SPRINGDALE -- Pendulums swing, and Arkansas' political pendulum has swung as far to the right as it can, a congressional hopeful told the Senior Democrats of Northwest Arkansas on Tuesday.
But Democrats will concede more to Republicans than they should if they passively wait for the pendulum to swing back, said Robbie Wilson, 34, of Fort Smith.
"Republicans talk like they have a monopoly on patriotism while they cut health care for veterans," Wilson said.
An opposition party should do what it can to hold the party in power accountable, he told the group. Wilson acknowledged that he is running without much party support. Whether he can muster the $10,000 filing fee to enter the Democratic primary will depend on grassroots groups like Senior Democrats, he said.
Wilson hopes to challenge incumbent Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark. This would be Wilson's first political campaign. He is a tax analyst for Jackson Hewitt, a tax preparation business, in Fort Smith.
Womack would have no comment on Wilson's remarks at this time, said a spokesman for his office.
"This is David versus Goliath," Wilson said of his bid to run against Womack. "But we have a choice. We can build the Democratic Party back, or we can throw our arms in the air. I'm not in that camp, of giving up, and I think that would be political suicide. It lets the Republican Party define us and say what we stand for.
"We cannot maintain a message and a party without candidates," Wilson said.
Republicans are still committed to a policy of supply side economics despite a decades-long lack of results, most recently after former President George W. Bush reduced the capital gains tax to 15 percent.
"I support the same capital gains tax rate as Ronald Reagan did," Wilson said. That would be 28 percent.
He opposes any effort to privatize Social Security, Wilson said.
"Wall Street is the world's largest casino, and they want to gamble with your money," he said. Wilson also supports an increase in the minimum wage, but said it should be gradual to spare small businesses from a sudden shock.
NW News on 09/16/2015