Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Lincoln Speaks To County Democrats

Blanche Lambert Lincoln was on hand Saturday at the Third Annual Clinton Day Dinner to ask for help.

Lincoln, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Dale Bumpers, was at the event hosted by the Clark County Democratic Committee. Her Republican opponent is Fay Bozeman.

The campaign, she said, is going well, with Lincoln excited about the response received so far.

With less than five months to go before the General Election, she said, there's still a lot to be done.

The major issues as she sees them are the ones directly affecting people's every day lives Social Security, Medicare and education.

Discussing Social Security, Lincoln said the budget surplus needs to be put into this program and not into pork projects or tax breaks for the rich as the GOP wants to do.

Medicare, she said, is a good and necessary program, but fraud and abuse need to be eliminated from it. "We need to make sure it's maintained," Lincoln said.

"It's an important program. Fourteen percent of the population in Arkansas depend on it."

On the education realm, Lincoln said the system needs to be improved to allow students to be competitive and so high-tech, good paying jobs will come to the state.

If elected, she said, she will do all possible to see teachers getting better pay and better resources for buildings. Most educational structures in the state today, Lincoln said, are outdated.

"We're looking at things to create a better society," she told the packed house. "We need to give teachers control of the classroom again, let them teach discipline and manners. This is important in the world today, and we need to provide it to our children."

Parents also need to be more involved with the educational system, she said, participating on committees and working with their children.

Her record as Congressman from the First Congressional District was strong on making sure criminals did the time they were sentenced to. She said jails need to provide rehabilitation to the inmates, but also have no frills.

When first elected to Congress, Lincoln said, Sen. Bumpers was an invaluable asset. He helped her learn the process and how to get things done on Capitol Hill so she could be the best representative possible.

"He's a great statesman and I can't fill his shoes right off the bat," she told the crowd. "But I will work hard and fight. I can scrap with the best of them.

"If you send me to the Senate," she continued, "I will do all I can to fulfill the legacy of Bumpers. I'll work hard to make you proud."

The Lambert clan, she said, came to Arkansas as missionary's from Kentucky to help save the souls of the "heathens" in Arkansas. The family is one of the oldest in the eastern part of the state, and has always been strongly democratic.

Everything, she said, can't be solved by legislation. Leadership is also needed.

Returning to the topic of education, Lincoln said the U.S. has dropped to 12th out of 20 nations in the world educationally, which is a disgrace.

"I strongly believe in what I'm doing," she said. "I have the energy and experience from being in Washington. You can contrast me with my opponent who wants to do away with the Department of Education and privatize Social Security."

The people of Arkansas want results, Lincoln said, and this is the opportunity for them to make sure the seat remains democratic not only for the state, but the nation as well.

Her opponent, she said, is proud and brags of the fact all the legislation he's proposed in the state senate has failed.

Lincoln, the mother of twin two-year-old boys, was born in Helena and is the product of the public school system. She is a seventh-generation farm family who is devoted to Arkansas.