Bill Halter had a campaign rally in Fayetteville on Tuesday eventing. My attendance was not simply as a blogger, but as a supporter of his candidacy for U.S. Senate. National news media was there including CNN, MSNBC, and the NYTimes.
Local news station KNWA was there as well and has an interesting report on the event. ARDem highlighted this report Wednesday on Blue Arkansas and pointed out that Lincoln's Northwest Arkansas (NWA) event had a few people and a lot of empty folding chairs while Halter's was standing room only with tons of energy.
Lincoln's Event:
Halter's Event:
As someone who was there, I can say we had about 200 people at the event. From the looks of Lincoln's event, it seems she had under 10 people there, including the media. Now, Bill Halter's event was expressly a campaign rally while I do not know what kind of event Blanche Lincoln's was. However, the fact that Halter is able to fill an event hall may be why he is able to have such events in the first place. The last thing Blanche Lincoln's campaign wants is to throw a rally and have 10 people show up. Besides, Bill Halter is obviously the more grassroots oriented campaign with the average donation being around $30 and having over 40,000 donors. Blanche Lincoln's average donation is well above $1,000, so it makes sense she would concentrate on smaller events for those she thinks are the most important (special interests?).
Now, onto the event. I showed up a little early to help get things set up for the event. Volunteers were abundant. We got things all ready by 5:00 pm when the event was supposed to start.
Big Banks for Blanche were there for a counter-rally.
More and more people came between 5:00 and 5:30 until there were a good 200 people there. The crowd was a good cross section of NWA demographics with young college students, seniors, and all ages in between well represented. Bill Halter showed up at about 5:40 to the sound of "The Rising" by Bruce Springsteen. As he came in, the crowd chanted "Hello Bill, Goodbye Blanche." He took a few minutes to shake hands with people as he came through the crowd to the front of the room. He was then introduced by a couple of supporters where he then received a good round of applause.
People seemed pretty happy with Halter's speech. He talked about the scholarship lottery, which received load applause, partially due to the many college students in the room. He criticized the negative campaigning that the Blanche Lincoln campaign has been doing. He criticized her votes for Wall Street, such as the 2008 TARP package. He proposed making college tuition free to all Arkansas students, but it sounded like he was talking about a national idea. The part I liked the best was when he talked about the importance of helping your neighbors out and how important communities are. I think this is the kind of idea that resonates in Arkansas and is a good progressive ideal that conservatives, moderates, and liberals agree on.
After he concluded his speech, "The Rising" played again and he began shaking hands and talking with the crowd for a good half hour.
He then got whisked away by the media, but not before I got a picture with him.
The grassroots group of Northwest Arkansas (NWA) supporters, Hogs for Halter, also got a picture with Bill:
On Wednesday, Hogs for Halter officially announced:
Hogs for Halter facebook page.
Main group contact email: hogs4halter@gmail.com
HOGS FOR HALTER – NORTHWEST ARKANSAS SUPPORTERS OF BILL HALTER FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Supporters of Bill Halter for the United States Senate Announce the Formation of "Hogs for Halter," a Local Grassroots Network of Supporters in Northwest Arkansas
FAYETTEVILLE (April 7, 2010) – Today, supporters of Bill Halter for the U.S. Senate announced the formation of the Steering Committee for "Hogs for Halter," a grassroots network of Students, Alumni, and Arkansans in Northwest Arkansas. Over 200 Northwest Arkansans attended the Halter for Senate Campaign rally in Fayetteville yesterday evening, an event that showcased Halter’s momentum going into the last six weeks of the campaign. "Hogs for Halter" has seized on this momentum, and is dedicated to increasing support for Halter for the U.S. Senate in Northwest Arkansas.
"Arkansans want a Senator who will stand up for us, rather than representing the special interests and corporations who run the show in Washington. Middle class families in Arkansas are struggling with the costs of health insurance, higher education and just paying the bills. Bill Halter led the fight to help middle class families in Arkansas by ensuring over $100 million in new scholarships for Arkansas students each year through the Scholarship Lottery. The Lieutenant Governor fought to bring a free health care clinic to Little Rock, and supported the Democratic administration’s package for health care reform, which passed despite Senator Lincoln’s efforts against it," Hogs for Halter issued in a prepared statement.
"Hogs for Halter" is dedicated to increasing support for Halter in Northwest Arkansas by conducting voter registration drives, speaking to voters at community events, conducting house parties and informational meetings, and getting out the vote on Election day, May 18, 2010.
In addition to traditional grassroots campaigning, "Hogs for Halter" is committed to maintaining a significant online presence through a Facebook page, website, and local and nationally-recognized blog.
Founding members of the "Hogs for Halter" Steering Committee are listed as follows:
Max Deitchler, Chair
John Samuelsen, Online Outreach Coordinator
Jody Bland, University of Arkansas Campus Coordinator
John Davis, Graduate School Coordinator
Zane Placke, University of Arkansas RSO Chair
Tori Adams, Law School Coordinator
Jeremiah Wax, Washington County Coordinator
Ty Hicks, University of Arkansas GOTV Planning
Mervin Jebaraj, Media Relations
"Hogs for Halter" will conduct their next voter registration drive on Monday, April 12, from 11:30am – 1:30pm on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, in front of the Arkansas Union. The organization will also maintain a table at the Fayetteville Farmer’s Market on Saturday, April 10.
This message was created independently from the official Halter for Senate Campaign.
For transparency, I am John Samuelsen (jsamuel), noted as the Online Outreach Coordinator for the grassroots Hogs for Halter group. My efforts, while they may be updated on Blue Arkansas, are independent from the blog as a whole.
Contribute to Bill Halter
Bill Halter for Senate
Volunteer