Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Bumpers Proved Name Recognition Not Necessary In Politics

Name recognition is important to politicians, but doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Take, for example, the case of Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Ark. When he first ran for governor of Arkansas he had a 1 percent name recognition across the state.

When all was said and done, Bumpers had defeated former Gov. Orval Faubus in the primary, and followed this feat by whipping Winthrop Rockefeller in the general election.

After two terms as governor, Bumpers set his sights higher and sought the office of U.S. Senate in 1974, beating a man many thought unbeatable in William Fulbright.

Twenty-four years later, though, Sen. Bumpers is stepping down. He has chosen not to seek another term in office.

"You get a lot of accolades," Bumpers said, "when people know you're not running again."

The senator was in the area recently, urging people to cast their votes in November for the Democratic candidates on the ballot.

He touted State Rep. Judy Smith saying she is the most underrated woman in the state, and one who lacks the money to compete on an even field with Congressman Jay Dickey for the 4th Congressional District seat.

Hers, he said, is a pivotal role in getting this seat back, adding it is important the 4th District position be held by a Democrat instead of a Republican like Dickey.

In talking about Bill Bristow, Democratic candidate for governor, Bumpers called him the consummate country boy.

Bristow, Bumpers said, grew up in Strawberry, not a metropolitan area of the state, went to Harvard Law School where he graduated with honors and could have gone to any firm in the nation. Instead, though, Bristow chose to return home and settle in the Jonesboro area.

Bumpers said Bristow is one of the best trial lawyers in the state. He further stated Bristow is the best choice Arkansas has in the governor's race and needs all the support he can get to be elected.

Bristow was compared to another unattractive man; one who worked hard to overcome his shortfalls and wound up becoming one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history Abraham Lincoln.

Bumpers talked about growing up during the great Depression and having literally nothing as a child. Few in the nation had much, he said, until a Democrat took the office of presidency.

Once Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected things changed. Roosevelt, Bumpers said, recognized the South and instituted programs to help the region. The rest, itself, is history.

At one time, Bumpers was a choir director in the Methodist Church. His mother urged him to become a Methodist preacher, but his father preferred public service, saying he could help more people that way.

"I listened to my father," Bumpers said, "and got in public service.

"My father was right about public service, it's what Democrats believe in. My dad told me all his life if I ever voted Republican I'd be sorry. I took him at his word and have never been sorry."

Today's GOP, he said, doesn't like the environment, it doesn't like public education and prefers the voucher system.

The voucher system, Bumpers said, would be the utter destruction of public schools in this nation.

The GOP killed the tobacco bill, though 3,000 teenagers start smoking daily, and 1,000 will die from it.

"I used to smoke," he said, "and learned what a filthy habit it was, so I quit. Parents don't want their children to smoke."

The bill, he said, would allow tobacco companies to raise the price of cigarettes, give the excess money to Congress with it to be used for child care.

The GOP, Bumpers continued, gets millions of dollars from the tobacco companies, while the Democratic Party does not.

Republicans also don't want campaign finance reform, which puts democracy on the line based on how much money a candidate can raise. "This is dangerous in the extreme.

"In 1993 Bill Clinton promised to cut the deficit in half. I didn't think he was interested enough in it, and I was obsessed. He submitted a bill to us and not one Republican voted for it."

The bill, Bumpers said, was a tax increase on the top 1.5 percent of Americans (the wealthy). Former Sen. Bob Dole said if this tax was passed it would make the Depression look like a cakewalk.

The tax passed and the cakewalk has yet to begin. The tax was passed with all Republicans and six Democrats voting against it. This left a 50-50 tie and required Vice President Al Gore to break it.

This year, Bumpers said, there will be a $50 billion surplus because of the tax.

Now, he continued, the Republicans are telling us how to spend it.

The late President Lyndon B. Johnson, Bumpers said, believed Democrats want to help people, get them educated. Republicans, though, are only interested in two things protecting the rich and investigating Democrats.

The Republicans, Bumpers said, want to give the surplus to the rich in a tax cut, and not make the Social Security program solvent or put any money into education. Clinton, though, wants the money in these two programs.

The senator lamented his daughter going to law school and making $80,000 a year after graduation. "She'd have made a great teacher," he said. "If I lived another 100 years, I'd raise teacher's salaries to $50,000."

With the budget surplus, he said, every child in the nation could be guaranteed a college education. "No child in the U.S. should be deprived of a college education because of money. This is a no brainer."

Turning to the topic of Clinton's visit to China, Bumpers recalled his visit in 1978. At the time, he said, there were three churches in the country, but now there are 12,000.

In talking about China, Bumpers said, it is important to remember where they've come from, and not where they currently are.

Clinton's visit, he said, has resulted in the signing of a chemical weapons treaty, with the Chinese government agreeing not to help build them or sell them to other countries.

There will also be a treaty with the two nations agreeing not to use nuclear weapons against one another because of the president's visit. "He did what he should have done," Bumpers said.

"Republicans," he continued, "believe the Constitution is a rough draft they need to finish."

Bumpers agrees with the concept of children praying in school, but not the type of prayer from ministers such as Pat Robertson or Jerry Fallwell.

The Bill of Rights, he said, is the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The first amendments grants Americans the right of free speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion. "It doesn't need to be tampered with.

"Some people want a state religion, they need to visit countries that have one."

When the Republican Party took control of Congress, he said, the discussion of federal term