| For months, we've had somebody to oppose in the Arkansas 2010 Senate race. Now we have somebody to support. Arkansas Lt. Governor Bill Halter is running against Blanche Lincoln in the Democratic Senate Primary.
This means a lot to progressive Democrats as a whole because Lincoln's often the would-be 59th or 60th vote to break a filibuster, making her one of the single biggest reasons why health care reform has not passed yet. In fact, the House has passed 290 bills that the Senate has not passed so far this session, and Lincoln is one of the single biggest reasons why nothing gets done in the Senate.
But this election means something significant for food and agriculture too. As the chair of the Senate Ag Committee, Lincoln will be in charge of the Child Nutrition Reauthorization (i.e. school lunch) this year. That's not great. But if she's re-elected, she'll get to write the 2012 Farm Bill. And that will be REALLY bad.
Lincoln's beholden to cotton, rice, factory farms (particularly poultry), and Wal-Mart. If she loses in 2010, she'd likely be succeeded by Debbie Stabenow of Michigan as the new chair of the Senate Ag Committee. We'll get a significantly better Farm Bill from Stabenow than we would from Lincoln.
Fortunately, Lincoln's chances of winning are slim:
Recent polls have shown Lincoln trailing a little-known Republican field led by Rep. John Boozman and her being potentially vulnerable to a challenge from within the Democratic Party.
So what can we do to help Halter?
1. Spread the word (especially to people in Arkansas)
2. Volunteer for his campaign (phonebanking or canvassing). If you don't live in Arkansas, you might be able to phonebank for him from home.
3. Donate to his campaign, even if it's only $5. The sooner you do this, the better. I've added Halter to our Act Blue page so you can give to him through there if you'd like. |
