CQ:
In a move that will certainly give hope to Democrats worried about holding on to the seat of retiring Arkansas Rep. Vic Snyder (D), Lt. Gov. Bill Halter acknowledged Monday that he is now seriously considering running in the Little Rock-based 2nd district this fall.
“I have received many telephone calls from Arkansans offering me encouragement and support since Congressman Vic Snyder announced he would not seek re-election,” Halter said in a statement released through a Virginia-based Democratic consultant who has worked on his previous campaigns. “I am grateful, I am listening and I am now seriously considering all options. These considerations center on where to best fight for better jobs and greater opportunities for Arkansans.”
Halter would be a strong recruit, no doubt, but some Democrats would rather see him commit to a primary challenge against Blanche Lincoln. In any case, there are other Democratic names interested in the primary. State Sen. Joyce Elliott is “98 percent” sure she’ll run for the seat. Other names who have signaled interest in the race include state Sen. Shane Broadway (though he says that he’d probably run for Lt. Governor if Halter decides to run for Congress), term-limited state Sen. Tracy Steele, state House Speaker Robbie Wills. Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Hays, state Senate President Bob Johnson, and state Public Service Commissioner Paul Suskie have also been mentioned as possible candidates. In short, the bench is pretty deep here, and someone of substance is bound to step up (although some choices, like the right-leaning Johnson, would be a little hard to swallow).
Perhaps most interesting is this piece of scuttlebutt:
There is chatter in Democratic circles about possible interest from Wesley Clark as a candidate for retiring Democrat Vic Snyder’s congressional seat. […]
A credible source says that an internal discussion is taking place, and that Clark is giving it serious consideration.
That’d be a pretty remarkable development — there’s no doubt that Clark would have a pretty decent fundraising base in place for a run, and it goes without saying that his bio has some special appeal in a district like this. It’d be a pretty surprising climb-down for a man who ran for President just six years ago, but he hasn’t had any real opportunities to serve in elected or appointed office in the years since, and this is a legitimate opening for him. Clark, for now, can’t be reached for comment.
Update: In the diaries, ARDem runs through a list of potential candidates.
RaceTracker Wiki: AR-02
I wouldn’t mind if Wes Clark decides to run. We’ll need another high ranking military person in Congress since Joe Sestak is leaving. (He might make it to the senate who knows.) Anyway I hope Wes Clark is prepared for the rigors of a congressional campaign. For some reason veterans who are Democrats are somehow unpatriotic in the GOP’s eyes.
Clark running in Snyder’s place would be the best possible replacement. Probably still an uphill battle, but one well worth fighting.
Clark should challenge useless Blanche Lincoln for the Senate seat. he’s probably the only one other than Beebe who can hold that seat, and that seat is more important IMO.
This will be one awesome primary if it’s Halter vs Clark vs a couple other candidates.
Clark would be interesting. Hopefully he’s made all of his newbie candidate mistakes in his earlier runs.
And maybe the AR primary voters can do a better job of picking the right candidate than the MA primary voters did with Coakley.
I think he is too good for Congress, and would much rather see him as a Senator. I think Halter could win this district and honestly I have my doubts about him in the Senate race. If we can’t get Clark to run for Senate then mabey we can get Bebbe to run, and Linclon could run for Governor, I would much rather loose the Governors seat than the Senate, and I think that it could get Blanche out of the way.
Halter for Senate. I doubt Clark would go for Senate, if he had been thinking about it, we wouldve heard about it. But maybe an open seat will pique his interest in getting involved electorally in AR.
But either way, I want them both to run, just not against each other. And I REALLY like the idea of Clark, he seems like a perfect fit for the AR constituency and could probably vote a deal more liberally than others as Id think he could build up incumbency quite likely and be well-liked in the state/district with his strong army background.
Frees up one to take out Plantation Blanche.