NEWS IN BRIEF Washington : Panel seat seen as helpful for Pryor
Posted on Thursday, November 16, 2006
WASHINGTON — He’s not touting it as such, but when Arkansas’ Sen. Mark Pryor got back on the Armed Services Committee this week, he helped his 2008 re-election campaign — likely in more ways than one.
Traditionally, few things have been better for a Democratic senator from the South than to have a seat on Armed Services, political analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia said Wednesday.
“It helps you position yourself as strong on defense,” he said.
His place on Armed Services should also help Pryor rake in political-action-committee contributions for 2008.
In fact, he is now positioned on three of the six committees whose members get the most PAC money.
According to Political Money Line, a private service that tracks campaign dollars, the members of the Armed Services Committee received $ 18. 4 million in PAC contributions during the 2005-06 election cycle ($ 11. 1 million of that went to Democrats ).
The money came from companies involved in defense, aerospace, electronics and other areas.
Pryor had a seat on Armed Services the first two years of his term.
When Democrats lost control of the Senate in 2004, the party had to bump him from his slot because of his lack of seniority.
Pryor also sits on Rules and Administration, whose members received $ 13. 6 million in PAC money, and on Commerce, Science and Transportation, whose members received $ 18. 3 million.
Arkansas’ senior senator, fellow Democrat Blanche Lincoln, sits on the three other big targets of PAC money — the Agriculture, Energy and Finance committees.
Pryor, in a weekly conference call with reporters Wednesday, announced that his father, former Sen. David Pryor, continues to enjoy a “textbook” recovery from recent heart surgery, even going to the office and the grocery store.
“We know Arkansas is a praying state,” Mark Pryor said. “We want to thank everyone for their prayers.”
Pryor also said again that he thought last week’s elections signaled that Americans are tired of partisanship.
“It was music to my ears,” he said.
The Blue Dogs, a fiscally conservative group of Democrats, voted Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas its co-chairman for communication Tuesday night.
On Wednesday, at a news conference, it named the other co-chairmen — Rep. Allen Boyd of Florida, for administration, and Rep. Dennis Moore of Kansas, for policy.
Rep. Stephanie Herseth of South Dakota was elected whip, the post Ross holds in the current Congress.
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