No Fort Smith visit for U.S. Sen. Lincoln during August recess (Updated)

The office of U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., said she was unable to visit Fort Smith during the almost four-week recess of the U.S. Senate because of “scheduling difficulties.”

According to the U.S. Senate Web site, the Senate’s four-week August recess began at 1 p.m. on Aug. 10, with the 100-member elected body expected to reconvene the morning of Sept. 8. The lengthy recess provides time for members of Congress to visit home districts prior to the busy fall legislative agenda. U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, did make trips to Fort Smith during the recess.

This particular fall agenda includes several contentious legislative proposals, including health care reform and cap and trade legislation.

Updated info: Sen. Lincoln called The City Wire to explain that Fort Smith was on her Thursday (Sept. 3) schedule, but a last-minute change of plans canceled the trip. Lincoln said an announcement by the Federal Aviation Administration and the 188th Fighter Wing was postponed, as was a meeting with a local media outlet.

Lincoln said she has family in Fort Smith and is always eager to visit the city she said is “incredibly important to me.”

She said she frequently meets with business leaders from the area, and in the early summer toured a Baldor Electric plant in Fort Smith. Also, she mentioned attending a recent meeting with Gov. Mike Beebe about a potential new industry locating in the Fort Smith area.

Lincoln stressed that she considers the Fort Smith area a “very special spot” and works hard to ensure she remains in touch with area business and civic leaders.

Lincoln attended public meetings in several Arkansas cities during the recess, including Benton, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Malvern, North Little Rock, Pine Bluff, Rogers, Russellville and Springdale. Fort Smith, the state’s second-largest city was not part of her recess travel.

“Due to scheduling difficulties, Senator Lincoln’s visit to Fort Smith over the recess had to be postponed,” Lincoln staffer Ben Portis told The City Wire. No elaboration of the difficulties was provided.

Lee Webb, chairman of the Sebastian County Democratic Party, was not concerned with the lack of a Fort Smith visit, noting that he is confident she will attend the Party’s Oct. 17 fall festival event in Fort Smith. Webb said Sen. Lincoln will probably have several Fort Smith area appointments lined up if she is able to make the Oct. 17 event.

“I don’t see it as a problem,” Webb said of Lincoln not coming to Fort Smith. “It really boils down to who grabs her first, as far as scheduling.”

Webb also said the political realities are that recess periods are often used to visit places of strong political support, with Webb reminding that 52% of Sebastian County voters punched the Republican ticket in the last election.

“With politics in general, anyone running for political office is going to go where their strengths are,” Webb explained.

Lincoln does face a tough election cycle in 2010. Several Republicans have stepped up to the challenge. Also, Arkansas Sen. Bob Johnson, a Democrat and the most recent president of the Arkansas Senate, has said he is considering challenging Lincoln in the Democrat primary. The move by Johnson gives credence to recent polling numbers that suggest Lincoln is vulnerable for an upset in 2010.

Art English, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, doubts that Lincoln didn’t go to Fort Smith for any political reasons. However, he was surprised to learn that she did not come to Fort Smith.

“My view is that it’s in her interest to go there (Fort Smith area). I think she should show up in the next few months, if not sooner,” English advised. “That part of the state is an important part of the state. She serves the entire state, whether they vote for you or not.”

Rex Terry, chairman of the Sebastian County, said despite the voting pattern of Sebastian County he is puzzled why Lincoln did not come to Fort Smith during the August Senate recess.

“This is the second largest city in the state. It’s unusual to me that the Senator would not want to come to one of the obvious population centers of the state,” he said.