Brawner: State Politics Reaches Tipping Point

Arkansas News Bureau columnist Steve Brawner opines in his latest column on the big political battles brewing in state this year.

Congressional seats are being challenged and there will be major competition for majority control in the statehouse, as we recently noted.

Brawner writes:

About a decade ago, Malcolm Gladwell wrote a bestseller, “The Tipping Point,” in which he demonstrated how a catalyst can cause change to occur suddenly rather than incrementally. At 33 degrees, it rains. At 32 degrees, it snows.

That’s what’s happening in Arkansas politics.

He lays out his case for what he sees happening at the Congressional level and in the House and Senate — all of which he sees advantages for Republicans thanks to an unpopular Democratic President.

Democrats hope to maintain control of the state Legislature. But after Arkansas voters select not-Obama in the presidential race and then vote for Republicans for Congress, they could get in the habit of looking for candidates with “R’s” beside their names. And this year, Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat who is popular with Republicans and independents, isn’t on the ballot.

After 2012, the Republicans very well may be the state’s majority party. If Obama is still in office through the next two elections, they could be the majority for a while.

They’ll finally have power in Little Rock. So then the question becomes, what will they do with it?

You can read his full column at this link.