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Pryor vs. Ross

By Steve Brawner

He’s a Democrat running for a high-profile statewide office. He’s developed a reputation through the years as a centrist willing to work with both sides of the aisle. He excels at retail, face-to-face politics. He faces a Republican attorney who doesn’t.

I could be describing Sen. Mark Pryor or Mike Ross. They’re similar elected officials facing similar opponents, and yet in the Senate race Pryor is usually polling several points ahead of his opponent, Rep. Tom Cotton, while Ross is polling behind Asa Hutchinson in the campaign for governor.

Why the difference between Pryor and Ross so far? One theory: They’re competing with each other a little bit, and Pryor is winning. Perhaps the most intriguing matchup this year is not Pryor vs. Cotton, or Ross vs. Hutchinson. It’s Pryor vs. Ross.

Let’s start with more conventional explanations for those polls, and then I’ll explain that theory. Pryor is a statewide figure who has represented all of Arkansas in the Senate for 12 years. He still enjoys good will because of his father, former Sen. David Pryor. Ross represented only one-fourth of the state as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and he’s been out of office for nearly a year-and-a-half.

As for their opponents, Hutchinson, the longtime Arkansas political figure, is a more polished candidate than Cotton. Hutchinson knows how to soften his stances and appeal to folks in the middle, while Cotton seems to know only one speed – full ahead. We like our politicians on a first-name basis here: Mike, Mark, Blanche, etc. We all know who “Asa” is, but Cotton, whom we just met a couple of years ago, is not yet “Tom.”

Other explanations? Because the Senate seat is so important nationally, the race has attracted millions of dollars in campaign ads that have taken the shine off Cotton. Hutchinson and Ross really haven’t laid a glove on each other yet. Meanwhile, Hutchinson was involved in a primary contest against an active opponent, Curtis Coleman, so his campaign has been somewhat in the public eye. Ross faced an inactive primary opponent and has been mostly laying the groundwork for the general election.

Let’s get back to the theory that Pryor and Ross are competing against each other.

Resources are limited. There is only so much campaign money, and there are only so many volunteers with only so much time and energy. There is only so much space for yard signs and bumper stickers.

That’s the case with any campaign season, but this year’s races are occurring in the context of a Republican surge in Arkansas that may have peaked but hasn’t ended. When there’s a trend, there’s more room for one outlier than two.

Of course, hanging over all of this is the fact that President Obama is still in office, he’s still a Democrat, and, right or wrong, he’s still deeply disliked by many Arkansans.

Arkansans like to think of themselves as independent. We have a history of splitting our tickets. Until 2010, this was one of the more Democratic states in the country, and Democrats still hold a lot of power at the local and state levels.

Given all that, some diehard Obama-dislikers will be prepared to vote for a member of Obama’s party in either the U.S. Senate or the governor’s race. But they won’t vote for a member of his party in both of this year’s major races. Doing so would be too much of an endorsement of him and what they believe he represents. Pryor and Ross are competing for those voters.

Republicans still have the momentum in Arkansas. Pryor and Ross – both very good politicians – are trying to swim against that tide. It’s foreseeable that one can do it. It’s harder, though certainly not impossible, to see both winning. They’ve both got a lot to compete against, including, in some ways, each other.

Anyway, that’s one theory.

Graphic for blg 5

What SS and Medicare reforms WOULD Sen Pryor support?

I asked Sen. Mark Pryor Tuesday what reforms to Social Security and Medicare he WOULD support during a press conference where he received the endorsement of the National Committee to Protect Social Security and Medicare.

He said he supported cutting waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare; allowing it to bargain for prescription drugs; and emphasizing preventive care. When pressed, he criticized his opponent’s votes and then called for bipartisan solutions.

We cannot balance the budget without reforming Social Security and Medicare. Mandatory spending, of which those two programs are the major part, composes 64 percent of the federal budget, and that number will rise as the baby boomers age.

Pryor knows this, but he’s not going to say so during an election year.

At least he acknowledged there’s a problem.

NCAA ignoring problem led to this ‘solution’

The thing about ignoring a problem is that someone else might solve it for you, and you might not like that solution. Such is the case with a recent National Labor Relations Board ruling that NCAA football players at Northwestern University are college employees and can form a union.

That solution addresses two kinds of problems, both of which the NCAA should have long ago solved. One kind of problem is that being a college football player is a full-time job, but players don’t receive adequate compensation, while coaches, athletic directors and the NCAA are raking in the dough. Yes, a player may receive a scholarship that might lead to a job someday. Meanwhile, Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema made $3.2 million last year. A big issue for Northwestern players is receiving medical care after graduation for injuries suffered on the field. As it stands now, they’re cut off.

Another way of looking at the problem is this: The people making all the money and making all the decisions are the ones who only think they have all the power. The ones who actually have a lot of power – the players that fans are paying to see – aren’t receiving adequate and immediate compensation. In a free market economy, that imbalance probably can’t last forever.

Seth Armbrust, who played for the Razorbacks his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, didn’t even receive a scholarship except during his junior year.

Armbrust was not a star, but he did contribute as a special teams captain and as a reserve at cornerback and safety. During his college career, he spent eight-10 hours a day on football-related activities. The scholarships he received his junior year barely covered living expenses, so he supplemented his income with a job as a lifeguard. That’s in addition to going to class. As for his fellow scholarship recipients, some did not always budget their money correctly. On the other hand, some sent part of their checks home, where the money was needed more.

“Our scholarship is literally the minimum. … Once you pay your rent and you pay your bills, there’s not a whole lot left over,” he said.

Armbrust said he and the rest of the players played for the love of the game and did not resent the way they were treated, but he couldn’t help but notice that the money did not trickle his way. He was asked to sit at luncheons with athletics boosters whose gifts were funding his backups’ scholarships. He didn’t get a cut of the sales of programs with his likeness on them. Stars like quarterbacks Ryan Mallett and Tyler Wilson received nothing for sales of jerseys with their names on them.

This is not a new issue. In fact, it’s been gaining traction. Former NCAA players have sued over video games featuring their likenesses. The NCAA responded by ending its relationship with the manufacturer. There was a big to-do over Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel making money signing autographs. He didn’t even own the rights to his name.

The ruling only applies to private schools like Northwestern, not to public universities like the University of Arkansas, and it’s being appealed. But the door has been opened for other enforcement actions as well as many other complications. For example, can players strike? If playing football is their job and their scholarships are their salary, do they have to pay taxes?

The whole issue could have been solved from the outset had the big-business NCAA been more flexible. Armbrust said an extra $500 to $1,000 a month would have meant a lot to the players. Continuing health care would have helped, too. “At the end of the day, we’re getting to do what we love to do, and that was go out and play football,” he said.

Young men like that can be assuaged pretty easily – a little extra money to pay for laundry and dates, and a guarantee that if they still need ankle surgery after they graduate, the university will help them out.

College football execs haven’t been willing to do that. Instead, they insisted that players remain amateurs while everyone else got paid. So someone else came up with a solution, with its own set of problems.

Rep. Sanders drawn out of his own district

Looking for a nice four-bedroom home near I-430 in Little Rock? Rep. David Sanders has had his on the market since April.

Sanders started hearing rumors during the session that he likely would be drawn out of his district by the Board of Apportionment, the three-person panel made up of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state that is redrawing districts based on 2010 census data.

Two of the panelists, Gov. Mike Beebe and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, are Democrats. The third, Secretary of State Mark Martin, is a Republican.

Under maps produced by the majority Democrats, Sanders’ precinct was bumped from his existing district, District 31, which encompasses parts of west Little Rock, Pulaski County, and Saline County, for District 33, which encompasses central and southwest Little Rock.

Unless your name is Nick Wilson, you have to live in the district you represent, so Sanders would have to run in his new district if the maps are finalized.

District 31 is represented by Rep. Fred Allen, a term-limited Democrat. It’s a majority-minority district and not one where Sanders, a conservative Republican, would be likely to win.

“There’s a certain principle of continuity of constituency,” Sanders said. “The people who voted overwhelmingly for me to be their representative are the people of my home district, 31, and so that’s my district. I still represent that district and will continue to represent that district.”

Sanders had five children and said he needed a bigger house anyway.

There’s no love lost between Gov. Beebe and Sanders, a young and energetic House Republican finance chairman who opposed Beebe’s prison reform in the last session.

Along with Sanders, other GOP legislators drawn into substantially new districts are Sens. Jason Rapert of Bigelow, Jonathan Dismang of Beebe and Eddie Joe Williams of Cabot. Republican Reps. Gary Stubblefield of Branch and Jon Eubanks of Paris would be in District 84 and would have to run against each other.

Two incumbent Democrats, Rep. Garry Smith of Camden and David Fielding of Magnolia, would be in the 5th District and would have to run against each other.

Sanders sponsored and passed a bill in the last legislative session that required a “cooling off” period where regulators cannot work in the industries that they regulate for one year after leaving government. Other bills restricted the activities of sports agents and made student participation in Junior ROTC programs count as health credits.

Four crazy ideas to fix our broken political system

If anyone has ever needed proof that America’s political system is broken, look no further than exhibit A: the debt ceiling debate. Congress and the president cannot even agree on paying the debts we have, much less preventing future debt.

It’s not enough just to replace the current occupants of Congress and the White House. It’s time for creative, structural solutions to our nation’s problems.

In this week’s Arkansas News Bureau column, I offer four for your consideration: replacing the Electoral College with the popular vote; four-year terms for both House and Senate members so that we end the two-year election cycle; creating an optional system whereby congressional candidates can access public campaign funds in exchange for a promise not to accept private donations; and reforming the redistricting process.

Maybe these are all crazy ideas, but then, what’s happening now in Washington is truly insane. It’s rattling the markets and putting the government’s credit rating at risk.

Got any crazy ideas of your own? Please email me or post them in my comments section, and I’ll reference them in a future column.