Campaign ads dumb

The latest primary ad for Sen. John Boozman features an endorsement from “snarling Dardanelle Sand Lizard” Tom Cotton, but previous ads and those of his challenger, Jake Bequette, were remarkably similar. Both men promote “conservative values,” guns, the unborn, and Donald Trump’s wall. Boozman does note that supporting Trump’s tax cut that went mostly to corporations and the rich helped raise the national debt by about $7.5 trillion in Trump’s term.

Owning and carrying guns has been elevated to a “God-given right” and must be protected from the “gun-grabbing liberals in Washington.” Doubt Jesus would have been packing, and the closest Congress has come to “gun-grabbing” is a call for background checks that will not pass.

Abortion is a state issue, and if the Supreme Court reverses Roe, most Republican-run states will outlaw abortion, having little effect on the rate, but making life more difficult for poor women. The Senate is not likely to be involved.

Anyone thinking that Trump’s wall would slow illegal immigration has never heard about 12-foot walls and 14-foot ladders. Most illegal immigrants, of course, do not sneak across the Mexican border, and appear less of a threat than our homegrown thugs, since they try hard to stay out of trouble.

Why are our two leading contenders for the coming Senate primary running such dumb ads? The answer is that these ads are not about issues, but are triggers to rile up their base. The ads are content-free because apparently Republicans have no agenda other than protecting us from the “radical Democratic left.” Too bad Arkansas will elect one of these guys rather than someone who might actually do some good for the state. And as an aside, the first ad I have seen for Sarah Huckabee Sanders touts motherhood.

ROGER WEBB

Little Rock