Former President Bill Clinton will return to Arkansas on Sunday to make a last-minute pitch for Democratic candidates in a four-stop whirlwind trip across the state, the Democratic Party of Arkansas announced Thursday.
Clinton will make stops in Texarkana, West Memphis, Blytheville and Fort Smith on Sunday to outline "what's at stake for Arkansas" in Tuesday's election, according to a news release from the state party.
"President Clinton understands what it takes to fight for everyday Arkansans because he's done it his whole life," party Chairman Vince Insalaco said in the statement. "There isn't a better person out there who can more ably make the case for voting for [U.S. Sen] Mark Pryor, [gubernatorial nominee] Mike Ross and our other candidates than Bill Clinton."
The trip is one of several Clinton has made across the country for Democrats, including stops in Florida, North Carolina, California, Kentucky, Nevada and Colorado this month. Clinton had campaigned for Democrats in Arkansas at college campuses and elsewhere earlier this month.
Political science professors said Thursday that this weekend's trip is designed to increase voter turnout.
"With those stops, it might be that he feels there's a greater need to mobilize the faithful on the edges of the state," said Hal Bass, a political science professor at Ouachita Baptist University. "I think it's clearly designed to mobilize the electorate. I don't think he's likely to change the minds of any undecided voters at this late date. ... The real decision is not who you're going to vote for, but whether you're going to vote."
Joe Giammo, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, agreed that Clinton will preach a message of getting people to the polls, but he said the audiences he's targeting are just as important.
"My expectation would be he would be targeting groups that are likely to favor Democratic candidates, to mobilize them on Tuesday. Your real goal at this point is to make sure that people who really favor your party get out and vote," he said.
The four appearances are free and open to the public but require tickets for admission.
Clinton will appear at the:
• State Line Post Office and Federal Building at 500 State Line Ave., Texarkana. Doors will open at noon and tickets are available at the Arkansas Victory 2014 campaign office at 300 N. State Line Ave.
• Mid-South Community College, Donald W. Reynolds Center at 2000 W. Broadway Ave., West Memphis. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m. and tickets are available at the West Memphis Chamber of Commerce at 108 W. Broadway.
• In front of That Bookstore in Blytheville at 316 W. Main St., Blytheville. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. and tickets are available at the bookstore as well as at Joe Harris Trucking Office at 214 E. Hale St. in Osceola.
• Northside High School, 2301 N. B St., Fort Smith. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are available at the Arkansas Victory 2014 campaign office, 2700 Zero St., Suite 6.
Arkansas' Republicans are also bringing in surrogates. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and other Republican governors are scheduled to appear at an event promoting Asa Hutchinson in Jonesboro today.
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, has agreed to appear Saturday with Pryor's opponent, U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton.
Although Clinton is campaigning for several Democrats, Fred Brown, Republican National Committee spokesman in Arkansas, said the latest Clinton visit shows that the Pryor campaign is foundering.
"Despite his best efforts, Arkansans know it's President Obama who Sen. Pryor votes with 97 percent of the time. It's also clear from the polls and early vote returns that Sen. Pryor is nowhere close to where he needs to be heading into Election Day and another visit from President Clinton proves that," Brown said.
Metro on 10/31/2014