Brushing aside anti-incumbent talk, Lincoln talks up clout as Ark. Senate primary nears

Lincoln talks up clout as Ark. primary approaches

EAST CAMDEN, Ark. — Days before Arkansas voters deliver a verdict on her political career, Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln spent Saturday telling them that she’s built up the clout in Washington to best represent the state’s interests.

Lincoln, who is trying to fend off a primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter and keep her job, traveled through parts of southern Arkansas as she worked to rally support ahead of Tuesday’s primary.

“I’ve worked hard to get into the places where I can help you,” Lincoln told a crowd of supporters at a breakfast meeting at the Honeycomb Restaurant in downtown Arkadelphia.

At stops in Arkadelphia, East Camden and Hope, Lincoln argued that she’s in the best position to create jobs through her two terms in the Senate and her status as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

“The message is jobs and the economy, and we’ve got to stay focused on that and how we deal with it,” Lincoln told The Associated Press as she visited the Aerojet defense plant. “I’ve tried to make the point that part of what I’ve been doing is to create jobs through the economy that we can build.”

Talking up her credentials in Washington flies in the face of the anti-incumbent and anti-Washington sentiment that Lincoln faces. Halter, backed by labor unions that have soured on Lincoln, is portraying himself as an agent of change and Lincoln as the status quo.

Lincoln is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents in Washington this year. She angered conservatives by supporting the Democratic-led health care overhaul, but frustrated liberals by opposing including a government-run insurance option as part of the reform package.

So far, Lincoln is leading Halter in most polls. But those polls also show her falling short of the majority she would need to win the nomination outright on Tuesday. Little Rock businessman D.C. Morrison threatens to take away enough votes to force a runoff between Halter and Lincoln on June 8.

Lincoln has said she’s become the target of groups on both the extreme right and left and has painted Halter as the darling of liberal groups such as MoveOn.org. Halter, for his part, has argued that Lincoln is working more on behalf of big businesses and Wall Street banks.

The race has been an expensive and bitter fight, with outside groups such as the AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce pumping millions into the state on ads, mailers and door-to-door campaigning.

To voters, Lincoln talked up her accomplishments in office and in heading the Agriculture Committee. She mentioned her work on a $4.5 billion bill that aimed to improve school lunches, and her proposal to limit banks’ ability to profit from the financial tools known as derivatives.

Stan Johnson, a barbershop owner in Arkadelphia, said he had voted for Lincoln in 2004 but doesn’t plan on doing so again. He cited her support of the federal health care reform and of the 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program to bail out the nation’s banks.

“You know they wouldn’t have bailed me out,” Johnson said.

Lincoln’s position as head of the Agriculture Committee resonated with some farmers. Charles Rodgers, a rancher from Rison, said he plans to vote for Lincoln primarily because of her knowledge on farm issues and because of her position on that committee.

“I think we’d be foolish if we didn’t maintain that opportunity,” Rodgers said.