Tolbert: Which Mike Ross Will Show Up At The Debate?

Much has been written over the debate over the debates for U.S. Senate, which has finally resulted in one debate with limited topics.  Perhaps public television will squeeze out one more.

Meanwhile, quietly the governor’s candidates have managed to work out a series of four debates starting this Friday night on KARK.  Five if you count the APA debate this summer and they have appeared together for Q&As in other forums. Good for them!

The question I wonder before the battles begin is which Mike Ross will show up?

Will we see Pro-life Mike Ross or Pro-choice Mike Ross?

The pro-life Mike Ross showed up in 2012 – his last year in Congress when he voted for the D.C. Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act – a bill that would ban most abortions after 20-weeks.  That year, pro-life Ross earned a 100% voting record from the National Right to Life on all the bills they rated.

Of course, pro-choice Mike Ross showed up as well with a mixed lifetime pro-life record of 63% over his 12 years in Congress.  Pro-choice Ross also showed up on the day he announced for governor, when he criticized the Arkansas version of the 20-week abortion ban as being an “attack on women.” That day he told me his position “has never changed…it should be safe, legal, and rare.”

Will we see Pro-Obamacare or Anti-Obamacare Mike Ross?

Early in the 2009 debate of federal health care, Mike Ross voted in committee to advance a version of Obamacare leading a group of Blue Dog Democrats to hold out for some key concessions including delaying passage of the bill until after the August recess.  Politico at the time called this vote a “much needed win” for President Obama in the health care reform debate.

But then Ross went home to his district where the town halls made it clear that his district opposed Obamacare.

“I led the effort at the time to put the brakes on – to say every member of Congress needs to go home, they need to listen to their constituents and face their constituents before casting a vote this important. And that’s what I did. I came home. I did 80 something town hall meetings. And I learned that basically everybody, their brother, and their momma was against Obamacare. And I went back and in September of 2009 I announced that I would be voting ‘No’ on Obamacare,” explained Ross last year on Capitol View.

Will we see Pro-Second Amendment Mike Ross or Pro-Gun Control Mike Ross?

The Pro-Second Amendment Mike Ross will point out on the campaign trail his A+ voting record from the NRA.  This record even won him an endorsement from the gun rights group when he ran for Congress in 2010.

But the Pro-Gun Control Mike Ross made an appearance shortly before he left office in December 2012 when he threw his support behind a ban on high capacity guns. “This is not the same America that I grew up in, and I think it is time to address whether there really is a legitimate need for high-capacity weapons that can shoot you know a lot of rounds of ammunition,” said Ross at the time.  Of course, Ross was on his way out the door so no votes on this actually messed up his NRA voting record.

Will we see Mike Ross supporting income tax cuts or Mike Ross opposing income tax cuts?

The Tax Cutting Mike Ross that has showed up during the 2014 campaign is promising a $574.5 million state income tax cut.  When pressed, Ross has declined to say when he will implement this cut saying instead it will be “as the state can afford to do so.”  He has also said he wants to cut taxes for manufacturers and possibly cut the state corporate income tax.

But Ross called his opponent’s $100 million income tax cut “fiscally irresponsible” saying through his spokesman that Asa’s cut threatens “essential state services like education, public safety and Medicaid for working families and seniors.”

I could go on, but you get the idea. We are just not sure which Mike Ross will show up.

Ross offered an explanation for some of these inconsistencies at an appearance at the Harold Flowers Law Society this past June.  The GOP obtained the audio and released it earlier this month. Ross explained that when he was in Congress his district was very conservative comparing it to Rep. Michelle Bachmann’s district.

“I had to have a balance while I was there to represent the interests of my district on some of the things so I could do what I thought was right on some of the bigger things,” said Ross.

Maybe he should clarify exactly what are “the bigger things.”