Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Rockefeller: "Coming To Aid"

By JOHN MILLER

Win Rockefeller, Republican candidate for Lt. Gov., was in Prescott on Tuesday, Oct. 22, handing out what he called "propaganda."

The candidate visited the Nevada County Courthouse before touring Hines Trucking.

When asked why he's running for public office, after spending his adult life working with the WinRock Foundation, he said it was time to come to the aid of Arkansas.

Rockefeller, who is running on the family name and outspending his democratic opponent Charlie Cole Chaffin 5-1, said his primary focus will be on the economy and economic opportunity.

He said Arkansas is exporting one of its most precious commodities -- its children, who leave the state for greener pastures after finishing their educations.

"To find the kind of opportunities they want," he said, "they have to leave the state. We're losing them at an unacceptable rate.

"To meet their needs," he continued, "we need to continue to stimulate existing business and industries." This is where, he said, 70 percent of all new job growth has occurred in Arkansas in recent years.

In addition, he said he will use the Rockefeller name to try and attract new business and industry to the state.

However, one of the major planks in his platform is to help communities help themselves. He said community needs vary from place to place, and what most need is someone from the outside to point out the good things they have to offer.

Once these things are pointed out, he said, it will be up to the communities to build on them.

"It's a simple thing," he said, "a local initiative approach. A lot of communities get beaten down by issues affecting them daily. It's hard for leaders to step back and see what they have to offer and create small business.

"It's not rocket science," he continued. "It's people helping people help themselves."

Rockefeller said he will try and get a broad spectrum of different businesses and industries to locate in Arkansas, if elected, because there is a broad spectrum of people in the state.

He will look at attracting manufacturing jobs, tourism, assembly work among others .

"I'm wide open to the options out there," he said. "The key is matching the resources to the need."

While the main job of the Lt. Gov. is presiding over the state senate, Rockefeller said the position is only constrained by what the office-holder allows.

He said 85 percent of the time, there is no official business for the Lt. Governor to do, unless the governor is out of state. Otherwise, the job consists of presiding over 35 people for about 60 days every two years.

If elected, he promised to "make the job fit the man," and not letting the job dictate what the man can do.

He said the Lt. Gov. has time to get out and do something, which he plans to do, if elected.

When questioned about why he decided to run for public office, Rockefeller said he has four children under the age of 10 and wants to be able to look them in the eye and tell them he was involved and tried to do something to better the state.

The decision to run was heavily discussed in the Rockefeller home before he threw his hat into the political arena. He said it wouldn't be fair to his family for him to have just made a unilateral decision and run.

"The worst part of it is the campaigning," he said. "People are trying to influence your position for their benefits.

"Once elected it will be a matter of making the right decisions and doing my best for Arkansas."