GATHER 'round chillen, and we'll tell you about how things used to be in the South: There was one party (Democrat), one crop (cotton) and one issue (race). It was an unhealthy mix. It took a lot of fertilizer to make cotton grow, and a lot of chemicals to make the plant die in the summer. The race issue was deadly. And the only people who were Republicans around here were those legal eagle types who might want to be appointed U.S. attorney during a Republican administration in Washington.
All that has changed, thank God. Rice and corn and soybeans are planted all over the Delta. The race issue is far from dead, but it isn't the Top Concern it was for your grandparents. And Republicans not only have a fair shot in political matters, but maybe the only shot in some precincts.
But the other day in Bama, of all places, a Democrat won a U.S. Senate seat--for the first time in a quarter-century. It helped that the Republicans nominated the worst possible candidate, which they do on occasion. It seems that while Democrats are trying to win elections, Republican primary voters are trying to prove points. Maybe this will prove a lesson to the Republican primary voter yet, but don't count on it. If Christine O'Donnell and Todd Akin didn't do it, Roy Moore might not, either.
Closer to home, just the other day a young Democrat announced his intentions to run for governor of Arkansas. Even though Arkansas has a sitting governor, a popular one, and he's not term-limited this time around. Nonetheless, a young comer named Jared Henderson of Little Rock has announced for the Democratic nomination.
Our considered editorial opinion: Good for him! What a country, what a state, what a two-party system.
It can prove a bad thing when one party gets complete control of a state. A primary shouldn't be tantamount to election. Our politicians, our "public servants," should have to answer for themselves. And should never take office for granted.
Mr. Henderson is an honorable man, the former boss of Teach for America, and he's seems exactly the type of person Arkansas will need in the future. He appears to be a more moderate voice among Democrats, and in this state, and not just this state, his party needs it.
Will he be able to scrape through the political thicket, really challenge a popular (and effective) incumbent, and overcome the tendency of Arkansans to (gasp!) vote Republican down the ticket?
We shall see.
What a country.
Editorial on 12/15/2017