Campaigns Prompt ?Best and Worst? (Jeff Hankins Publisher’s Note)

You know it’s been an extraordinarily long election season when I’ve got enough material to compile an “Election Best & Worst” list more than a week before the Nov. 5 Election Day.

While reserving the right to update a couple of categories in a few weeks, here goes:

Worst Vote That Only an Unopposed Incumbent Could Cast: U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder’s vote against giving President Bush authority to wage war against Iraq. I generally respect the 2nd District Democrat’s independence, but this country needs bipartisan solidarity against Saddam Hussein. An opponent would have battered him on this issue, and I’ll always wonder whether he would have cast the same vote during a heated race.

Worst Comeback Effort: Former U.S. Rep. Tommy Robinson in his challenge to U.S. Rep. Marion Berry, D-Gillette. The colorful Robinson hasn’t been able to generate any interest or support whatsoever and faces a landslide loss.

Best Effort to Lure Independent Voters: Democratic Attorney General Mark Pryor in his bid to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson. Pryor assumes Democrats are firmly behind him and proceeds to talk up conservative-rich issues like religion and gun rights.

Hutchinson reaches out to independents with talk of Social Security protection and support for Medicare coverage of prescription drugs, but those stances don’t constitute going out on a limb.

Worst Decision to Seek Office: First Lady Janet Huckabee wins this in a landslide. Not only will she lose big-time in the secretary of state race to Land Commissioner Charlie Daniels, but her candidacy made the governor’s race between husband Mike and Democratic challenger Jimmie Lou Fisher closer than it should have been.

Worst Place to Vote: Pulaski County. How pitiful is it that I could bestow this honor before Election Day? Despite well-documented problems in the last umpteen elections, County Clerk Carolyn Staley and the Pulaski County Election Commission already were acknowledging we can expect problems.

Maybe I’ll have to eat crow on this. Nah.

Best Television Campaign Ads: Gov. Huckabee. Surprised, huh? I have found it refreshing to see a candidate talk about accomplishments in a positive manner. That said, I fully expect his campaign to go negative if Fisher continues to gain ground.

Worst Business Bashing: Mark Pryor. I suppose that after the election, especially if he wins, he’ll say: “Aw, shucks. You know I like business. I just had to capitalize on everyone’s fear of the stock market and outrage over the Enron scandal to pick up a few votes.” Sadly, he’s scoring with the strategy.

Worst Options in a Political Race: 4th Congressional District. The options are Democratic incumbent Mike Ross of Prescott or his Republican predecessor, Jay Dickey. It’s still hard to believe we’re having to endure this match-up for two consecutive elections. The upside is this loss will finally end Dickey’s political career and rid the district of one of the options.

Best Effort to Scare Voters: Opponents of the initiated act that would make animal cruelty a felony.

Worst Decision to Comment Amid a Political Skirmish: That Burger King restaurant manager who said he was offended by the Huckabee campaign’s use of Whopper sandwiches as a prop to blast the Fisher campaign. The Burger King franchise is losing market share left and right, so why in the world would you irritate would-be Republican customers?

Perhaps he had seen some kind of research showing Burger King to be such a blue-collar restaurant that it didn’t matter.

Best Effort to Make a Race Closer Than It Ever Should Have Been: Jimmie Lou Fisher. Most of us pundits and political junkies never gave her a chance against Huckabee. She will ultimately lose the race, but it will be close. And in the end she will have accomplished the Democratic Party’s primary goal: to weaken and scare Huckabee to the point that he won’t risk losing to U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln in two years.