EDITORIALS : The missing party
Posted on Wednesday, March 12, 2008
AMERICAN political parties aren’t all about platforms any more—if they ever were. But some of us still cling to the idea that this state’s Republicans differ from its Democrats. How ? Uh... we used to know. Not too long ago, the GOP’s platform, or at least its attitude, could be neatly summed up: small government, fiscal responsibility, and so conservatively on. What ever happened to all that, anyway ? And the Democrats—what do they stand for ? We’re not sure. We’re not sure they’re sure. The Dems are no longer liberals, not in name, but rather progressives, an equally ambiguous but not yet wholly tarnished label. For who could be against Progress ? The great attraction of the change from suspect liberal to bright, shiny progressive is its positive sound. But what does it mean ? Is this Henry Wallace’s Progressive Party ? Or Teddy Roosevelt’s ? Robert LaFollette’s ? Or maybe the new name doesn’t mean anything new. Maybe that’s the whole idea of political shibboleths—to be vague enough to appeal to the vast majority. Or at least give it hope.
Look at the bright side of the GOP’s eclipse in Arkansas: At least the state doesn’t have to worry about partisan bickering if there’s no other party for the Democrats to bicker with. Washingtonstyle deadlock is certainly no danger in Little Rock. Count it as one of the advantages of Arkansas’ return to the one-party system and, with it, government of, by and for the Good Ol’ Boys—who these days are joined by the Good Ol’ Girls. (Like everything else, mediocrity seems to have gone co-ed. )
Some of us were already moping about the sad state of the Republican Party in Arkansas. Just to take inventory: A small and dwindling share of the state legislature; leaders like Denny Altes and Jim Holt; no candidate—not even a sacrificial lamb—to throw at Mark Pryor.... And then we read that a former Republican state senator, Bill Walters, has switched parties. He’s back running for a seat in the Arkansas House, but as a Democrat. Here was another blow to that hallowed, twoparty system we’re so fond of. But then we re-read the Walters story over a cup of coffee, let our favorite recreational drug—caffeine—do its thing, and mellowed. Bill Walters joining the Democrats ? Can’t say as we blame him. As he noted, the Republican Party’s leadership has been “unfocused.” Unfocused ? That’s putting it kindly. It’s been visionless. Or, in the case of Mike Huckabee, in absentia. The Huck has been off having a wonderful time not becoming the next president of the United States.
BILL WALTERS’ beef goes back to 2005, when the Arkansas Senate was all set to follow tradition and elect Dave Bisbee president pro tempore. After all, Senator Bisbee had the most seniority. He’d paid his dues—and then some. He’s a heckuva plain-spoken leader, and would have been the first GOP lawmaker to run the Senate since Reconstruction, a fitting honor. But there was a problem, or at least one was fabricated. The Democrats couldn’t abide having a Republican elected president pro tem. Not when they had everything else.
Never mind that Dave Bisbee had seniority. Never mind his obvious qualifications. The guy works hard, has a great head for numbers, and could tell John McCain a thing or two about straight talk. None of that mattered to Jason Willett, who was then the state chairman of the Democratic Party, and, boy, was he ever. He could exploit a partisan divide at a Girl Scouts’ convention. True to form, Mr. Willett lobbied for a break with tradition and the election of a Democrat as president pro tem.
In the close vote that followed, Dave Bisbee had the support of veteran senators like Jim Argue and Percy Malone, both loyal Democrats but also pervious to reason. Naturally, this being the Arkansas Legislature, they lost. Instead, the Senate elected the candidate backed by the likes of Bob Johnson and the rest of The Brotherhood. Which is a nickname for the collection of willful servants of the special interests (see the state’s woefully inadequate severance tax ) who remain a clear and present danger to simple fairness in this state. These pols weren’t about to be fair to Dave Bisbee, or any other Republican, especially a public-spirited one.
Who should have been fighting the good fight for Dave Bisbee ? Gilbert Baker, who is technically an R from Conway. At the time, he happened to be chairman of the state’s Republican Party. But while Jason Willett did his job as party chairman, Gilbert Baker declined to do his.
Here the chairman of the Republican Party had a chance to make history, boost his party, and see that one of the GOP’s own got the promotion he deserved. So what’d he do ? Instead of campaigning for Dave Bisbee and tradition, experience and competence, Mr. Baker rolled over and played mum. He refused to say which way he’d vote. He still won’t say how he voted. How’s that for accountability to his constituents, let alone his party ?
Not so coincidentally, Gilbert Baker held a fundraiser for his re-election a couple of years later, and guess who showed up ? Why, his good ol’ buddies from the Senate, Bob Johnson and Jack Critcher. To quote Senator Critcher: “I believe that loyalty is important and I am loyal to all my friends.” Translation: The Club sticks together. Which explains a lot about what’s wrong with the Arkansas Senate.
Senator Baker says this is all old news. We understand why he’d like the rest of us to forget his cave-in and general disservice to his party, but it’s still highly relevant to the collapse of Republican morale and therefore to the future of the Republican Party in this state.
Dave Bisbee says Gilbert Baker cast the deciding ballot against him in an 18-17 vote. Mr. Baker doesn’t deny it. Talk about a tacit confession. And now Bill Walters is no longer a Republican. “That just sort of turned me off” was how he put it. Mr. Walters has a gift for understatement.
IF THE Republican Party has an Arkansas strategy, it isn’t working. Come to think, if Arkansas has a Republican Party, it isn’t working. At least not for the party’s shining lights—like Dave Bisbee. Or as Mr. Bisbee says: “When you get thrown under the bus so many times, it’s hard to be gung-ho.” Arkansas already has one mushy, aimless, consensus-above-all, largely meaningless political party. It doesn’t need another. Here’s for the Republicans getting back to acting like Republicans. Or at least like a party. Call it a return to the values and ideals that got the Republican Party a foothold in Arkansas in the first place. Remember the Rockefellers ? Remember Mike Huckabee when he was still in state politics and not a national character ? Remember when he sounded both practical and compassionate instead of trying to sound like the party’s last alternative to John McCain ?
There’s still plenty of room for a political party that would advocate—no, demand—an end to unfair taxes like the sales tax on groceries. Instead of getting just halfway towards that millennial goal. This state needs a party that will speak out—strongly—against types like Gene Jeffress, D-Grabby (“ Do you think I would have sent $ 100, 000 this way if I didn’t expect to get it back ? ” ). Senator Jeffress is emblematic of the pork-barrel Democrats at the state Capitol. And the opposition party is in disarray.
Until Republicans start acting like oldtime Republicans, they can expect more of the same: A slow dissolve. That won’t be good for what’s left of the two-party system in Arkansas. Or for the Democrats, for that matter, who need some competition to stay, yes, progressive. At the very least, it won’t be good for Arkansas.
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