Mike Ross’s Long-Term Strategy

Today, I listened in on a conference call for the press hosted by Congressman Mike Ross where he announced the Blue Dog’s Caucus endorsement of 1st District Congressional candidate Clark Hall.  The Blue Dogs are a group of moderate-to-conservative Democratic Congressional members.

“The Blue Dogs are fierce advocates of fiscal responsibility, government accountability and a strong national defense, which is why we are endorsing my good friend, Clark Hall, for Arkansas’s First Congressional District. As a farmer and former mayor, Clark knows how to work hard and get the job done,” said Mike Ross.

The conference call itself was fairly uneventful and Talk Business’ Roby Brock has more info on it.  It was Mike Ross’s involvement that prompted a blog post.

Mike Ross was one of the first major elected officials to publicly endorse Clark Hall, was a special guest of honor at a Hall fundraiser and contributed to Hall’s campaign.  Ross is going all out to help Clark Hall.

Why is Mike Ross working so hard for Clark Hall?

I believe Ross is doing this for two reasons:
1)  Ross fully supports Clark Hall and believes he’ll make a good Congressman.
2)  Ross needs to make inroads into the 1st Congressional District for his 2014 run for Governor and campaigning for Hall helps do that.

Ross apparently has a long-term strategy for his 2014 race for Governor.  Mike Ross’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, happens to be from the 1st Congressional District and since Ross is unknown in East Arkansas he needs a way to break into this primary vote-rich district.  Campaigning heavily for Clark Hall let’s Ross meet the movers-and-shakers in the district and also allows him to become more familiar to voters in the 1st District.

Will Ross’s strategy work, or does Dustin McDaniel already have the 1st District locked down?   Only time will tell.