File this under the much needed good news file. It looks like Arkansas Lt. Gov Bill Halter may be getting serious about a primary challenge.
In a step in that direction, Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter, who’s widely rumored to be mulling a challenge to Lincoln, came to Washington D.C. to huddle with a group of labor officials and liberal bloggers to discuss possibly making the race, two sources who were there tell me.
The gathering was held at the D.C. home of blogger Jane Hamsher, whose group Accountability Now encourages primary challenges. Reached by phone, Hamsher confirmed the gathering, but declined further comment.
It’s unclear how serious Halter is about the challenge, but the fact that he’s meeting with labor officials and bloggers to discuss the possibility is significant. Halter didn’t tell the assembled that he would make the race, but he made it clear he was seriously considering it, the sources said.
"He was discussing it," one of the people present said. "He gave a lot of reasons why he thought Blanche didn’t stand a chance in the general. He sounded like a candidate. He’s definitely exploring it."
"The discussion was about the feasiblity and how much support there would be for him," the second person present said. "He obviously had thought it through seriously. It was a hard core campaign discussion."
Here in Arkansas, there's increasingly a sense that this might happen. The progressive community in the state (and there's a larger one here than you might think) is rippling with energy over this, and Halter's clearly listening. Apparently the talks were all strategic-how much money he could raise, would labor support him, and all that stuff. And he clearly understands he'll be running against the wishes of the state and national party establishment if he does this. Right now, the Halter people are playing coy, saying he's focused on running for reelection, but not ruling out a run.
Remember, Halter's got a lot to consider here. He's up for reelection in '10, so he'd have to give that up to file against Lincoln. And he's wanted to run for governor for awhile now, doing this most likely means giving that up. I can understand him taking his time. Still, he's the most effective and most progressive politician we have statewide and people are begging him to run wherever he goes. What's more, you don't really see any of the "Please don't do this it will destroy the party blah blah blah" comments that primaries usually bring about.
All said, things look promising on this front. Let's hope he takes the plunge!