Clinton: Mike Ross has ‘better record’ for governor

Former President Bill Clinton said Saturday night that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross, who worked on Clinton’s 1982 gubernatorial campaign, will work better with both parties than the Republican gubernatorial nominee.

“You got two choices and, down deep inside, I think by Election Day every Arkansan will know who has got the better economic plan, who has got the better education plan and who has got the better record in governing in a way that brings us together instead of driving us apart,” Clinton told more than 500 people at a fundraiser for Ross at the Marriott Hotel in Little Rock.

Clinton said Ross, a former 4th District congressman from Little Rock, not only has the best plans, but he has proved how he would govern.

“He did the same thing [Democratic U.S. Sen.] Mark Pryor did. Even in Washington, D.C., they always got caught trying to work with Republicans and sometimes they did and sometimes they didn’t [work with each other],” Clinton said.

The former president didn’t mention Ross’ opponents by name, but he suggested Ross would do better than former 3rd District Rep. Asa Hutchinson, a candidate in the Republican primary.

“More than any other issue, you don’t have to take the candidates’ words for it. You actually have a long record for both of them, and only one has consistently, even in the heated partisanship of Washington, D.C., proved that he would get up every single day and try to find a way to get the show on the road by getting people together across party lines, and that’s Mike Ross,” Clinton said.

Ross said the governor’s race will be very close.

“With your help, I am absolutely convinced that we can win this election because I know we are on the right side on the issues that matter to people,” he said.

But before the ballots are cast, “There is going to be a lot of clutter over the airwaves,” Ross said.

Republicans have spent $1.2 million “misrepresenting the facts, distorting the truth and lying about me already in this race,” Ross said, referring to Republican Governors Association ads linking him to Democratic President Barack Obama and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

Ross noted Hutchinson is also airing a television ad in which he promises to help fight Obama and Pelosi.

“What do they have to do with state government in Arkansas?” Ross asked. “I think Asa has spent too much time living and lobbying and even being a registered voter in Washington, D.C. This is not about Washington. This is about us. It is about Arkansas. It is about our values.”

Late Saturday, Hutchinson said it’s fair to discuss Ross’ ties to prominent Democratic leaders.

“If longtime Democratic Congressman Mike Ross thinks President Obama and Nancy Pelosi are not a threat to Arkansas when they force Obamacare on us then he has lost touch with Arkansas,” Hutchinson said in a written statement. “Ross helped put Nancy Pelosi in power and he continues to be her defender.”

Earlier, Ross recalled he had the privilege, at age 20, to drive Clinton across the state in a Chevy Citation during the 1982 campaign. In those days, Ross had to remember to carry plenty of change in his pocket. The coins fed the pay phones, he said, enabling them to touch base with campaign headquarters as they zig-zagged across Arkansas.

“I learned that politics and public service can still be good,” during that year and a half of working for Clinton, Ross said. “It can be noble. If you get involved, you can run for the right reasons, and you can really make a difference in people’s lives.”

Afterward, Ross spokesman Brad Howard said Ross raised more than expected at the fundraiser, but he didn’t say how much was raised. Clinton also was scheduled to appear at a state Democratic Party fundraising dinner Saturday night.

Saturday’s fundraiser for Ross came less than three weeks before Ross faces substitute teacher Lynette Bryant of Little Rock in the May 20 primary. Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe is barred by term limits from seeking re-election.

In the Republican primary, Hutchinson of Rogers faces businessman Curtis Coleman of Little Rock.

Hutchinson voted to impeach Clinton in 1998 and served as an impeachment manager, or prosecutor, in the Senate. Senators acquitted Clinton.

Clinton made no mention of Hutchinson’s role as an impeachment manager during his remarks Saturday night, and the Republican didn’t rehash the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Hutchinson said Saturday in a written statement that “President Clinton contributes so much to our state through his presidential library.

“It is good to see him still engaged in the political arena, and I extend him best wishes as he campaigns for the Democratic ticket,” he said.

In the Nov. 4 general election, the Democratic and Republican gubernatorial nominees will vie with Green Party candidate Josh Drake of Hot Springs, an attorney, and Libertarian candidate Frank Gilbert, constable of DeKalb Township in Grant County.