GOP Protest Unnoticed
Last updated Thursday, December 14, 2006 10:14 PM CST in Columns
By Brenda Blagg
The Morning News
The little protest staged over the weekend by some Benton County Republicans probably went unnoticed by most in Arkansas, even by most Republicans.
It was a statement of support for one of Benton County's long-serving Republicans, state Sen. Dave Bisbee of Rogers, and a short shaft for one of his colleagues, Sen. Gilbert Baker of Conway.
What happened was that some of the county's delegates to a Republican state committee meeting in Little Rock, where Gilbert was re-elected as chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas, didn't show.
"A lot of us probably would have tried a little harder to go, but for concerns about whether or not our chairman has the best interest of the state party at heart," explained Ret Miles, chairman of the Benton County Republican Party, prior to the meeting.
He was speaking directly of Baker's role in 2005, when he helped deny Bisbee the post of president pro tempore for the coming Arkansas General Assembly, and this year, when he was in on the vote that took Bisbee out of the chairmanship of the Legislature's powerful Joint Budget Committee.
Gilbert's role in Bisbee's undoing is more about his own bid for power in the Arkansas Senate than about partisan politics; but whatever he did to Bisbee arguably was hurtful to the Republican Party as well. The argument applies at least when it comes to the Senate leadership post Bisbee won't have. A Democrat, Sen. Jack Critcher of Batesville, got the job, thanks to a bipartisan band of senators that came to be known as "The Brotherhood," including Gilbert.
The Brotherhood put together the votes to undo the way the president pro tempore had been chosen previously in order to put Critcher, instead of Bisbee, in the high-profile seat. The same people this year made a rule change designed to oust Bisbee from the chairmanship of Joint Budget. That action came in a quickly assembled meeting of senators the day after this year's general election. This time, the rule change elevated a Republican, Sen. Shawn Womack of Mountain Home, to the chairmanship. Womack, like Gilbert, is part of "The Brotherhood."
Bisbee didn't go along with what "The Brotherhood" wanted in the last session and they ushered him out of the Senate leadership. He's still in the Senate, however; and he'll find ways to be effective, even without being president pro tem or the budget chairman. He might even enjoy being without that extra mantle of responsibility.
Nevertheless, the Republicans back home who sat out the committee meeting last weekend wanted to show the party's leaders their irritation over how Republican Bisbee had been treated by fellow Republican Gilbert, the party's chairman.
For the record, another Benton County Republican, 3rd District Rep. John Boozman of Rogers, endorsed Gilbert's re-election, which probably contributed to the fact that Gilbert was not challenged for the leadership post.
Boozman was the only major Republican to win election this year as the party suffered major setbacks at the state level. Had Boozman protested Gilbert's re-election, it might not have happened. With support from Boozman and from outgoing Gov. Mike Huckabee, Gilbert was a lock to return as chairman.
The boycott of the state committee meeting by those other Benton County Republicans didn't do much more than remind everyone of what might have been with Bisbee leading the Senate.
It really would have been a coup for the Republicans to have had one of their own as president pro tem, the first since Reconstruction. Arkansas would have been the only state in the nation to have a member of the minority party lead its Legislature.
Bisbee had said shortly before the pro tem vote that it was a chance to show the rest of the nation that policy is more important than politics in Arkansas.
Instead, the Senate's Brotherhood, including the Republican party chairman, proved that power is more important than party.
About this columnist
Brenda Blagg is regional editor for The Morning News and covers government and politics.
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Republicans wrote on Dec 16, 2006 9:58 AM:
Hey Ret wrote on Dec 17, 2006 8:14 AM:
It was noticed wrote on Dec 19, 2006 7:29 AM:
Not already registered?
To Ret wrote on Dec 15, 2006 4:50 AM: