Brummett & Nelson: Political Action In GOP Primaries

Political columnist John Brummett and Political Animals Club President Rex Nelson said Democrats will be fighting headwinds of a Republican tide that has been dominating Arkansas for a third consecutive election cycle.

From the marquee U.S. Senate match-up between Democrat Mark Pryor and Republican Tom Cotton to control of the Arkansas House of Representatives, Brummett and Nelson shared their thoughts on this week’s edition of Talk Business & Politics.

“We’ve done a 180 from the Arkansas John Brummett and I grew up in,” said Nelson, former political editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and former communications director for then-Gov. Mike Huckabee. “For decades, all the action was in the Democratic primary, the ole tantamount [to victory].. .we’re seeing a transformation that I think is going to last for decades.”

“The issue is whether we’re having more Republican primaries simply because the Republican nomination is now the big thing to have. The Republican Party is the one that’s in charge, it’s vibrant. Or, is this a proliferation of specific battles over the private option,” said Brummett, a political columnist with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

This week’s political roundtable also included KATV’s lead capitol reporter Janelle Lilley and host Roby Brock.

Lilley highlighted the biggest political exchange of the week when Republicans and Cotton’s campaign took umbrage with Sen. Pryor’s depiction of Cotton’s military service as a qualifier for his Senate bid.

“I think that’s part of the sense of entitlement that he [Cotton] gives off. It’s almost like, ‘I served my country; therefore, let me into the Senate,'” Pryor said in a mid-week MSNBC interview, in which he also complimented Cotton’s service.

“The issue is with the word ‘entitlement,’ which of course is an emotive word,” said Lilley. “As a journalist, I truly try to stay away from assuming I know what other people’s feelings are.”

When asked who is leading in the Senate campaign at this juncture, Brummett and Nelson agreed that Cotton holds the current advantage, but the race is not out of reach for Pryor.

“Advantage Cotton,” said Brummett. “Let’s be serious. The Republican revolution proceeds apace. It’s all about Obama and Obamacare. Pryor’s for it. Even when Pryor says something innocent, he gets beaten up over it.”

“I agree advantage Cotton,” said Nelson. “That’s not to say that it’s not a winnable race for Sen. Pryor. But if he does win, I think it’ll be one of the great political victories in modern Arkansas history because he will have done it swimming against this tremendous red tide that’s been washing over Arkansas since 2010.”

You can watch the full political roundtable discussion below, including comments on the private option debate at the state capitol this week.