Ryan Mallett for Governor

AP photo Beth Hall

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Readers of this site have surely noted a quantitative drop in political coverage from me, especially considering the season. I find Arkansas politics this year to be dreadful, and boring. There are plenty of people to vote against, but few on the horizon that a limited-government conservative can vote FOR with a clean conscience.

Certainly Blanche Lincoln is a loathesome sore on the hindquarters of our body politic. She is re-affirming that even now with her support of the so-called DREAM act. At a time when the nation is bankrupt, this bill would make illegal aliens eligible for taxpayer scholarships and in-state tuition subsidies. This is about like giving Arkansas voters the finger on camera. I can only conclude that she knows she is going to lose, and wants to please the big corporations who support illegal immigration one last time before she moves on to a highly-paid position as a lobbyist. Pryor may want another term enough so that he does not join her in her DREAM/madness act. We will see.

As wretched as she is, I simply cannot work up the needed energy to delude myself into thinking that John Boozman is anything but an insider who is of the crowd that got us into this mess. He voted for whatever massive spending bill Karl Rove told him to, including the bailouts which we were screaming at him not to vote for. A fax from a hack like Rove seems to carry more weight with him than the views of 99% of his constituents. Not somebody one can get enthusiastic about. I am also curious as to how the subdivision he is a partner in out on Beaver Lake got to do so much developing so close to the water. It's my understanding that the Corp of Engineers is very fussy about what they let developers do there. At least those developers who don't have a Congressman as their partner.

Blanche Lincoln must be stopped, but there is no need to indulge in any fantastical delusions about what we are getting in her place.

For Congress, I intend to vote for Steve Womack with no need to get fired up about it, because he is going to cruise to a win. It will be interesting to see how he responds to the job. Our best chance is that he takes a dis-liking to the town and reads them the riot act. He is one of the few that I am able to be at least mildly hopeful about. We don't need to send back-slapping go-along grinners to DC. We are not happy with them and we need to send guys who will communicate that displeasure. I guess I am saying that its nice that he isn't too nice.

In the First District, I hear they may have something to be fired up about. I am glad for it, but writing about that one is probably best left to our east-Arkansas correspondent Debbie Pelley.

In the 2nd District, the GOP voters nominated another Rovian. For some reason, they seem to think if they have heard the name before, then they must be the right person, even if they have "heard the name" because of scandal. In this case, Rove wanted Griffin in because of a belief that Bud Cummings, who he replaced, might not politicize the office enough for Rove's liking. Establishment guy all the way. Why the GOP primary voters choose people who will represent DC rather than them is beyond me. At any rate, he is running against a far-left crazy who will not represent either the voters, or DC, but rather the ghosts of Mao and Che. So it probably is a smaller version of the Lincoln-Boozman race in the sense that Elliot is too far left (of reality) to risk in the seat. When your choices are insanity or corruption, vote corruption.

Down in the 4th, Ross may not deserve to win, but he's gonna, just like Womack will win up here. Hopefully, God loves Beth Ann Rankin too much to send her to DC just before the whole phony thing implodes.

That would bring us to state offices, but I don't have the stomach to go on. There is no contest for Governor, hence the title of this article, and really no contest for Attorney General. On the state level, only Mark Martin is enough of an original thinker to give me even a glimmer of hope that somebody might get up there who has some kind of clue how to get us out of the mess both D's and R's have given us. Of course, even if he does, he can't do much about it from the Sec. of State's office. I may be voting "Green" some more, not because their candidates are right on policy, far from it, but rather to send a message to the big two to that I am not going to keep eating whatever $*!+ they serve up.

Some would claim I am unduly pessimistic in my opins. If so, it's the only area of life I am pessimistic in. I'm an optimist when the facts permit it, but lack the gift of selective delusion so prevalent in political people these days. We will never get a better set of facts until we are willing to face the ones we've got.