Sen. Boozman: Eldridge’s Obama Ties ‘Fair Game’

Sen. John Boozman said that the affiliation between President Obama and his newly announced Democratic challenger, Conner Eldridge, is political “fair game.”

In an interview to discuss his re-election campaign, several Senate agenda items, and the national attention created in Kentucky over same-sex marriage licenses, Boozman appeared on KATV Ch. 7’s “Connect with Congress” segment on Thursday. TB&P host Roby Brock conducted the interview, which also aired on Sunday’s Talk Business & Politics program at 9 a.m. on Ch. 7.

Boozman, who defeated incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln in 2010, is likely to face former U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge in 2016. Eldridge is the only other announced candidate for the U.S. Senate next year.

When asked if it was fair to link Eldridge to Obama by nature of his federal prosecutor appointment, Boozman said it was.

“It is what it is. I think if you work for the President, if you work for Eric Holder, people like that, if you supported them in the last two elections and felt strongly with their policies – I think it is what it is,” he said.

“We talk about Washington being broken. It is broken. But it’s broken because of the President, because of his policies and because of Sen. Harry Reid leading the Senate… I think if you have somebody that’s voted for the President the last couple of times, been very supportive of his candidacy, again, I think that’s fair game,” said Boozman, who added that he intended to focus on his job and not the early election cycle.

Boozman said under the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, there have been many more votes allowing amendments to bills than under his predecessor, Reid. Boozman also pointed to fixes to the Affordable Care Act and No Child Left Behind as current year accomplishments as well as improvements for veterans regarding suicide prevention programs.

Boozman also discussed Planned Parenthood and a potential plan by Sen. Ted Cruz to tie defunding of the organization to a federal government shutdown; Gov. Mike Huckabee and his defense of Kim Davis, the clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses; and an upcoming vote on a child nutrition program that he introduced.

Watch his full interview in the video below.