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Make Little Rock Great Again —
…Those trade agreements that Trump hates. The economic policies that Trump thinks do America in. Blame French Hill. The incumbent Republican in AR 02.
……Hill has made a pivot — from a Bushite to Trumpster. Hill was elected in 2014 in a Republican wave and had no serious opposition in 2016. Hillary Clinton carried AR 02 56-38. Can Hill win in 2018 when Democrats are stronger and Clarke Tucker provides more than credible opposition?
……French is from the GHW Bush administration. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Corporate Finance. It is a long title, but it is the stuff he loves — or used to love.
- Hill negotiated a treaty for President GHW Bush with Japan intended to reduce the US trade imbalance between with Japan. Trump would call it a giveaway.
- Hill led the US assistance to central and eastern Europe’s financial situation after the fall of Berlin Wall. Trump would call that a giveaway.
- Still not thirty-five, Hill led GHW Bush’s economic policy as Executive Secretary to the President’s Economic Policy Council. Trump does not care for anything to do with Bush’s economic policy.
After the 1992 election, Hill worked for Senator Tower and the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs. He had no important roles in the GW Bush administration. ……After years in the wilderness (if civic affairs in Little Rock and a stint as Chair of the Regional Chamber of Commerce could be considered wilderness), he ran for Congress in 2014. He was elected in that Republican year and was reelected against minimal opposition in 2016.
……Hill may have begun as a Bushite, but no more. As a Congressman, he has been a Trumpster. He has voted with Trump 97% of the time. In the early part of the Trump administration, he voted with the President 100% of the time. Hill has attacked Clarke Tucker http://www.clarketucker.com/for opposing the Republican tax bill and for opposing the Republican version of a health care plan that they intended to replace and destroy the Affordable Care Act with.
……Clarke Tucker returns the favor. He has a particular focus on health care. Clarke Tucker is a cancer survivor. He says universally available health care “is the right of every child, woman, and man…. [It] offers them dignity and a full life. Arkansas families should never have to choose between their health, their food, or providing for their family’s future.“
……Tucker keeps his focus on health care plus a few other issues:
- Economic opportunity through infrastructure investment, expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, lower taxes for working families, and expanded access to the internet.
- Improved education through support for teachers, funding for early and K-12 education, and ending funding for for-profit charter schools.
- Better government through an end to gerrymandering, an end to Citizens United, an end to foreign interference, and an end to voter ID requirements
- Preservation of social security and Medicare
- Equal treatment, including equal pay for equal work — for women, for members of the LGBTQ community
Clarke Tucker stresses that he’s local — a seventh generation Arkansan who graduated from the famous LIttle Rock Central High School and has his law degree for the University of Arkansas where he was editor of the law review. He’s not only local. His BA is from Harvard where he also got a Master’s Degree from the Kennedy School of Public Policy.
……Clarke Tucker has a legislative record based on two terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives. Because Democrats are such a minority there, the record might be better described as advocacy. In the legislature, he has supported making the sources of campaign contributions matters of public record, making state employees eligible for paid maternity leave, reducing taxes for veterans and the middle class, and providing public support for pre-kindergarten programs.
……Clarke Tucker‘s advocacy distinguishes him from the Republicans. It also distinguishes him from the Democratic Party’s left. The New York Times describes Clarke Tucker‘s preference for the ACA to Medicare for All, his opposition to Nancy Pelosi as Speaker, and his other policy views as putting him in a class with insurgent moderates. These include Pennsylvania special election winner Conor Lamb, Indiana businessman Mel Hall, and West Virginia Democratic populist Richard Ojeda. The Times’ fourth comparison is New Jersey incumbent moderate Josh Gottheimer whose campaign is so dominant that some who began the campaign thinking he was a toss-up now see him as having made that seat solidly Democratic.
……Clarke Tucker http://www.clarketucker.com/is not as secure as Gottheimer. Pundits see the district as leaning Republican. If that is the case, it is leaning Republican with a Democratic constituency. With national financial support and local support, Little Rock’s AR 02 can and should flip. Help Tucker get there.
Don’t forget the special election on August 7. Franklin County (Columbus, Ohio) Recorder Danny O’Connorhttps://dannyoconnorforcongress.com/is running in a special election for the open 12th Congressional seat. The most recent poll shows him behind by a few points. He has come up with a distinctive appeal for the resources he needs to close out this race and get to 50% plus 1. He suggests that a Democratic victory would make Democratic defections in the battle over confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court less likely. Whether that reasoning is persuasive or not, O’Connor’s race is very close. Money sent directly to his campaign can make a difference in getting out the vote and other late efforts. Consider providing some support.
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