David Pryor upbeat about latest election prospects
Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/66789/
LITTLE ROCK — He’s glad he didn’t pass on the chance to chair the state Democratic Party, former U. S. Sen. David Pryor said recently.
Tapped by Gov. Mike Beebe to take over the state Democratic Party after party chairman Bill Gwatney was shot and killed in Little Rock, Pryor hesitated.
“ When Gov. Beebe asked me, some weeks ago, to do this, it was right before the Democratic Convention. I said, Governor, I’m flattered that you would ask me to do this. I just don’t think I can. … But I said, ‘ You go to the (Democratic National ) Convention and I’ll think about it while you’re gone, and I said, I will help you find someone, ” Pryor said.
Pryor, 74, was not unwilling to see his party through the hard-fought 2008 presidential and other elections in the state. He just thought he might be too busy to do it.
Retiring in 1997 from the U. S. Senate after three terms, Pryor seems not to have slowed down. He has written a soon to be available book, teaches a class in Fayetteville one day a week, serves on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and will soon be the guest speaker at a meeting of the Benton County Democratic Women, among other recent activities.
But busy or not, he couldn’t turn down the job, Pryor said.
“ I said, well, shoot; every time I’ve asked the Democratic Party to do something for me, or my son, or our family, they’ve always been there. So, when (Beebe ) returned I talked to him and I said, ‘ Governor, I’ll do it, and I’ll give it the best I can give it, ” Pryor said.
Pryor’s son Mark is on the ballot this year, running for reelection to what was the elder Pryor’s seat in the U. S. Senate. But Mark Pryor faces only minor party opposition, and it’s clear that concerns about his son’s campaign weren’t a factor in David Pryor’s decision to accept the state party chairmanship.
For one thing, he knew that Gwatney would have wanted Arkansas Democrats to go on, even though it is clear that Gwatney’s absence is a heavy burden, for him and for the late chairman’s many other admirers on the state party staff, Pryor said.
For another thing, he saw a challenge in taking the job, Pryor said.
He may have been thinking that Arkansas, historically a Democratic state, has seemed increasingly willing to go for Republican candidates for president, except on some occasions when a Southern governor or an Arkansan, or both, head the Democratic ticket. And indeed, a poll circulated around the time of the GOP convention showed Republican candidate John McCain with a lead over Democratic candidate Barack Obama in Arkansas.
But Pryor thinks he sees an opportunity for Obama in the Land of Opportunity, and his experience in Arkansas politics is extensive enough to make any skeptical poll-taker recheck his figures. Pryor’s career in elective office began in 1961 with three terms in the Arkansas Legislature. He succeeded U. S. Rep. Oren Harris in the U. S. House of Representatives in 1966 and very nearly defeated venerable U. S. Sen. John McClellan in the Democratic primary in 1972. Then he served two terms as governor (1975-1979 ) before going to the U. S. Senate for three terms beginning in 1979.
And besides all that, for another thing, it’s just fun to be on the campaign trail again, Pryor said.
“ I’m going to tell you what, … I’ve loved it and I’ve had a great time doing it. I’ll be glad when the election comes and goes. But I’ve had the opportunity to go around. Like, I’m going down to Magnolia and open a new headquarters on this coming Thursday morning, and then I’m skipping over to El Dorado. We’re opening a headquarters in Union County there, in El Dorado. We opened one in my hometown of Camden a few weeks back. And we’ve got one going now in Fayetteville, and I think in Rogers we have one. We have set a record, I think, on the number of Democratic headquarters around the state this time. We’ve got a huge energy level of people who are wanting to get involved. So am I having fun ? Yes I am. Is the challenge there ? Yes it is. But I think Arkansas could be a sleeper state (for Obama ), ” Pryor said.
The economy, the ongoing war in Iraq and other issues are making Arkansans long for more accountability in government and for a change in the White House, Pryor said.
“ Our state has been hit by a lot of deaths and injuries as a result of Iraq. But I would say Iraq is an issue. I would say the economy is (No. ) 1, and then I would say Iraq and health care would be two issues that follow on. But I think the issue right now, that sort of superimposes itself over the economy and everything else — I think the issue right now, among many people, is just pure old accountability. I think they see Wall Street taking advantage of them for years, and they see other entities in our system and government and whatever, veiled in secrecy. I think people are ready for just some old-fashioned accountability. And they’re really, really looking at that, I think, in leadership, ” Pryor said.