Vile Attacks and Lies by Some Arkansas Republicans (UPDATED)

Over the weekend, Arkansas Republicans previewed what type of campaign they plan to run in 2012:  desperate, petty and childish.

On Saturday, the official Twitter feed of the Arkansas College Republicans posted a photo of Governor Beebe with a bottle of wine in his hands and posted the following Tweets:

@ArkCr @GovBeebeMedia thinks Obamacare is best for Arkansas. Is that him or the booze talking?  twitpic.com/7o23s4 #crnc #arleg

@ArkCR @GovBeebeMedia expects Arkansans to follow his lead, yet he is so drunk he cant even stand! #arleg twitpic.com/7o23s4 #crnc

@ArkCR: While thousands of Arkansans can’t find work, @GovBeebeMedia gets hammered drunk. PICTURE:  http://t.co/JnAm58kf #arleg

Viewing the tweeted picture, it appears Beebe was about to pour a glass of wine for someone at the Governor’s Mansion. It’s an innocuous photo of Beebe who probably was trying to help out servers take care of the guests.

Lest you think that the Tweets were just the work of a few overeager young College Republicans, understand the tweets spread like wildfire.  The Arkansas Republican “echo chamber” kicked into high gear and retweeted the slimy attack.

Rank and file Republicans, and even Republican consultants, retweeted the vile attack.  Moreover, not one Republican admonished those tweeting the vile attack, which one could argue in this case acquiescence equals agreement.

I’m sure it would be expecting too much for the Republican Party of Arkansas to admonish the despicable actions of the other night. At the least, it should act like the grown-up in the room and teach its youthful auxiliary the dangers of groupthink.

Based on Saturday’s attacks, it’s clear the Republicans in Arkansas are prepared to run dirty races using lies and disgusting personal attacks.

2012 is going to be a long year.

UPDATE:  After I posted my story yesterday, the College Republicans tweeted the following:

@ArkCR The commentary attached to a pic over the weekend was a distraction from the issues important to AR. We apologize. Time to focus: #jobs

Frankly, it reads like a lame and pitiful apology. They’re not apologizing for lying and claiming the Governor was drunk, only that it was a “distraction from the issues.”

KATV apparently reads my blog and decided to do a brief segment on the tweets, although they gave no credit to who actually broke the story. You can see the segment here.

Finally, to their credit some Arkansas Republican legislators denounced the College Republicans tweets. Rep. Davy Carter, Sen. Jonathan Dismang & Rep. David Meeks all took to Twitter and opposed the slimy tweets.  Although, it must be noted that David Meeks re-tweeted the original attack, so I guess he was for the smear before he was against it.