Political Animals Club of Northwest Arkansas met last week for a "dual appearance" of the November showdown in the Attorney General's race.
Candidates vying for the top lawyer spot in the state, Nate Steel and Leslie Rutledge, were both candid, focused and seemed ready for an audience of political who's who in the region.
Neither candidate is, however, from Northwest Arkansas.
Both brag about being sixth-or seventh-generation Arkansans. I kept waiting for one to say their ancestors were with Hernando DeSoto's expedition.
The meetings were bereft of political fireworks, but trust me, there will be more separation by these candidates in this race prior to November.
Both attended the UA's flagship campus for undergraduate work.
Steel, a native of Nashville (Howard County) spent seven years in Fayetteville (undergraduate and law school). He's waged a hefty handshaking campaign since his announcement in January. When speaking about law enforcement and the courts, Steel wisely and correctly called out the names of Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder and Drug Court Judge Cristi Beaumont without hesitation.
Steel, it also should be noted, was without a handful 3 x 5 note cards and spoke outside the confine of the speaker's podium, something his opponent, apparently seems tethered to, in these public appearances.
Rutledge, a native of Batesville (Independence County), was a little less familiar with Northwest Arkansans -- even the region Republicans.
She came across as a little halting and a disappointment to many after her puff and gunpowder like delivery in her previous TV commercials. Her ads were slick as she was fending off a TEA Party candidate who was backed by out-of-state money promoting a "Stand Your Ground" law.
No such law is on the Arkansas Law Books.
Rutledge, to her credit, was running the GOP Primary from Central Arkansas from January to a June runoff this year. She carried the primary ticket in May and won the June runoff.
Both candidates each took 12 minutes, as the time allotted, and tried their best to define their candidacy and themselves to the audience.
One large division in this race has been Rutledge's promise to sue the federal government as the state's top lawyer, if elected. She denied last week that she "..wanted to be the 7th member of the Congressional delegation," as one Central Arkansas newspaper columnist has suggested were her intentions by suing the federal government.
Steel says he knows what Arkansas needs as an Attorney General: "We need an Attorney General who will serve all of Arkansas and one who will protect Arkansans from the many problems we face here at home. We don't need to spend taxpayer money in advancing national political agendas."
Steel said he would sue Uncle Sam, if need be, but not just to disagree.
Rutledge who drew to go first on the podium acknowledged what her website professes: "...the state Attorney General is the most important elected official in the federalist system when it comes to protecting states' rights."
She said she is "frustrated with the actions of the federal government." Both on her website and in person she simply will not fail to evoke the names of the President and former Speakers.
Her website says while in Washington as a Republican Party attorney, "...she worked tirelessly to stop federal overreach by defeating Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House and fighting against Barack Obama's White House."
Neither candidate mentioned God.
Rutledge professed on TV that she totes a gun. I didn't a detect firearm on her person last week.
There's plenty of time, until November, to see if she is really packing heat.
MAYLON RICE, A FORMER JOURNALIST HAVING WRITTEN BOTH NEWS AND COLUMNS FOR SEVERAL NWA PUBLICATIONS, HAS BEEN WRITING FOR THE ENTERPRISE-LEADER FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
Editorial on 07/23/2014