It just may be. Normally, I'm not a fan-to put it mildly-of Democrats who kick the President in the teeth. However, in the case of Mark Pryor he is in a tough position. He's the only national Democrat in the state.
"As one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents representing a crimson red state, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) isn't exactly sure what to say when asked if he approves or disapproves of President Barack Obama."
“I would say, ‘Is there another option there?’" Pryor told Politico in an interview published Monday.
“I think that President Obama has in some ways what you would think of as a hard-left agenda in various ways, and that agenda is not popular in our state,” Pryor said. “And a lot of that agenda I don’t support."
"Since Pryor skated to reelection to his second term in 2008, he’s watched the political landscape here rapidly slide to the right: His Democratic colleague, Blanche Lincoln, was trounced in the 2010 midterms; Republicans in 2012 took over the state Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction; and he’s now, suddenly, the lone Democrat in Arkansas’ increasingly conservative congressional delegation.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/mark-pryor-lone-arkansas-democrat-hangs-on-95650.html#ixzz2cSKWEBfC
"As one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents representing a crimson red state, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) isn't exactly sure what to say when asked if he approves or disapproves of President Barack Obama."
“I would say, ‘Is there another option there?’" Pryor told Politico in an interview published Monday.
Pryor told Politico that Obama "doesn't connect well" with Arkansas voters.
“I think that President Obama has in some ways what you would think of as a hard-left agenda in various ways, and that agenda is not popular in our state,” Pryor said. “And a lot of that agenda I don’t support."
"With Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR) set to challenge Pryor next year, the two-term Democratic incumbent has made a concerted effort to avoid being branded an Obama loyalist. Pryor was one of four Democratic senators to vote against a measure that would have expanded background checks on gun buyers. He is also one of the few remaining Democratic elected officials to still oppose marriage equality."
Of course, the question may well beg with such a voting record-against gun control, against gay marriage and who razzes the President why do we want him so much anyway? Well, because we don't want Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to become the Senate Majority Leader. And because who ever defeated Pryor will be worse as Cotton certainly would.
It's amazing how quickly things have changed in Arkansas. This is after all, the home of Bill Clinton, and Pryor sailed to victory in 2008.
The Democratic giants who once ruled the state — Bill Clinton, Dale Bumpers and his father, David Pryor — seem like relics."
"And antipathy toward President Barack Obama — and Obamacare — is running extraordinarily high. All the while, Pryor shrugs it off: “The Democratic Party, it’s not dead like some people think it is.”
"Democrats are nervous about his chances as a resurgent Arkansas Republican Party unites behind a conservative upstart, freshman Rep. Tom Cotton, throwing the race into a dead heat. It’s a reality that not only threatens Pryor’s family political dynasty, the fragile Democratic Senate majority, but also shows the larger challenge faced by moderate Democratic candidates in the South."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/mark-pryor-lone-arkansas-democrat-hangs-on-95650.html#ixzz2cSKWEBfC
Who wants to argue that race has nothing to do with the Democratic party's fortunes sinking like a stone in a state they had run since Reconstruction? I know some will say it's not race, they just hate Obamacare-meanwhile, Clinton and his wife tried to do national healthcare too. An ugly reality is that in Arkansas and some of these other Southern states like Kentucky the political landscape has changed overnight since Obama was elected.
Meanwhile, the one thing that helps in Kentucky is that as unpopular as Obama is, McConnell is very unpopular in his own right. Anyway, in context Pryor's Obama bashing may be forgivable-as much as I hate Obama bashing. Things are actually looking better for the Dems chances at this point with Michigan Republican Rep. David Camp choosing not to run for Senate in Michigan, McConnell's surprisingly tough struggle in Kentucky and a more general narrative of the GOP as simply incapable of governing.
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