Election Central: Walmart Moms Offer Opinions

KATV’s Scott Inman delivers Tuesday’s Election Central Daily Brief, a round-up of the top political stories of the last 24 hours.

WALMART MOMS
A research team based in Washington D.C. is conducting a focus group today in two locations and one is Little Rock. The group says it’s been studying the voting habits of so-called ‘Walmart moms’ since 2009.

The research team of Neil Newhouse and Margie Omero, part of Public Opinion Strategies, says a “Walmart mom” is a woman with children 18 and under living at home and who shop at Walmart at least once a month.

The researchers believe this is a proven swing voting bloc and are asking qualified participants today their view of the upcoming elections, how they feel about the challenges they face in their everyday lives, and what they think about the direction of the country and current events. You can read about more of Newhouse’s and Omero’s research here.

NEWS FROM THE FOURTH
News from the Fourth Congressional District as Republican Bruce Westerman released his agricultural policy positions today. Among the highlights: promoting agricultural research and innovation; expanding foreign markets for Arkansas farmers; and cutting regulation and environmental policies that are burdensome on farmers. Westerman also calls for “rigorous scrutiny” of the food stamp program to reduce waste, fraud and abuse.

Meantime, Westerman’s opponent, Democrat James Lee Witt announcing he’s being endorsed by the National Committee To Protect Social Security And Medicare. Witt’s campaign says the Fourth District has more than 100,000 residents 65 and older who receive Social Security benefits, and Witt opposes raising the retirement age to 67, and does not support means testing.

HEALTH CARE COALITION
A coalition of health care groups in Arkansas is launching a program to promote the federal health care law and assist people in gaining coverage after the legislature blocked public money from being used for such efforts.

Arkansans For Coverage announced Tuesday that it planned to educate people about coverage options and was hiring four outreach workers to help with sign-ups. The coalition is made up of several groups, including Arkansas Advocates For Children And Families and the Arkansas Hospital Association.