them easily between conversations about past meetings and future votes.

In what may be the most watched U.S. Senate race in the country, every resource matters, and family is no exception.

"It legitimates younger candidates to older voters to see those parents out on the trail. It's like a Good Housekeeping seal of approval for that reliable block of senior voters," said Hal Bass, a political science professor at Ouachita Baptist University. "Beyond that, it simply enables candidates to extend their campaign more broadly. You can't be everywhere, and it's helpful to have family members out there as surrogates when you need them."

For Pryor, his parents offer name recognition and a unique expertise at retail politics that many political watchers in the state say is unmatched by almost anyone.

"The Pryor brand is very well-established in Arkansas politics," Bass said. "David Pryor is very comfortable campaigning. He can walk into a coffee shop and greet people by their first name in every county in Arkansas."

For Cotton, his parents offer a support system, but also a chance to help define who he is.

Joseph Giammo, a University of Arkansas at Little Rock political science professor, said as the challenger, Cotton's parents could help provide a needed back story.

"I think for any challenger, you're going to need to define yourself more for voters," Giammo said. "Having your parents involved does give you that human element. It makes you more likable in a way. It suggests on both sides that they expect that this is going to be a tough campaign and feel the need for this to be personal."

THE PRYORS

On an unseasonably cool day last week, David Pryor and a campaign driver pulled up to the Faulkner County Courthouse in Conway armed with a stack of fliers and bumper stickers. Campaign staff members said he had set a personal mission to leave no hand unshaken.

He began in the clerk's office, handing each worker in the all-female office a flier and moving adeptly away from those who were less receptive or busy with work. Pryor settled into a short conversation with Margaret Darter, a deputy county clerk running as a Republican for the Democrat-held county clerk's position.

But the party affiliation wasn't a deal breaker for Darter.

"Oh, don't worry. My parents voted for you lots of times," she said, shaking his hand. "I'm not sure you've run for anything since I was old enough to vote, but I would have voted for you."

At the county judge's office across the hall, the judge and most of his staff were in a meeting. Pryor didn't ask to interrupt, just handed a small stack of fliers to the office assistant, saying, "Just tell him Mark's daddy stopped by."

Throughout the courthouse and its adjacent offices, people were excited to snap photos with Pryor, to shake his hand, to tell him stories about past campaigns.

For his part, Pryor is able to find common ground easily, but this is a mission as well.

There's a stop at the Faulkner Museum -- it's locked, so Pryor slips campaign fliers under the door -- and a visit to the senior citizens center, where most folks are eager to chat.

They then met people from all over the county at Bob's Grill, many of whom came to shake hands and eat with the Pryors.

Kenneth Wilcox, 83, was waiting at a table by himself with a bag of fresh-picked peaches when the Pryors arrived.

Wilcox said the Pryors helped his college-age grandson get an internship on Capitol Hill when others had turned him down.

"The Pryors have been so precious to me. If you call them up, they won't ignore your call," he said.

Barbara Pryor had to wave a big plate of tomato slices at David to persuade him to stop campaigning and start eating.

"We've always campaigned for Mark," Barbara Pryor said. "We love to do it. This time we're going on the road earlier than ever before. This campaign is going on and on. It started last year. Television ads were running in October."

"When people ask if we're out campaigning for our son, I say yes, because he's always campaigned for us. In 1984, he dropped out of college for one semester to campaign for us," David Pryor adds.

"Tip O'Neill [the former U.S. House speaker] used to say that all politics is local. We like to think that all politics is personal. And this year, with $11 million that has already been spent by outside groups, mostly from outside of the state, we think that personal, one-on-one politics are going to work this year. Mark is a listener and a hard worker. We feel very comfortable with his positions on issues and we want people to consider him," he said.

THE COTTONS

Avis and Len Cotton say they are more comfortable on their farm than shaking hands with hundreds of strangers. But the two have offered themselves up as needed for campaign commercials, interviews with national media outlets that are following the race and as stand-ins at events their son has to miss because of votes in Washington, D.C.

Tom Cotton, who is 37, is finishing his freshman term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Neither of his parents have run for political office.

Avis Cotton accompanied her son to the Gillett Coon Supper in February, a must-attend event for Arkansas politicians. Candidates were each given a few brief minutes to talk about themselves. While Tom Cotton received loud applause from the packed gymnasium, the roar of the crowd was focused on his mother, who had just appeared in a television commercial that had struck a chord with mothers and other voters.

In the commercial, Avis talks about being a "bride of three weeks" when Len Cotton was sent to Vietnam. She also recounted her son telling her that he felt compelled after graduating from law school to enlist in the Army.

"It was a pretty emotional experience for me at first," she said Wednesday, quickly shifting to a happier subject. "Len was real impressed with me. He thought I was rolling that off the top of my head. He didn't realize I had a teleprompter."

For Len Cotton, talking about military service is his most comfortable assignment. He has filled in several times at county Republican Party dinners, but he enjoys talking at VFW and American Legion gatherings.

"Where I get a real bonus is not just talking about Tom but when I go to these veteran events because I served in Vietnam and I get to represent Tom," he said.

Avis Cotton, a former teacher and middle school principal, said she likes to avoid drama. She gets upset at some of the more personal attacks on social media, claims that her son is cold or wooden, she said. Both said they're happy to serve as character references in a way, talking about their son at events and avoiding discussion of policy.

"Tom really is a really nice person, and sometimes that gets lost. And for mama, that's hard," she said.

The comments criticizing his speeches strike a particular nerve for Avis. They don't realize the challenges he's overcome, she said.

"As a small child we could not understand a word he said. His sister was his translator," she said. "When he started kindergarten, he started speech therapy and was in therapy all the way through third grade. He made miraculous strides. I remember thinking this poor child will never be able to speak in front of anyone."

She said Tom worked hard, even outside of therapy, so that people would understand what he was saying. Avis watches or reads almost all of his speeches, even for local events, amazed that the little boy who needed an interpreter can talk in front of that many people.

"Sometimes I think maybe his speech is ... maybe he's thinking, particularly when he's on the floor of the House, he just speaks very deliberately," she said. "I wish people knew that."

The couple, who are lifelong Democrats, said they don't really have disagreements with their son on his votes.

"He does his research, and he really thinks about everything he does," Len Cotton said. "I'll ask him why he voted or did something that way or this way, and after he's done explaining what he was thinking, I understand."

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