State's U.S. Senate rivals weigh in on parties' lots

U.S. Sen. John Boozman
U.S. Sen. John Boozman

Their respective national conventions now past, Republicans are more united behind their presidential nominee, Donald Trump, and Democrats are "rewriting history" in making a pitch for their candidate, Hillary Clinton, U.S. Sen. John Boozman said Friday.

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The senator's competitors also shared their thoughts about the conventions in separate interviews.

Boozman, a Republican from Rogers, said a decision by unsuccessful presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas not to endorse Trump at last week's Republican National Convention in Cleveland prodded more members of the party to unite behind Trump.

As for Clinton, Boozman said Americans are concerned about the direction of the nation as they've lost jobs, seen their health care costs rise and "fear [for] the security of our nation and our economy, yet Democrats continue to tout the fictional narrative that everything is fine."

Clinton is a former U.S. secretary of state, U.S. senator from New York, and first lady of Arkansas and the United States. Trump is a New York real estate mogul and reality-TV star.

Boozman is seeking re-election to his second six-year term in the U.S. Senate after serving 10 years in the U.S. House.

His Democratic challenger, former U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge of Fayetteville, said the national Democratic and Republican conventions "are just sort of a production and a charade. That is an equal opportunity comment."

He said Cruz's decision not to endorse Trump reflects the deep divisions in the Republican Party.

Eldridge said he's "glad to see that Hillary struck a hopeful tone" in her remarks Thursday night after she became the first woman to head a major party ticket, though there are issues on which he disagrees with Clinton as well as Trump.

He said he liked Clinton's focus on a number of economic issues, including "equal pay" for women.

Libertarian Senate candidate Frank Gilbert of Tull said the Democratic and Republican conventions were "big expensive messes."

He lauded Cruz's decision not to endorse Trump, noting that Trump has said he will probably create a super PAC with the aim of hobbling the political future of Cruz. Cruz, in his first term as a U.S. senator, is up for re-election in 2018.

Gilbert said Clinton's remarks Thursday night at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia were "a good speech. You got to give the devil her due."

Boozman, Eldridge and Gilbert's comments came in separate interviews Friday.

By the end of the Republican National Convention, which he attended, Boozman said, "I think people were much more united than when they came in there, and that's really what that needed to be all about ... getting on the same page and supporting the candidate."

Boozman said he was disappointed that Cruz didn't endorse Trump when speaking at the Republican convention.

"The buildup and the buildup and we thought he was going to do [it] and he didn't. But as a result I think the decision was made that night to say, 'Thanks Ted, but we are moving on,' so that in a way helped us bring together [Republicans behind Trump] even more so," he said.

Eldridge said his focus has been traveling Arkansas and listening to Arkansans' concerns rather than attending a national political convention.

"I have been everywhere the past two weeks. I have made 20 stops in the last two weeks all over the state," he said, noting that he talked with about 50 people in Paris in Logan County on Thursday night.

Regarding Cruz not endorsing Trump, Eldridge noted that neither of the two living former Republican presidents -- George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush -- played a part in the Republican convention.

"After what Trump said about his father and his wife, I don't blame Ted Cruz," he said.

During the primary campaign, Trump dismissed Cruz as "Lyin' Ted," mocked Cruz's wife's looks and linked Cruz's father to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Eldridge said Republicans ranging from House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and unsuccessful presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have taken issue with Trump's comments, but Boozman "has been completely silent on Trump."

In June, Boozman was one of several top Arkansas Republican elected officials to criticize Trump's attacks on a judge with a Mexican heritage who is overseeing a lawsuit pertaining to Trump University. Democratic political candidates also condemned the Republican presidential candidate for making an issue of the Indiana-born judge's ancestral homeland.

In interviews, Trump said the judge, as the son of Mexican immigrants, might have a conflict of interest in the case because of his ethnicity. "He's a Mexican. We're building a wall between here and Mexico," Trump told CNN in one instance. He later said his remarks had been "misconstrued."

In June, Boozman called Trump's statements "inappropriate" and "out of line."

"I certainly disagree with what he said," Boozman said at that time about Trump's comments. "This particular gentleman [the judge] is from Indiana. He's an American, and he's really a great example of the American story. He's somebody whose family came over here, and he's risen to the very top of his profession, so he's somebody that should be applauded in that regard."

At that time, Eldridge called Trump's words "hateful" and "rhetoric that we should not tolerate."

Gilbert said Friday that he would be embarrassed to be a member of either the Democratic or Republican parties because they have nominated the two most unpopular candidates in his lifetime.

He said it's "the strangest thing" for Trump to talk about trying to target the defeat of Cruz in the U.S. Senate.

"He has a habit of making incendiary comments and then walking it back later," Gilbert noted.

Gilbert said he's surprised that "the Bernie [Sanders] camp went along as well as it did" at the Democratic National Convention, after Sanders railed against Clinton in the Democratic primary and then endorsed her for president.

Sanders is a U.S. senator from Vermont and an unsuccessful Democratic presidential candidate. An Arkansas delegate for Sanders was barred from the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, after displaying an unauthorized sign during President Barack Obama's speech on Wednesday. The sign was against a trade agreement favored by the Obama administration.

Boozman said he believes that Trump is going to be elected president to succeed Obama in the Nov. 8 election.

"Right now, he is in a situation where he understands the concerns of the American people. He's personally offering strong leadership. He's not politically correct. I think that's what people are looking for," he said.

"It is something he has tapped into. It is something that Bernie Sanders tapped into. I think [Trump] has an excellent chance to win," Boozman said.

"The last thing we need is a third term of President Obama," he said.

Clinton on Thursday night cast herself as a unifier in divided times, proclaiming her nomination as a milestone on America's "march toward a more perfect union."

Eldridge, who was the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas from 2010-2015 after his appointment by Obama, said he doesn't know who is going to be elected the next president.

"I am not going to wade into predicting that one. I am going to stay focused on my race in Arkansas," he said.

Gilbert said it's embarrassing to see Boozman support Trump.

He said that supporters for Cruz and Sanders should take a long look at supporting Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, a former New Mexico governor.

Gilbert speculated that Clinton is going to be elected.

"The Electoral College seems to favor Democrats these days," he said.

A Section on 07/30/2016

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