As an Arkansan, I could have a real problem with next year’s election. What will I do about Blanche?
I’ve got to say straight up that I despise this woman. She is a corporate shill and would do anything that Wal-Mart (and others) tell her to do. She was a major player in stalling health care reform. On the day that Obama released his budget, I got an email from her expressing her opposition to it. At the recent Q&A Obama did with Democrats, she basically him asked why we can’t be more like Republicans (and he smacked her down for it). She is truly the worst kind of slug.
Needless to say, Blanche is in serious trouble here. Now, if you ask the villagers why she is in trouble, they will happily tell you that the reason is because Arkansas has moved to the right. I say that is pure BS. She is in trouble because she has no principles. She stands only for getting re-elected and she even does a very poor job of promoting that cause.
I have to wonder, who is advising this woman and why are these people so dense? Let me spell it out here in case any of them happen to be reading KOS. First of all, Republicans don’t’ like "Republican Lite." They don’t even like it within their own party. So, no matter how far a Democrat moves to the right, Republicans will NEVER vote for a Democrat. Second, if you vote against your base on a regular basis your base will stop supporting you (and Blanche is the poster child for voting against her base). So, by trying to be center right on all of the major legislation, Blanche has successfully staked out a tiny sliver of the electorate found squarely in the middle. Both the left and the right have abandoned her.
I am praying that Blanche will be primaried, but that needs to happen soon or it will be too late. So, I have to ask myself, what will I do if it is Blanche vs. a generic Republican in the general election?
To me, Blanche IS a Republican. I mean, if you pretty much always vote with the Republicans on anything that matters, I don’t really care if there is a "D" by your name. You are the enemy too. But it hurts me to even consider the alternative. Republicans are truly a sorry bunch. The very idea of actually voting for a Republican invokes the gag reflex in me.
So, this is the conundrum. If I vote for Blanche, I vote for more of her "Republican Lite" politics which I truly hate with a passion. If I vote for a Republican <gag>, I help to further shrink the (pseudo) majority the Democrats have in Congress and send the wrong message to the villagers who will tout the newfound redness of Arkansas as the reason that we cut Blanche loose. Either way, it sucks.
I am also considering not voting in that race at all (if Blanche is in it) so as not to stain myself by knowingly voting for any unprincipled, unethical person.
Blanche is currently trailing in the polls by over 20 points, but she has vowed to fight for her seat. That is the only thing that she is willing to stand up for it seems. I really hope that someone--anyone--will primary her, but if they don’t I must ask again... What do we do about Blanche?