Tolbert: Darr vs. Westerman More About Personalities, Less About Policies

It is now official. We will see a Republican primary in the Fourth Congressional District to replace incumbent Congressman Tom Cotton who is running for the Senate.

The primary will involve somewhat well-known candidates, at least in Republican circles – Lt. Governor Mark Darr and Arkansas House Majority Leader Bruce Westerman.

I will begin with two disclosures. One, I like both of these guys and believe one of the two will be the next Congressman for the Fourth District.  Two, I went to Ouachita Baptist University with Mark Darr in the 1990’s.  We are friends, although I consider Bruce a friend as well.

Here is the warning: the primary is going to be brutal.

Why?  There is not much difference policy-wise between the two.  If elected, both will go to Washington as a freshman Congressman where they will be 1 of 435 votes and likely part of a narrow Republican majority in a dysfunctional town.  If you think Little Rock is bad, you should check out D.C.

Both men will be solid conservative votes.  Both are pro-life, defenders of the Second Amendment, opponents of Obamacare, and all around against growth in government and raising your taxes.  I am sure we will hear more on all these issues and more, but I doubt you will find much difference.

Personality-wise is where there is distinction.  Darr is an outgoing businessman who rarely meets a stranger.  You want to know what he is thinking – ask him.  Never mind, he probably already told you.

Westerman is a quiet engineer.  If you ask him what time it is – he can not only tell you but also explain how the watch was built.  He probably won’t volunteer that information but he could tell you if you want to know.

Such a campaign is a powder keg for a heated primary election.  In fact, shots have already been fired on the much debated private option passed by the state legislature last session.  I think no other issue is currently more polarizing in Republican circles.

Westerman initially helped craft the legislation that created the private option in Arkansas.  As debate on the bill began, he removed his name as a sponsor during a House committee hearing.  If you don’t follow the Arkansas legislature, this was a rare move as a member can easily get his name quietly removed by asking the lead sponsor.  To do so with a motion in committee is done to make it clear to everyone you have completely reversed course on the bill.  And just to double-emphasize his point, Westerman delivered an infamous speech on the House floor where he accused Republicans who had reluctantly signed on to support the bill as being “Judas” by taking “30 pieces of silver.”

“I just think that once he did the research for it, he helped write the bill and at the last hour he pulled out and said I’ve got something else,” Darr told the AP. “To me, that’s a CYA bill. It just covers your own rear and says this is my own.”

The bill Darr was referring to was apparently HB1965 which died in committee when the state legislative session ended.

“I knew that when I went to the floor to speak against the Private Option, I was painting a target on myself. I couldn’t wait around to be asked my opinion—this was too big of a deal,” said Westerman in his announcement today. “I needed to honor the covenant that I have with the people of my district. I needed to be the voice of my constituents that day—without the luxury of 20/20 vision that comes with hindsight and with the courage to do the right thing when the pressure is high.”

Westerman also fired back at Darr saying, “From the lieutenant governor’s office, you can have ideas but you don’t actually write legislation or put your name on it or vote on it.”

My point: This primary just started and it already has candidates who basically agree with each other taking some shots.  This one will have a lot of back-and-forth.  Let’s hope it does not descend into a more personal level of attack.