Republicans, Democrats take early shots at Boozman

Republican John Boozman has been an official candidate for U.S. Senate less than 12 hours and he’s already catching heat from his GOP primary opponents and the Democratic Party.

The fifth-term Congressman from Rogers announced Saturday morning in Little Rock that he would indeed enter the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate.

Boozman’s chief rivals in the GOP primary are expected to be State Sen. Gilbert Baker, R-Conway, central Arkansas businessman Curtis Coleman and former State Senate Jim Holt from Northwest Arkansas. The winner of the GOP primary will face incumbent U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark. Holt was Lincoln’s Republican challenger in the 2004 election, garnering 44% of the vote.

Public Policy Polling recently released survey results which show Boozman holding a 56-33 margin over Lincoln. Possibly more depressing for Lincoln supporters is that the PPP survey shows State Sen. Gilbert Baker, R-Conway, defeating Lincoln by a 50-35 margin.

Baker issued a statement and video after Boozman’s formal announcement that suggested Baker will try to make a point of Boozman’s 10 years as a Washington politician, according to this report from Roby Brock at TalkBusiness.net.

“Washington isn’t listening to the people, but I hear you loud and clear,” Baker said.  “Arkansans are looking for leaders who will be part of the solution, not those who have been part of the problem. I am firmly committed to running for U.S. Senate to put an end to the status quo in our nation’s capitol.”

Coleman also piled on in the effort to paint Boozman as a Washington insider.

“Arkansans are looking for fresh new ideas and bold new leadership and they don’t see it coming from Washington,” Coleman said.

Gabe Holmstrom, senior advisor the Arkansas Democratic Party, sent the following statement to The City Wire:

“The national Republicans have now decided that Congressman John Boozman is who they want to be their nominee, so today he is simply doing their bidding.

“Boozman says he is concerned about the spending in Washington, but he never met a spending bill he didn’t like before 2009. And just this week, he voted against PAYGO
(Pay-As-You-Go), a commonsense fiscal restraint measure, which simply states that the federal government — just like Arkansas families — can spend only as much money as it has.

“And if John Boozman had his way, he would have privatized Social Security, and Arkansas’s 576,000 Social Security beneficiaries would have seen their livelihoods endangered following the collapse on Wall Street.

“John Boozman may be a nice guy, but his policies are bad for Arkansas.”

Ironically, the statement from Lincoln’s campaign office was the kindest of them all.

The statement, from Lincoln campaign spokeswoman Katie Laning Niebaum, noted: “Senator Lincoln continues her work as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and as an independent voice in Washington standing up for the people of Arkansas.  She looks forward to the fall campaign when Arkansas voters will have the opportunity to compare her strong record of accomplishment for the state against the future prospects of the Republican nominee.”