From Bill Halter for Senate Flickr page

One of the most crucial tests of who we are as Democrats is occurring now in Arkansas, as incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln(DINO-BP) is facing the election that will end her career. Insurgent candidate Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter is her primary and now run-off opponent, who is supported by netroots and by Labor both on a national level and on a local level. Lincoln is of course, the Blue Dog who killed the Employee Free Choice Act(EFCA), which would have helped exploited workers organize with the help of a secret ballot. In full disclosure, Peanut Butter PAC endorses Halter for Senator and has awarded him $250, and Peanut Butter PAC wants EFCA to become law.   We also believe that if Bill Halter becomes the nominee, this will move things in the right direction, as I will discuss below

Among Lincoln’s many corporate backers is Big Oil and the League of Conservation Voters rightfully is making sure that voters know that BP is counting on Lincoln to squash any accountability measures or measures to move it into receivership.  After all, Lincoln is #1 in Oil and Gas industry money to a Senator for 2010 according to OpenSecrets(h/t to FireDogLake for bringing this to my attention).   Let’s not forget that Lincoln also wanted to stop the EPA from regulating carbon as a pollutant as her own press release says.   Lincoln’s own issues page makes it plain her support for more offshore drilling madness (emphasis and added quotation marks on responsible mine below).

In 2008, Senator Lincoln was one of 10 bipartisan Senators who developed legislation on a comprehensive and job-creating energy policy. The proposal included a historic investment in research and development in an effort to transition new vehicles to non-petroleum based fuels by 2020. The plan would expand “responsible” measures to increase offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf and remain committed to expanding renewable sources such as wind, solar and geothermal.

So it should be clear that if we want to make sure BP is nationalized and to make them pay through the nose for what they have done, and to help make sure that something like Deepwater Horizon from never happens again, we ust help elect Bill Halter to the U.S Senate.

Blanche Lincoln has fought against real Democrats on almost every meaningful measure to enact the Change that we elected Barack Obama to carry out.  We at Peanut Butter PAC believe the President to be a good man, but also limited by false friends in the Senate like Lieberman, Ben Nelson and Lincoln.   Lincoln helped kill the Public Option, something that caused Democracy For America(DFA) to call her a “healthcare villian” .   Lincoln was the lone vote in the Democratic caucus that killed EFCA in 2009, which groups are running pro-Lincoln ads because of. Lincoln is an obstacle to any climate change bill, and she only drafted a tough bill on derivatives because Halter challenged her.  Any real Democrat thusly must support Bill Halter, a very electable candidate.

Organizing for America(OFA)’s unfortunate support and GOTV for Lincoln proves that it is an astroturf organization which is controlled by the Democratic National Committee(DNC), which under Tim Kaine has been a disaster. The DNC’s record on Deeds, Corzine, Coakley aka Chokeley and Specter proves that Howard Dean knew how to back the right candidates and Kaine does not. OFA’s support for Lincoln is a black mark on that organization and no amount of spin from OFA loyalists will convince me otherwise. At least, we don’t have to pretend OFA is progressive or grassroots anymore.

Our system is of course a representative democracy, and n order for that to work, our representatives must actually follow our views and this is something that has become a problem for Democrats. Electing Bill Halter as the Democratic Nominee will have far-reaching effects. It puts all DINOs on notice that we, the base, are not going to stand for politicians that forgot why they got elected in the first place, and it will prove that you cannot serve the corporations and keep your job. This will help the future of our democracy and a Bill Halter victory is a victory for Democracy. Early voting has started in Arkansas for the run-off on June 8th. If you live in or close to Arkansas, and are available, you can knock on doors to GOTV for Halter. You can also from anywhere make phone calls for Halter, which yours truly will do this weekend when not manning a table for Peanut Butter PAC at the Massachusetts Democratic State Convention. You can also contribute to his ActBlue page. You can also find Halter on our ActBlue page and contribute to him that way or even send us a working capital donation.