Local is national

There sat I with about 300 others inside the University of Arkansas’ Global Campus auditorium on the Fayetteville Square.

We’d come for the second and final hour-long, Chamber of Commerce-sponsored debate between incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Pryor and GOP challenger Tom Cotton.

The prelude to this debate delivered by onstage media members who’d be asking the questions felt more like orientation at the Happy Hollow Elementary School than a gathering of full-grown voters and media: No questions from the audience, police will confiscate ringing cell phones. If you have to leave you won’t be readmitted. No spontaneous outbursts of support or condemnation. Everyone can applaud beforehand and together at the end. Yawn. As instructed, we applauded in unison as Cotton and Pryor strolled to their wooden lecterns. Settling into my seat, I hoped to hear understandable answers appropriate for candidates seeking this sacred public office. You know, this high federal office that belongs to neither man nor wealthy special interests on either side (from the Koch brothers to George Soros and Hollywood) but to all those a senator supposedly serves.

There were three subjects for debate: Transportation, education and the economy. I found myself hoping to depart more informed than when I’d arrived, although I also felt certain at least 98 percent of those seated here already knew how they’d be voting.

As the evening progressed, each candidate offered responses and rebuttals on various issues, although I swear I couldn’t decipher many direct responses. Instead, through the punches and counterpunches, here’s what I was hearing in a barrage of echos:

Pryor: “You hang out with out-ofstate billionaires!”

Cotton: “You rubber-stamp voted with Barack Obama’s failed policies 93 percent of the time!” Pryor: “You serve only billionaires!” Cotton: “You serve Obama!” Pryor: “Billionaires control you!” Cotton: “You’re Obama’s lapdog who cast the deciding vote for Obamacare!”

Pryor: “Billionaires! Billionaires! Billionaires!” Cotton: “Obama! Obama! Obama!” I got it. But I also wanted both men to answer most of the important questions in a direct and informative manner through reasonable, succinct explanations. Sigh, more dashed expectations.

It was surprising to hear Pryor say he believes $200,000-a-year represents the “middle class” in Arkansas when the average household income is closer to $40,000.

Regardless of their debate mantras, I see this election in just over two weeks as boiling down to external circumstances that work against Pryor more so than Cotton. And the circumstances are Obama and Nevada’s curmudgeon Democratic Senator Harry “I can smell tourists in the Capitol building” Reid.

As the senate’s majority leader, Reid has held tight control over that national body throughout the Obama administration. Our U.S. Senate has had to live with Reid’s all-too-often unreasonable and flagrantly politicized acts in his critical public role.

I’ve long seen Reid as the nation’s most unpopular elected public figure other than Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House, who famously told us her colleagues in Congress had to approve the Obamacare bill to know what it contained.

And neither of these divisive characters is as popular as the 31 percent approval rating that Obama polls in Arkansas.

This means Pryor’s re-election would contribute to Reid maintaining his stranglehold as the Senate’s majority leader since six Senate seats have to be gained by Republicans nationally to release his grip on all of us. In that regard, all local politics, including Arkansas’, becomes very national.

I also believe it did Senator Pryor no favor whatsoever that President Obama has squandered enormous amounts of public trust with his suspect words and broken promises, along with the endless scandals now rocking his administration. Obama also publicly stated this month that, although he’s not running in November, he sees the coming election as a national referendum on the popularity of his policies.

Hard for me to believe he’d admit that in light of such widespread disenchantment with his administration, its failed policies and his performance as our commander in chief.

Cotton sounded a bit like a relentless jackhammer in repeating that Pryor chose to cast his senate votes with Obama 93 percent of the time. Senator Pryor neither denied that number, nor did he explain those votes. I wondered how many, like the one approving Obamacare, were considered critical votes with widespread national implications rather than matters of lesser consequence.

Perhaps Pryor will survive these national anchors that through his own votes and choices have come to settle on his shoulders at home. As it was with former Democratic colleague Sen. Blanche Lincoln, I see his task as one steep mountain to climb with so many Arkansans displeased with this administration and Reid.

Despite what I or other pundits and supporters yada on and on about this race (and those God-awful TV commercials), in a couple of weeks we’ll all see the bottom line of how Arkansans feel about Sen. Harry Reid and Obama’s policies and ongoing transformation of America.