Politico: Arkansas Democrats Face Extinction

A brutal headline and article in Politico this morning for Arkansas Democrats as the D.C.-based political news operation interviews a number of Arkansas Democrats on the party’s prospects.

Former Democratic Senator Dale Bumpers offers commentary as does former Democratic First District Congressional candidate Tim Wooldridge:

The dimming Democratic fortunes dovetails with the decline of the Blue Dog coalition of moderate, mostly Southern, Democratic lawmakers. After the 2008 elections, the House counted 54 Blue Dogs. When the dust settled from the midterms, just 25 remained. The tally could twindle further: Ross is one of three surviving Blue Dog members to announce they won’t be seeking reelection in 2012.

Ross’s departure follows the exit of former Democratic Rep. Marion Berry, another Arkansas Blue Dog who retired last year.

“There’s been a remarkable shift in other states in the south,” Bumpers said of the Blue Dog drain. “We’ve experienced the same thing.”

To some, the state’s shift correlates with a disenchantment with the aims of the Democratic Party and the ambitious national agenda President Obama has pursued – a posture that has broken with the moderate to conservative approach that popular figures in the state’s Democratic establishment, like Clinton, had embraced.

“There’s kind of been a pendulum shift out there,” said Tim Wooldridge, a conservative Arkansas Democrat and former state senator who waged an unsuccessful congressional bid last year. “I guess what I’m saying is that the Republican Party holds to the values that the Democratic Party used to hold to.”

There’s more to read at this link.