Arkansas Democratic Senate candidate Bill Halter cast himself as a populist anti-Washington crusader on Tuesday, drawing several distinctions with his opponent, Sen. Blanche Lincoln, and downplaying the White House's endorsement of the incumbent Democrat.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Huffington Post, Halter pledged to run a "positive race with a positive agenda" in his effort to unseat Lincoln -- the conservative Arkansas Democrat, whose stonewalling of the Democratic agenda has rankled many in the party. But he wasn't averse to taking on his primary opponent, pointing out several areas where there are "differences in perspective."
On health care -- the most contentious issue of the day and the most divisive one when it comes to Lincoln's standing in the Democratic Party -- Halter struck a decidedly more progressive pose than Lincoln. He would not say whether he would support the final bill, noting that the legislative language was changing by the day. But he did offer his backing for a public option for insurance coverage -- a popular policy proposal that Lincoln has steadfastly refused to support.
"I do think that we need greater competition," Halter said. "I do believe that we ought to offer an option to the public. They get hung up on the words 'public option' and there's been a real messaging problem there. People don't know what that really means, so let me try to use an alternative formulation to tell you what I think people would respond to, and that is give the public the option, on a voluntary basis, to buy into a program like Medicare."
The lieutenant governor and former Clinton administration official also noted that, unlike Lincoln, he does not support a repeal of the estate tax, which he said adversely benefits the state's wealthiest individuals in "direct juxtaposition with providing help to middle class families for their students to be able to go to college."
Finally, Halter took Lincoln to task for her support of a bank bailout, saying that the bill was poorly constructed and lacked sufficient oversight provisions.
"I would not have voted for a bailout bill that didn't include tighter restrictions and more checks and more oversight on the expenditure of that money," he said, citing the ineffectiveness of TARP managers to get some of the money to small businesses.The majority of Halter's barbs, however, were addressed to Washington D.C. as a whole rather than Lincoln in particular. Lamenting the grip that special interest groups have on the legislative process, he cited Sen. Jim Bunning's (R-Ky.) decision to hold up unemployment benefits and the failure to pass a piecemeal jobs bill as two recent examples of egregious inaction.
"I would submit to you that one of the reasons why [my candidacy has been well-received] is that we've got a political dynamic in Washington now where things have become so partisan and so highly charged that even the basic things you can't get done," Halter said.
So far, the reception for Halter has indeed been overwhelming. Nearly $4 million was pledged to his campaign within an hour after he officially launched his candidacy. But the majority of donations, he said, were of the small, individual variety.
"We have now had more than 20,000 people who have contributed to the campaign and... it looks like the average contribution is $23," he said.
In many ways, his campaign against Lincoln has become a proxy battle for a more glaring division erupting within the Democratic Party, where the progressive community has been driven mad over the ability of centrist caucus members to hold up jobs and health care legislation. Lincoln has long been considered a personification of that centrist obstinacy. And, not surprisingly, when Halter announced his primary campaign bid, a host of frustrated groups, from the AFL-CIO to MoveOn.org, quickly moved behind him.
Asked whether he was comfortable playing the symbolic role of centrist-killer, let alone garnering the attention and aid of outside-Arkansas organizations, Halter didn't skip a beat. "I welcome support from people from all parts of the political spectrum," he said.
And what about the Obama White House, which, on Monday, offered its endorsement for Lincoln's reelection?
They don't have a vote, Halter replied.
"I think their statement was that their policy is to be supportive of incumbent senators," he replied. "And I think that's actually what Robert Gibbs said at the podium. And look, the fact is that I'm seeking the votes of Arkansans, okay? It's Arkansans who are going to vote for their next United States Senator... I'm more concerned about getting votes in Arkansas than I am in which special interest is opposing our campaign or who's lining up for whom." Watch Halter's New Campaign Ad:
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