Blake's Think Tank

Over at The Arkansas Project, Cory Allen Cox has a thoughtful entry about why the Republican Party has struggled in the Natural State. He surmises that Republicans are terrible at cultivating the grassroots and building local support at the county level. That’s probably true, and I’m willing to take Mr. Cox’s word for it.

But in fairness to voters and to history doesn’t the Arkansas Republican face a crisis of candidate? Put another way, who in the world, honestly, wants to vote for any of the guys that have announced for major office? I know that sounds harsh, and it is. But it doesn’t mean that it’s inaccurate. Mike Huckabee, for all his flaws, was a likable fellow, and he trashed two Democratic Party opponents en route to victory. Win Rockefeller was, too; he also had the good fortune to run against Charlie Cole Chaffin.

While Mr. Huckabee’s proclamation that he was a man ne’er in need of a political party may have been politically appropriate, he was a man in desperate need of local support. He had it in the same way Bill Clinton and David Pryor and Dale Bumpers all had it. But he also had charisma and oratorical skills that out-shined his opponents.

Upon reading Mr. Cox’s piece, my first thought was that the Republican Party of 2009 is experiencing what the Democratic Party experienced in 1998, at least in part. In that year the Democrats fielded Bill Bristow for governor (he received 38% of the vote), Kurt Dilday for lieutenant governor (33% of the vote) and Judy Smith for U.S. Congress (42% of the vote). Granted, there are a few obvious distinctions: Blanche Lincoln easily won the race for U.S. Senate over Faye Boozman; Vic Snyder cruised to re-election over Phil Wyrick; and Mark Pryor beat Betty Dickey in the race for attorney general.

This year, the Arkansas Republican Party has offered up three phenomenally weak candidates for U.S. Senate (and in a year where Sen. Lincoln’s numbers appear to be the softest of her tenure): Blogger Curtis Coleman, hate-monger Kim Hendren and Conrad E. Reynolds (emphasis added). For Mr. Snyder’s seat the Republican’s have presented David Meeks whose notable attribute appears to his neck ties. And pizza man, ice cream-buyer and Glamour Shots beneficiary Mark Darr has announced that he’s running for Lt. governor against Bill Halter.

Furthermore, there has been no mention of any serious Republican interest in the races for governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor or land commissioner. Democrats have announced candidates for each race. And Congressman John Boozman, a Republican, appears ripe to draw a primary challenger. Sure, Bernard Skotch more unlikeable than the PC Guy from the Apple commercials, but so what? Since his initial election Mr. Boozman has yet to face a primary opponent.

Like it or not, Mr. Cox, this is a clear sign of trouble in the Arkansas GOP.

Republicans can lament the current state of things, and they can even point to a failure to build life at the local level (to continue Mr. Cox’s flower metaphor) as the cause. Traditionally, that’s been the primary function of the state party – to party build. But has every political candidate and operative knows, the party can often do more harm than good.

County committees become dominated by “party people” who have been there for decades and who offer very little in terms of infrastructure, fundraising or organization. This has, on occassion, made it difficult to cultivate local talent and encourage people to engage in the process.

Please don’t misunderstand me: state political parties have value. But in order for them to be effective, even at the local level, they must have both vision and leadership.

Honestly, I couldn’t articulate the state GOP’s vision if you stuck a gun to my head (although I’ve argued that they should take a long look at some of the political rhetoric Rep. Dan Greenberg has been using at these TEA party rallies), but I’m fully comfortable stating that the leadership of the state GOP is terrible. All anyone knows of the current state GOP is that chairman Doyle Webb doesn’t believe Rep. Kathy Webb, a Democrat and of no relation, is competent to manage budget issues because of her sexual orientation. (This is why I have argued not only for Mr. Webb’s resignation, but for the GOP to hire the best state operative they have, David Kinkade of The Arkansas Project.) The broad ramifications of this suggest that the state party is so polarizing and out of touch that candidates and potential candidates would do well to avoid it. So much for party building.

What’s interesting is that a blueprint to solve the state GOP’s woes exists. Newt Gingrich’s Republican Revolution was prefaced by years of working to get good candidates to run for local offices. This, Mr. Gingrich argued, would provide them the necessary resume to springboard to higher office. Thus, he strategically recruited, funded and ran candidates for an array of offices – from county judge to alderman. And his plan worked. One need only look to the 1994 elections to see the fruits of this effort.

In short, this can and has been done.

But in order for that to happen, Republicans must cure a bigger problem: the lack of quality candidates. Mr. Cox worries that too many candidates are running for the same office. That’s not a problem. The problem exists when too few quality candidates find their name onto the ballot. Looking to 2010 that remains the most visible challenge facing Republicans.

Granted, it’s not entirely fair to suggest that Blogger Coleman or Mr. E. Reynolds are wholly illustrative of the GOP’s problems. After all, the Republican bench is fairly warm. State Reps. Jonathan Dismang and Allen Kerr, for example, have made positive news lately. Rep. Ann Clemmer, Rep. Davy Carter, Mr. Greenberg and Rep. Jon Woods, all Republicans, have all show moments of promise – at least to their constituent base.  They also tweet, blog, and engage in meaningful dialogue with the press.

Maybe they’ll answer the call, and Mr. Cox can rest easy. In the meantime, state Republicans should read up on their political history. And while you’re at it, take a few moments to double check the next time a local school board seat opens up.