[North Pulaski Player]

Originally Posted by Greenmon

This country needs strong leadership , honest and not tied to Lobbyists-

The only two people that leaves are Barack Obama and John McCain. Maybe that's why they both will win their respective parties' nominations. Hillary is strongly tied to lobbyists and Huckabee is a weak leader.

[Sam I Am]

Yeah, but the question was "how will Arkansas vote?"...and we got our answer in the primary....and it wasn't McCain OR Obama...Huckster and HillBill-y, and could I get a show of hands on who was surprised on that one???

Now everyone is confused...no Arkansan in the White House, perhaps? Well, that just messes up the whole balance of the world, doesn't it?

[anthonym267]

This state will vote Republican. It is one of the reddest of red states.

[DC at the Ridge]

Originally Posted by anthonym267

This state will vote Republican. It is one of the reddest of red states.

Ummm, both of our Senators are Democrats and 3 out of 4 Representatives to the house are Democrat. There's a little blue in the mix there.

[northbound74]

Originally Posted by anthonym267

This state will vote Republican. It is one of the reddest of red states.

Arkansas is heavily Democratic. They do occasionally vote for Republicans in national elections. Mike Huckabee was a rare exception. Last I remember, when you went to register to vote in my county, they automatically put you down as a Democrat, without asking which you preferred. I knew people who would try to go to the Republican primary, just to find out they were registered as Democrats. They had no idea.

Assuming Huckabee doesn't get the Republican nomination, Arkansas is too close to call... especially if Hillary gets the Democratic nomination and Huckabee is the on the ticket with McCain. I'm not certain that even if Huckabee did miraculously get the nomination, he would carry the state... although he looks to have a good bit of popularity still yet. If Obama gets the nomination, race will play a factor among some whites, but there may be a big enough turnout among African-Americans to offset that. Any way you look at it, Arkansas is wide open at the moment.

[North Pulaski Player]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

Ummm, both of our Senators are Democrats and 3 out of 4 Representatives to the house are Democrat. There's a little blue in the mix there.

And you failed to mention that the governor is a Democrat. Other than Northwest Arkansas, Arkansas is very "blue".

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by North Pulaski Player

And you failed to mention that the governor is a Democrat. Other than Northwest Arkansas, Arkansas is very "blue".

I would still guess they will go republican in the national election. Many states vote one way for state leaders or even congress and quite the other for Prresident. YOU mention the NW, isn't this where most of the growth is right now?

Nita

[DC at the Ridge]

Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock were traditionally where the Republican party was most active. The state was utterly dominated by Democrats with these two pockets of Republicans. I suspect the University's presence had a lot to do with that. Then when Reagan capitalized on the conservatism of Southern Democrats, and the South began voting nationally Republican, Arkansas was labeled a Red state. Northwest Arkansas became even more Republican, especially Benton County, but the growth during the last ten years has actually benefitted the Democrats. The imbalance was exagerrated by money, the Republican party had money, the Democrats didn't. That's changing.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock were traditionally where the Republican party was most active. The state was utterly dominated by Democrats with these two pockets of Republicans. I suspect the University's presence had a lot to do with that. Then when Reagan capitalized on the conservatism of Southern Democrats, and the South began voting nationally Republican, Arkansas was labeled a Red state. Northwest Arkansas became even more Republican, especially Benton County, but the growth during the last ten years has actually benefitted the Democrats. The imbalance was exagerrated by money, the Republican party had money, the Democrats didn't. That's changing.

Our son in law found information about the Republican/Democrat registration break down as of the last Pres election: Benton county 68% Republican. I don't know where he found this, or if it is true.

Nita

[DC at the Ridge]

The breakdown is misleading. The registration is based on which ballot you wanted for the most recent primary. In primaries, you must select a party. In Benton County local primaries, there are hardly ever any selections between Democrat candidates. The Democrats just put up one candidate. So the primaries are basically choices between Republican candidates. If you want to vote in the primaries, you select the Republican ballot.

If his breakdown is in the votes between Bush and Gore, then 68% is very credible. Benton County favored Bush overwhelmingly over Gore. The abortion issue alone would have carried Bush.

DC