Bill Clinton calls Blanche Lincoln ‘Comeback Kid’
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2010/06/bill-clinton-calls-blanche-lincoln-%E2%80%98comeback-kid/1
Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln, whose victory in Arkansas today bucks the nation's recent anti-incumbent leanings, thanked supporters in an e-mail for standing with her "when the going got tough."
Lincoln also said she got a call from a prominent former Arkansan: "President Clinton called me tonight when it was clear we were going to win and said, 'Blanche, you're the new Comeback Kid,' she said in the e-mail.
Lincoln, long considered one of the nation's most vulnerable incumbents, beat Lt. Gov. Bill Halter for the nomination. She faces Republican Rep. John Boozman this fall in a race the non-partisan Cook Political Report calls a toss-up.
She took a dig at the multi-million effort – driven largely by labor unions – to paint her as too far to the right. Lincoln supported President Obama's health care law this year but voted against a controversial provision that would have created a government-run health plan, a vote that angered many on the left.
"Tomorrow, when all those outsiders who flooded the state get back on their airplanes and buses to go back where they came from, our campaign will stay rooted right here in Arkansas," Lincoln wrote.
For many voters, the race was far from clear cut.
"Washington needs to take big business and politics out of the equation," 37-year-old Arkansas voter Cindy Casper told The Baxter Bulletin, adding that she voted for Halter. "Our government should work for the people who elected them, not big business."
David Keppen, 76, said he had a tough time deciding which candidate to support. Figuring she had a better shot to win the general election in November, Keppen ultimately backed Lincoln. "I've been fed up with Washington for 50 years. That's nothing new," he said. "We have to put a stop to all this lobbying."
(Posted by John Fritze)
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2010/06/bill-clinton-calls-blanche-lincoln-%E2%80%98comeback-kid/1
Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln, whose victory in Arkansas today bucks the nation's recent anti-incumbent leanings, thanked supporters in an e-mail for standing with her "when the going got tough."
Lincoln also said she got a call from a prominent former Arkansan: "President Clinton called me tonight when it was clear we were going to win and said, 'Blanche, you're the new Comeback Kid,' she said in the e-mail.
Lincoln, long considered one of the nation's most vulnerable incumbents, beat Lt. Gov. Bill Halter for the nomination. She faces Republican Rep. John Boozman this fall in a race the non-partisan Cook Political Report calls a toss-up.
She took a dig at the multi-million effort – driven largely by labor unions – to paint her as too far to the right. Lincoln supported President Obama's health care law this year but voted against a controversial provision that would have created a government-run health plan, a vote that angered many on the left.
"Tomorrow, when all those outsiders who flooded the state get back on their airplanes and buses to go back where they came from, our campaign will stay rooted right here in Arkansas," Lincoln wrote.
For many voters, the race was far from clear cut.
"Washington needs to take big business and politics out of the equation," 37-year-old Arkansas voter Cindy Casper told The Baxter Bulletin, adding that she voted for Halter. "Our government should work for the people who elected them, not big business."
David Keppen, 76, said he had a tough time deciding which candidate to support. Figuring she had a better shot to win the general election in November, Keppen ultimately backed Lincoln. "I've been fed up with Washington for 50 years. That's nothing new," he said. "We have to put a stop to all this lobbying."
(Posted by John Fritze)
