OFF THE CUFF Some thoughts on the election

There’s been a brief cooling off since the election a couple of weeks ago. I decided to let things calm down a bit before putting my two cents into the hopper.

Of course, there are runoff slots to consider in Gentry, Gravette and Sulphur Springs, and I won’t get into those except to say: Remember to check out all the ins and outs of the candidates, their records and promises, and decide who you believe can best fill the respective slots. Do remember to vote next Tuesday, Nov. 23.

On to other area races. The one that is of most interest is the Rogers Mayoral race which pits Greg Hines against former Gravette City Council member Kurt Maddox.

Kurt served well on the Gravette Council and his loss is felt. He moved lock, stock and family to Rogers, where they formerly lived, and re-established his residency.

At the state level there were surprises. Not only did Republican John Boozman take over the U.S. Senate spot from Blanche Lincoln, but he will be joined in Washington by three of the four U.S. Representatives, all Republicans, Steve Womackof Third District; Rick Crawford, First District; and Tim Griffin, Second District. Democrat Mike Ross, Third District, was re-elected and joins Senator David Pryor to complete the Arkansas delegation.

A big surprise was the election of three Republicans to state offices: Mark Martin, Secretary of State; Mark Darr, Lieutenant Governor; and John Thurston, Land Commissioner.

When all the ballots are certified, and this should have occurred before this is printed, Arkansas Republicans will hold as many as 44 of the 100 state representative slots compared to the present 28, and 15 of the 35 state Senate seats. They currently occupy 8 seats.

Pundits are saying this is an indication that Arkansas has finally turned the corner and is becoming a real two-party state. Maybe so. Maybe not. What occurs during the next two years will either solidify and possibly enlarge the Republican slate. Or there could be a slip back into the usual Democrat line, one that has dominated ever since Reconstruction following the Civil War. That’s a long, long time.

I really have no comment on the national scene. But the next two years will certainly be interesting and will determine, even more so than Tuesday’s election, the shape of the political parties, to say nothing of the direction the country will go. It will be a challenging two years, a time that may not be very pleasant for any of us. That is a pessimistic thing to write. Hopefully, that won’t prove to be true.

I watched President Obama’s news conference after the election. His speech writers did a good job and his delivery almost measured up to his campaigning mode. However, he missed the opportunity there, and in subsequent remarks, when he failed to utter four simple words when asked about his willingness to negotiate andcompromise.

“Everything’s on the table.” If he had said those four words, particularly the first word, and meant it, and followed through, his next two years could have been easier to face. Somehow it hasn’t surprised me he couldn’t say those four words. And further, had he said them, I wonder if he would really have meant them.

Maybe this analysis is wrong or will be proven wrong. Time will tell.

Dodie Evans is editor emeritus of the Westside Eagle Observer. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Opinion, Pages 6 on 11/17/2010