Thinking Citizen Blog — Arkansas (Part One) — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (1982 — ), US Senators John Boozman (1950 — ) and Tom Cotton (1977 — )
Thinking Citizen Blog — Sunday is Political Process Reform, Campaign Strategy, and Candidate Selection Day
Today’s Topic: Arkansas (Part One) — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (1982 — ), US Senators John Boozman (1950 — ) and Tom Cotton (1977 — )
This is the nineteenth stop in a cross country tour of the US political landscape that began with Michigan on December 10, 2023.
The goal of the tour is to be a little less ignorant when the November election rolls round than I would otherwise be.
What do you know about politics in Arkansas that the rest of us should but probably don’t? What do you know about Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders? Senator John Boozman? Senator Tom Cotton?
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
THE US 2020 ELECTION IN ARKANSAS — Trump 62.4%, Biden 34.8%
1. This was “the seventh consecutive election in which Republicans improved on their margin in Arkansas, the longest in the nation of any state for either party.”
2. “This made Arkansas one of only six states, along with the District of Columbia, in which Trump improved on his performance in 2016.”
3. “This margin makes it the largest loss by a Democrat in Arkansas since George McGovern’s 38.1 point defeat in 1972. The last Democrat even to win over 40% of the vote was John Kerry in 2004. After Barack Obama, Biden is the second ever Democrat to win the presidency without carrying Arkansas.”
NB: “The state was historically part of the Solid South, and was a one-party state dominated by Democrats. Arkansas was the only state in the nation not carried by Republicans at least once between 1876 and 1968, although it voted for segregationist George Wallace in 1968. It was the only Deep South state carried by Lyndon Johnson in 1964, just following the passage of the Civil Rights Act, however, Democratic support did weaken after this. The state voted Republican for first time in 100 years in 1972 and became a swing state, voting for the national winner in every election from 1972 to 2004.”
GOVERNOR SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS (1982 — ) Republican, former Press Secretary to Donald Trump, daughter of Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas (1996–2007)
1. Born in Hope, Arkansas Sanders graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in 2004, having served as president of the student body. Her degree was in political science with a minor in communications.
2. She won election in 2022 by a margin of 63% to 35%. Endorsed by Trump.
3. “Diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer in September 2022. She had surgery to remove her thyroid and the surrounding lymph nodes.”
NB: Her husband is a political consultant. She has three children. From her website: “Since taking office, Sarah has enacted transformational, conservative reforms. Those include Arkansas LEARNS, a sweeping overhaul of Arkansas’s education system, including higher teacher pay and universal school choice; public safety reforms to invest in prison space and get repeat offenders off the streets; tax cuts to give more taxpayer money back to Arkansans; the Natural State Initative to grow Arkansas’ outdoor economy; and reforms to streamline state government.”
SENIOR SENATOR JOHN BOOZMAN (1950 — ), Republican, an optometrist
1. Served as US Representative In the House from 2007–2011.
2. Has served in the US Senate since 2011.
3. Won re-election in 2022 by a margin of 66% to 31%.
NB: “Boozman receive an 85.48% Lifetime Score from the American Conservative Union.” He opposes abortion and “voted to acquit Donald Trump in both his impeachment trials.”
SENATOR TOM COTTEN (1977 — ), Republican, in office since 2015, formerly US Rep (2013–2015) and a management consultant at McKinsey
1. Harvard College, AB, 1998. Harvard Law School, JD, 2002.
2. Captain, US Army: served in Afghanistan and Iraq (2005–2009) Bronze Star.
3. Elected in 2020 by a margin of 66.5% to 33.5%.
NB: From his website: “Tom Cotton was the first US Senator to put forward a plan to stop toxic critical race theory, the 1619 Project.
And he is the only Senator to have an anti-CRT provision pass the Senate.”
2020 United States presidential election in Arkansas — Wikipedia
Politics and government of Arkansas — Wikipedia
Sarah Huckabee Sanders — Wikipedia
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field (“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi, 13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to political process or campaign strategy or 2020 candidate selection or anything else for that matter.
This is your chance to make some one else’s day or change their thinking. Or to consolidate in your own memory something worth remembering that might otherwise be lost. Or to clarify or deepen your own understanding of something dear to your heart. Continuity is key to depth of thought.
