Pryor, Ross bring their election pitch to Fort Smith barbecue dinner

More than 300 people came to a Sebastian County Democratic Party-sponsored barbecue dinner Saturday night (Sept. 13) for a chance to hear from the party's top of the ticket candidates, U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor and gubernatorial hopeful Mike Ross.

Ross brought a well-practiced message of jobs, education, workforce training and tax cuts to the event, held at Economy Trailer on U.S. Highway 71 South in Fort Smith, and took an opportunity to defend against attacks from Republican opponent Asa Hutchinson, who has recently said Ross was misleading the state's voters on his tax cut plan.

"Going around the state promising millions in new or expanded programs and vowing to cut taxes for every group one comes across for political gain is, quite frankly, misleading," Hutchinson said Sept. 8 in a press release, adding that he was committed to "keeping our state financially sound.”

In response, Ross said his plan is not only fiscally conservative, but likened it to Gov. Mike Beebe's tax cuts during his two terms in office on most groceries. He also took a shot at Hutchinson's tax plan, which reduces tax rates from 7% to 6% for those earning between $34,000 to $75,000 a year, and from 6% to 5% for those earning between $20,400 to $33,999 annually. Hutchinson has said the reduction would result in approximately $300 a year savings for up to a half-million taxpayers and would cost about $100 million.

"The difference between Congressman Hutchinson's plan and mine is he's promising to cut $100 million in year one when DF&A (Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration) is estimating that net revenue growth for that year will be $40 million. So that'll leaves us with a $60 million deficit," he said.

"I'm the real fiscal conservative in this race. My plan calls to cut taxes exactly like Gov. Beebe did when he took the sales tax off groceries. We're going to balance the budget first. This is not Washington, money doesn't grow on trees. We don't print money here. We don't deficit spend. We're going to balance the budget first, we're going to fund education, Medicaid and public safety and then as we have revenue growth, and we always do, we are going to begin to implement my plan.”

Ross also discussed recent poll numbers released by NBC News/Marist College and CBS News/The New York Times, which shows Hutchinson up by 9% and 7% respectively, pointing to a poll taken just four days prior to the NBC News/Marist College poll which shows Ross with a lead.

"Well, Rasmussen – which is much more reputable than any of those other polls – was done 10 days ago and said I was leading by two (percentage points). Four days later, there was a poll that said I was down nine. I mean, 11 point swing in four days? Come on. Ask Eric Cantor about polls. His pollster was one of the best in America, said he was going to win by 25 points. He lost by 10," he said, adding that he believes the race for governor is still a toss up between himself and Hutchinson.

"And I think you may see some other polling information in the next day or two that will really reflect where this race really is. We believe it's tied up, we think it's a statistical dead head and I think it stays there all the way to November 4 and it's going to come down to turn out," Ross explained.

Pryor also took a swipe at some of the polling that has taken place in his race for a third term in the Senate, appearing almost dismissive of the data coming out about his race against U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle. The NBC News/Marist poll, with a margin of error of +/- 3.9%, showed Cotton up 5% while a Rasmussen poll showed Pryor up 1% with a margin of error of +/- 4%.

"I really don't put a whole lot of stock in the polls, I mean we've seen the polls be very wrong in a series of races. I mean look, I'm up in some of the polls, too, so I'm not even putting stock in those polls. I'm just saying that this race is about Arkansas and it's about people getting out and voting. This is your chance to allow your voice to be heard."

In a race will end in less than two months, much attention has been paid to advertising done by outside groups and the campaigns themselves. One of Pryor's recent ads, which criticizes Cotton for a vote against a pandemic prevention bill, has brought a national spotlight back to the campaign that has been a focus of the beltway media on and off for much of the last year.

Asked about criticism of the ad, Pryor said the substance of the commercial was accurate.

"Let me say this – the substance of the ad is true and that is he voted against the disaster preparedness when it comes to infectious disease, a pandemic like that. And I chaired two different hearings while I was in the Senate on pandemics. You know, ebola was one of those things," he said, noting that anthrax and sarin gas were also a focus of the hearings.

The two-term senator and former Arkansas attorney general also addressed the situation in Iraq and President Barack Obama's announcement this week of a bombing campaign on ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria, along with training and arming moderate Syrian rebels in the country wracked by a years-long civil war.

"I thought (the President's Sept. 10 speech) brought some clarity. I think people had been waiting on (Obama) to show a little leadership and give us some direction here and I think it's done that and I know that the United States is actively working with a lot of different countries to try to build a true coalition. You know, I'm hopeful that there will be a broad-based coalition and there will be a lot of nearby countries involved and they won't just be supportive, but also putting airplanes and boots on the ground. Whatever needs to happen, they'll be out there on the front lines, so to speak."