Lincoln: In The Race and Raising Money

Around central Arkansas today, folks in North Little Rock’s Third Ward have a new alderman. The city council last night appointed James Phillips to serve the remainder of the term vacated by Cary Gaines.  Gaines resigned after a federal indictment alleged that he was involved in a scheme to defraud the city.  Phillips’ appointment runs through the end of the year and he will be eligible to run for re-election in November.  Some questions were raised about the fact that Phillips owns a company that has the city’s contract for towing vehicles; the council, however, did not see that as a conflict.

North Little Rock has a new airport terminal.  The 2,400 square foot facility cost about $300,000 to construct.  City officials say it gives private pilots better after-hours access to a secure facility that also provides showers and area to plan flights. The airport has been without after-hours access since a tornado ripped through the area nearly two years ago.  Eighty percent of the cost was covered by  a grant from the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics; the rest was paid with local money.

The Arkansas Twitter folks and political bloggers were all abuzz for a time last night, when word came that Senator Blanche Lincoln would  have an “important announcement” this morning, via Twitter. Was she, too, announcing she would not run again? Nope.  As many folks speculated last night, the announcement had to do with money.

Lincoln Campaign Releases 4th Quarter Fund Raising Totals

Little Rock – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln today announced that her campaign will report total receipts of $1,310,508 for the fourth quarter of 2009 (October 1 – December 31, 2009). Senator Lincoln’s campaign will report $5,021,279 cash on hand at the close of the period, December 31. “This will be a tough campaign, and [...]

If that left any doubt in your mind about Lincoln’s political status, consider the fact that her campaign is also lighting a fire under all kinds of social media:

An e-mail just came in to The Think Tank’s in-box from Steve Patterson, campaign manager for Blanche Lincoln. The subject line was “Facebook” and the message invited me to engage in her online grassroots community: Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Flickr. He writes, Joining Blanche on facebook and following our campaign’s Twitter feed is a great way [...]

Still not enough Lincoln chatter for you? Read on:

Following a series of surprise announcements from Rep. Vic Snyder and Rep. Marion Berry that they will not run for re-election and from Rep. John Boozman that he likely will run for the Senate, the rumor mill has gone into high gear. The primary one that most of them swirl is the Sen. Lincoln will [...]

So, with all of that being said, some folks who closely follow politics in Arkansas are thinking this is shaping up to be one of the most fascinating political seasons we’ve seen in a long time. What do you think? Bigger than the Bill Clinton presidential campaigns? Bigger than Wilbur Mills?  How about the Tommy Robinson sagas?  Take a moment and drop a quick note in the comments; let us know what you think.

Tagged as: Arkansas, Bill Clinton, Blanche Lincoln, North Little Rock