First time in Philips County history, a Young Democrats club is forming...

Riding the wave and Wesley Clark's candidacy in Arkansas,and that of U.S. Senator Blanche Lambert Lincoln seeking re-election, for the first time, perhaps, in Phillips County history, a Young Democrats organization is being organized to capture the local support and enthusiasm of supporters and loyalists to the Democratic Party and it's platform on issues facing the nation.

A group of, roughly, a dozen individuals met last week to begin the organization process of chartering a Young Democrats organization right here in Phillips County.

Immediate goals include voter registration drives and assisting in local, regional, state, and national campaigns.

http://www.helena-arkansas.com/articles/2003/10/02/news/news2.txt

Clark causing excitement and a new young democrats organization. Nice!

nt

Eastern side of the state, across the Mississippi River from Mississippi. South of Memphis. I find this interesting myself. Arkansas only has two statewide Republicans in office right now, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Both senators and three of four congresspersons are Democrats.

The Governor has committed political suicide by aggressively pushing rural school consolidation, and pulled out of a potential race against Blanche Lincoln (wouldn't have been able to defeat her anyway). Mrs. Lincoln may not have any opposition in November 2004, at the rate Rethuglicans are refusing to run.

Arkansas is a mostly southern conservative (small 'c') Democratic state. Personalities, not party affiliation governs most voting decisions by voters. The current Governor is working hard at his school consolidation plan, and a special session has been called in December to force this issue. The last round of major school consolidation in Arkansas saw the death of a large number of rural communities, and even though this happened forty years ago, it has not been forgotten. Resistance to forced school consolidation based solely on numbers is very fierce, despite heavy support for the Governor's plan from the only statewide paper. The Internet has been the friend of small schools in this regard.

DISCLAIMER: I'm an employee of an educational co-operative (educational service center) which serves a number of small schools in western Arkansas. My kids go to a small rural school, which ironically shows consistently higher test scores than the national percentile in standardized tests. But, this school is targeted for consolidation with two others since it "isn't big enough to be 'efficient'."

Organizing and the internet. Hope you can beat back the Republicans. Maybe Al and Bill had it right. I seem to remember them wiring up rural schools for the net.