FORT SMITH — Republicans should discourage their neighbors who plan to vote on Nov. 4 to re-elect Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, said former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
“Tell them the election has been moved to December,” said Huckabee. “Let the air out of their tires if you have to.”
The joke got a laugh from the crowd of about 300 who gathered Thursday outside the Fort Smith Museum of History to rally for U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, a Republican who’s trying to unseat Pryor.
“Those people are dangerous,” Huckabee continued. “They should not be let out of their house on Election Day. They might hurt somebody. They might hurt you.”
Huckabee told the crowd to make sure to get Cotton voters to the polls.
“Don’t let them say, ‘Well, I think he’s got it. I think it’s safe,’” said Huckabee. “It’s never safe. It is never safe as long as Barack Obama is in the White House and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are running around loose. It is not safe.”
Huckabee was referring to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, both Democrats.
Huckabee said he envisions Cotton escorting Reid to the back of the room after the GOP takes control of the Senate in January, but that depends on how the Nov. 4 election turns out.
Right now, Democrats hold 53 of the U.S. Senate seats. Republicans hold 45 seats, and independents have two seats. Republicans control the U.S. House of Representatives.
Huckabee said Reid has single-handedly prevented 360 bills that passed in the House from making it to the Senate floor. Huckabee referred to it as Reid’s “roach motel” of legislation. Bills go in, but they never come out.
Huckabee said it has become a safety issue in Washington.
“Three hundred and sixty big bills that have set on Harry Reid’s desk have become the biggest fire hazard in all of Washington,” Huckabee told the crowd. “All the more reason Tom Cotton needs to go to the United States Senate and clean it out and get it going again.”
Huckabee said the “eyes of America” are on the Cotton/Pryor race because it’s one of the races that could determine whether the Republicans take control of the Senate
After his speech, Huckabee said if the Senate had actually voted on those 360 bills, it would be different.
“Now, if the Senate wants to vote them down, that’s one thing, but he has no business as a singular person thwarting the will of the entire House of Representatives,” said Huckabee. “And the only way that stops is to get him in the back of the room, and the Republicans have to take the majority. Tom Cotton’s race could very well determine that.”
Huckabee’s assessment of the Senate race was later rebutted by the Pryor campaign.
“The last thing Arkansans need is someone with Congressman Cotton’s record of voting to gut Medicare and Social Security, defund Arkansas Children’s Hospital … and opposing domestic violence protections for women and families,” said Pryor spokesman Erik Dorey. “Mark Pryor has been a fiercely independent voice for Arkansans, and families here are well-served by a senator who works with everyone in the room, who works with Republicans and Democrats to find real solutions for our state.”
U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., introduced Cotton to the crowd as Arkansas’ next junior senator.
“If the election were today, Tom Cotton, if we could get our vote out, would win,” said Boozman. The key is getting our vote out.”
Cotton introduced the crowd to his wife, Anna. Cotton had announced earlier Thursday that Anna is pregnant and that the couple is expecting a boy in mid-April.
“I’ve learned a lot of lessons over the last few months,” Cotton told the crowd. “One lesson that I’ve leaned from a friend of mine who is a relatively new father himself is that ‘we’ are expecting but ‘she’ is pregnant. … My wife tells me that campaigning for the Senate is nothing compared to the first trimester of pregnancy.”
Being an expecting father makes things “a little bit more concrete” about the future of our country and state, said Cotton.
“I have stood up for the last two years for you and for your families to make sure we pass on an America that is just as strong and as prosperous and great as this country has always been for 230 years,” he said. “And now I want to make sure I do that for my own son.
“Right now, we are not going to do that if we continue on the path we are [on]. If we continue to follow Barack Obama’s path of more government, higher taxes, more regulations and more deficit spending. We’ve got to turn that around, and that’s what’s at stake in this election.”
Cotton said Pryor votes with Obama 93 percent of the time, on issues that are bad for Arkansas businesses and communities.
Throughout his speech, Cotton punctuated his remarks with the refrain, “Send Barack Obama a message and retire Pryor.”
Huckabee told the crowd that God comes first with him and America second.
“Far more than I love the Republican Party, I love America,” said Huckabee. “I love this country. My loyalty is to God first, this country second. And the party is down the line.”
On a broadcast Tuesday, Huckabee said he was “utterly exasperated” with the Republican Party for “abdicating” on the issue of same-sex marriage.
The segment aired on American Family Association’s Today’s Issues and can be viewed at vimeo.com/108252960. It took place one day after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand appeals court rulings allowing same-sex marriage in five states. The move increased the number of states allowing same-sex marriage to 24, along with the District of Columbia, up from 19.
“I am utterly exasperated with Republicans and the so-called leadership of the Republicans who have abdicated on this issue when, if they continue this direction, they guarantee they’re gonna lose every election in the future,” Huckabee said. “Guarantee it.”
“If the Republicans want to lose guys like me, and a whole bunch of still God-fearing Bible-believing people, go ahead and just abdicate on this issue. … I’ll become an independent. I’ll start finding people that have guts to stand. I’m tired of this.”
When asked in Fort Smith if the Republicans have acquiesced, Huckabee said, “Yes, they absolutely have.”
“They don’t want to deal with it,” he said. “I think that’s a mistake because sure there are going to be people who disagree with us. I get that. And we may ultimately lose the issue, but if we lose it, it ought not be because some black-robed judge made the decision.”
Huckabee was referring to Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza, who ruled on May 9 that Arkansas’ laws banning same-sex marriage were unconstitutional. More than 400 couples in Arkansas got married the next week before the state Supreme Court issued a stay of Piazza’s order.
Huckabee said marriage transcends being a political issue for him.
“One hundred years from now, my politics won’t mean much,” said Huckabee. “But I want to go to the Lord saying, ‘Best I knew how, I was faithful to the Book.”
Huckabee said he was frustrated with Republican leaders who are not standing firm on the issue of traditional marriage.
“This will ensure we lose elections in the future,” he said. “If the party doesn’t stand and fight issues like gay marriage and abortion, God-fearing people, like me, will only become more discouraged.”