Blanche Lincoln begins television ad campaign
Embattled Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) began her television advertising campaign today with a commercial that amounts to a defiant poke in the eye to the liberal left despite a serious Primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter . The ad, which was produced by Steve Murphy and Mark Putnam, portrays Washington as a classroom full of unruly children, throwing money around willy-nilly. "This is why I voted against giving more money to Wall Street, against the auto company Bailout, against...

Liberal groups raise $1 million for Lincoln challenger
Liberals were ecstatic to see Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter announce that he's running in a Democratic Primary against Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., one of the left's least favorite senators. And they're putting their money where their mouths are. As of Tuesday night, the combined efforts of four liberal groups -- MoveOn.org, Daily Kos, Democracy for America and Progressive Change Campaign Committee -- had raised $1 million for Halter in just 36 hours. (MoveOn was responsible for $900,000 of...

Blanche Lincoln Is Aiming for the Tea Party Vote, No? -- By: Jim Geraghty
The expectation was that Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter’s bid for the U.S. Senate was that he would force Blanche Lincoln to the left, and put her back on the bandwagon for Health Care. But take a look at her first ad of the campaign, where she touts her votes against money for Wall Street, the Auto Industry Bailout, the Public Option, and Cap and Trade: Wouldn't these stances get her applause from just about any Tea Party rally in the nation?

Left rallies against Lincoln
Organized Labor and Liberals have committed more than $5 million to Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s Primary Election opponent, Bill Halter, signaling that the Arkansas Democratic Senate Primary is shaping up, for the left, as a hill to die on. Virtually overnight, outside groups have erased the seemingly insurmountable financial advantage Lincoln brought to the contest. On Tuesday, an umbrella of four Labor groups that have long been frustrated over Lincoln’s refusal to support card check...

Will Progressive Candidates Run on the Public Option?
Since launching his Senate Primary campaign in Arkansas this week, Bill Halter has zeroed in on Senator Blanche Lincoln’s failure to support the Public Option. This has prompted some to wonder if other progressive candidates might follow suit as liberal legislators continue to push to keep the proposal alive. Over at the Daily Dish, Jonathan Bernstein was Bullish about the Public Option’s campaign comeback: In fact, I expect virtually every Democrat in contested primaries...

'Top Line' -- Can Democrats Avert a Party Civil War?
ABC News' Rick Klein reports: The decision by Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter to launch a Democratic Primary challenge against Sen. Blanche Lincoln has been met with cheer among liberal activists, with progressive groups joining with labor unions to quickly line up $5 million in funding commitments for Halter's candidacy. But will the Primary race help the Democratic Party hold on to a Senate seat in a Republican-leaning state this year? On ABC's "Top Line" today, one of the...

Lincoln starts spending on TV
Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln is spending money on her first television ad of the cycle, just days after Lt. Gov. Bill Halter announced he's challenging her in the Democratic Primary. Lincoln distances herself from Washington and the national Democratic Party in the spot, drawing an implicit contrast with Halter, whose campaign has won wide support from groups on the left, and laying the groundwork for a tough general Election campaign. Shown standing amid a group of rowdy schoolchildren who...

Never Saw It Coming
It used to be that five million dollars in corporate money was enough to make a senator safe in their seat. But times have changed: Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter (D) is quickly becoming the darling of the liberal left in his Primary challenge to Sen. Blanche Lincoln. In the space of just 36 hours, four liberal groups -- Moveon.org, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America and the Daily Kos blog -- collected more than $1 million for his campaign, a remarkable total...

How Popular Will The Obagenda Be This Fall?
Embattled Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) began her television advertising campaign today with a commercial that amounts to a defiant poke in the eye to the liberal left despite a serious Primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. The ad, which was produced by Steve Murphy and Mark Putnam, portrays Washington as a classroom full of unruly children, throwing money around willy-nilly. “This is why I voted against giving more money to Wall Street, against the auto company Bailout, against...

Lincoln's First Ad Touts Opposition To Public Option, Cap And Trade
Lt. Gov. Bill Halter's entrance into the Arkansas Senate Democratic Primary this week was expected to push conservative incumbent Blanche Lincoln to the left, for fear of losing the base. But in her first television advertisement of the campaign, Lincoln isn't exactly chasing after the progressive vote. Instead, she touts her opposition to the Public Insurance Option and her refusal to support Cap and Trade legislation -- and even declares herself proudly independent of the Democratic Party....

Sen. Lincoln Touts Her Votes Against Obama Initiatives
By Susan Davis The same week Lt. Gov. Bill Halter announced he would challenge Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the Democratic Primary, the Arkansas senator released her first campaign ad touting her voting record against nearly all major Democratic initiatives since President Barack Obama took office. How's that for running as an outsider! "I'm Blanche Lincoln, and I want to show you what it's like in Washington these days," the senator states in the ad, which cuts to a clip of young children...

The Week In Midterms: Monday Mayhem
This week started with a bang, as one Democratic Senate Primary challenger jumped in Monday morning and one jumped out that night. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) becomes the third Democratic senator to face a serious Primary challenge this year -- the other two are Arlen Specter (Pa.), who switched parties last year, and Michael Bennet (Colo.), who was appointed to the seat last year. Here's a look back at the week that was in 2010 Midterms: Senate Arkansas: Lt. Gov. Bill Halter entered the...

DSCC Chair: 'I Believe Blanche Lincoln Would Be Our Best Candidate' (VIDEO)
The man responsible for electing Democrats to the Senate, DSCC chair Bob Menendez, told MSNBC this morning that he stands with Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the Arkansas Senate primary. Menendez wouldn't say whether the national party will spend money to defend Lincoln against Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who's running against her for the Democratic nomination with the backing of national progressive and labor groups, saying only that the DSCC is supporting her as it does all incumbent Democrats. Menendez...

Blanche Lincoln's Genius Pitch to Arkansas Democrats: I Opposed the Public Option; Also, Democrats Suck
Take a look at this brand new Lincoln campaign spot. I’m trying to decide what the most tone-deaf aspect of it is. Is it that: One Tough Lady? Let’s make Blanche One Former Senator. Donate to Bill Halter’s campaign. Tags: Bill Halter , Blanche Lincoln , Democrats , DINOs , Senate Related posts: Blanche Lincoln Attacks Bill Halter for Not Supporting Public Option Strongly Enough Blanche Lincoln Should Wish She Were as Popular as the Public Option in Arkansas Tell Mike...

Blanche Lincoln Attacks Bill Halter for Not Supporting Public Option Strongly Enough
Blanche Lincoln fires the opening shots of her Primary battle with Bill Halter with a rather incoherent, rambling Press release about his supposed wavering on the Public Option . “Who does he think he’s fooling?” asked Lincoln’s campaign manager Steve Patterson.

Obama And Blanche Lincoln Agree To Disagree, Gibbs Says
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs continued to push the administration's support for embattled Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) at the White House's daily briefing with reporters today. Lincoln has become the focal point of progressive discontent within the Democratic party since Lt. Gov. Bill Halter decided to run against her in the Democratic Primary this week. The race has pitted the AFL-CIO, the netroots and other progressive groups backing Halter against the mainstream Democratic...

Pro-Choice Group Slams Blanche Lincoln: 'She Wasn't There For Us, We Won't Be There For Her'
Despite an ever-strengthening Primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) still has plenty of powerful friends in Washington. But after today, Lincoln can't count EMILY's List, one of the strongest support networks for pro-choice women candidates in the country, among her allies. In a strongly-worded rebuke of Lincoln on the the group's blog this morning, EMILY's List chair Ellen Malcolm rejected the woman whom her group once counted among its rising...

Bill Clinton Throws His Support To Blanche Lincoln
Blanche Lincoln — and a bit of a blow to Primary challenger Bill Halter — fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton is throwing his support to the incumbent Senator, his spokesman confirms to me. Halter’s entry into the race had kicked off a round of speculation about who Clinton would endorse, given that he hails from the state and remains very popular with Dem Primary voters. If Clinton had remained neutral it would have been a big boost to Halter. Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna tells...

Is Blanche Lincoln the new Joe Lieberman?
With Lt. Governor Bill Halter entering the Democratic Senatorial Primary in Arkansas, the first question most are asking is "can he win?" I think we can agree that Senator Blanche Lincoln faces almost unprecedented odds in the general Election . How likely is a Halter victory? According to a January Mason-Dixon poll, Lincoln led Halter 52-34% in a hypothetical match-up. In addition, her Approval Rating among Democrats was only 51% (with 35% disapproving) in an early February ...

Blanche Lincoln Works with a Bunch of Babies
Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln's re-election campaign is off to a roaring start with her first TV ad, in which she informs us that her colleagues in the Senate need a time out … So is the solution to Washington's woes re-electing Blanche Lincoln? Or is it cookies and a nap?

Bill Halter Doesn't Want To Wear a Label
Twenty-four hours after announcing his plans to challenge Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the Democratic Primary, Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter says he has raised more than $600,000, mostly through the efforts of progressive groups.

Arkansas Democrats decry outsiders like the Democratic Lt. Governor of Arkansas
In the extended entry, I provide a quick rundown of the Democratic establishment response to Bill Halter's Primary challenge to Blanche Lincoln.  It's pretty awesome. Chris Bowers :: Arkansas Democrats decry outsiders like the Democratic Lt. Governor of Arkansas The Lt. Governor of Arkansas is an outsider . Arkansas Democrats are upset with the Primary challenge because the Lt. Governor of Arkansas is not from Arkansas : An Arkansas Democrat familiar with the race told TPMDC today...

Quick Cash for Halter: Liberals Rally to Raise $1 Million
As soon as Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter (D) announced he'd challenge Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) in the 2010 Senate primary, the progressive/netroots moneyraising machine kicked into gear with the support it had pledged to give him if he did, indeed, jump in: as of last night, $1 million had been raised for Halter by a coalition of MoveOn.org ($900k), the Progressive Campaign Change Committee & Democracy for America ($64k), and Daily Kos ($41k)--less than two days after Halter announced he...

Extremist Outsiders Like the State Labor Coalition Endorse Halter for AR-Sen
Throughout the next two months, we will hear a common complaint from Blanche Lincoln as she runs for re-election against Bill Halter: that outside interests are coming into Arkansas and telling the people who should represent them. Surely she’ll say that about MoveOn.org, national labor groups, and the Sierra Club , which just launched a series of IE ads in Arkansas. Of course, it’s the Arkansas chapter of the Sierra Club objecting to Lincoln’s support for stopping the EPA...

Future of Public Option Update
by Jonathan Bernstein Bill Halter is probably not going to be the next Senator from Arkansas.  He'd have to knock off an incumbent (Blanche Lincoln), which would be I think a fairly surprising upset, and then he'd still be a longshot in the general election -- Arkansas isn't an especially friendly place for Democrats these days. That said, by endorsing the Public Option he's providing useful evidence that a future Democratic Congress is very likely to add a Public...