By Caleb Kinley, Editor

“Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere.” Republican Martin Luther King, Jr.

***Please note that I am not implying that Sen. Lincoln or Congressman Boozman has anything to do with the other two candidates not being invited to speak at the AAC forum/debate.***

The Association of Arkansas Counties (AAC) have decided to host a forum/debate in Hot Springs on August 13th at the Summit Arena Convention Center and invited incumbent Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln and Republican Congressman John Boozman. During the Arkansas Primary, Lincoln defeated Democrat Lt. Governor Bill Halter, and Boozman defeated seven other Republican candidates who were each vying for the chance to face Lincoln (or Halter) on November 2. However, the big story turns out to be that the AAC, a Arkansas taxpayer funded entity, gets to play “keep-away” with your tax dollars by refusing to invite the other two senate candidates to the debate. Independent Conservative Trevor Drown, a combat war veteran and former Green Beret who earned the Bronze Star for his bravery in combat action inside the hostile Helmand Province in Afghanistan, gets no say in the upcoming debate because he won’t have the opportunity to stand side by side with the parties in power. Unfortunately, John L. Gray , the current mayor of Greenland, AR and the Green Party nominee, will not get an equal chance at the Convention Center podium either. It appears then, that the status quo from both major political parties still remember how to stifle the voice of the people, and the opposition. It’s pretty simple and obvious really. Just don’t let any challengers outside the major two party monopoly have an opportunity to be heard, and you do that by exclusion.

If the tax funded entity doesn’t want to let Drown and Green have an equal part in the debate, then perhaps the taxpayers should form a new TEA Party or taxpayer protection entity and look at working to stop funding an agency that appears to be discriminatory, at least in the political sense. After all, the taxpayers in Arkansas could use a tax break, no matter how slight it might be. Currently, though Arkansas is one of the poorest states in the nation, ranking near or at the bottom, Arkansans rank 13th in the nation in the amount of state taxes paid. And to top it off, the AAC conference/forum is a three day event partially footed by the taxpayers.

In an statement given to John Lyon of the Arkansas News Bureau, AAC spokeman Randy Kemp said the conference is primarily funded through private sponsorship, though counties do use public funds to send officials to the conference. The forum is one of many activities at the three-day conference, which started Wednesday, he said. When asked by Lyon why only Lincoln and Boozman were invited to participate in the forum, Kemp said, “The issues that they will be asked to discuss and answer questions about on Friday will come up for a vote in October, when they’re serving their function as either a senator or a U.S. congressman.”

However, Drown disagreed by stating, the forum is clearly about the Senate race. If the association was only interested in hearing about issues coming up in October, he asked, “why didn’t they ask the representatives from the other parts of the state to come?”

Patricia Weiss of Little Rock, admitted she supports John Boozman and said, “I believe all four candidates should have the opportunity to answer the questions and address the AAC workers/voters. “There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m voting for John Boozman, but I think it would only be fair to give the uninvited candidates floor time. If we don’t, we’re no better than the big government control freaks we’re trying to vote out of office now. I’m sure Drown’s and Gray’s constituents help fund the AAC with their tax dollars too, so yes, by all means, let them in. My fear though is that we’re revolting against big government at the federal level and basically doing nothing at the local and state level where it counts most. If we want to make any serious changes, it needs to begin at the county and state level and we need honorable elected officials who will not be afraid to stand up to an over reaching, too demanding, over spending federal government.”  Otherwise, this great Tea Party movement would have been all for naught.”

Mike S., who refused to give his last name or say who he supported, is adamantly in favor of inviting Drown or Gray. “Look, there’s no way in hell the Green Party will even capture 4-5% of the vote and I would be surprised if the Independent candidate gets 8-10%. But they have the right to be there, front and center. And this guy, Trevor, is a war veteran. What the hell is wrong with these people blocking him from a little exposure? What’s it going to hurt? Who’s it going to hurt? Are they scared that he might win? If anyone has a right to be at the AAC debate, it’s him. This is part of the problem with the Democrat and Republican parties. It’s like a continuous shell game they play on their constituents. It doesn’t matter what shell you pick because it’s always the same ball being pushed around. There is no way the Arkansas GOP or the Democratic Party is going to let anyone other than a Boozman or Lincoln win because both of them will in different ways, protect the status quo.” Mike S. revealed that he’s actually from South Carolina and is vacationing here in Arkansas until the 18th, and until the Tea party came along, he had given up on politics all together. “My thought then was what’s the difference? You vote for a bluedog Democrat, you get a big spending liberal progressive or worse yet, a closet communist. You vote for a Republican, you end up with a John McCain fascist RINO, just like we have in South Carolina with Senator Lindsey Graham. They’ve left true conservatism way, way behind, and now McCain, since it’s an election year for him, he’s flipped and flopped back to pretending he’s a strong conservative again. It’s ridiculous and it’s amazing the number of people that actually believes he has returned to genuine conservatism. They should know by now that when McCain opens his mouth, his words are nothing more than campaign rhetoric to save a seat he should have lost years ago. I’ve been to at least ten tea party’s since 2008 and probably 25 or 30 work shop type meetings in the last year and I can honestly say that we are making up some lost ground with good, quality candidates that at least have won their primaries. It’s too bad that Graham isn’t up for re-election this November. We would easily vote the RINO out of office in November because we have caught on to his liberal antics.”

Regina Bernard, a Lincoln supporter is opposed to giving Drown or Gray an opportunity to be heard. Bernard claimed, “I think two candidates for the Senate race is enough. Anymore than two will crowd the field and can get rather confusing.” When asked who she thought would win the election in November, Bernard smiled and said, “Blanche will defeat Boozman by at least 10-12%. But I don’t think the other two less known candidates will get more than a combined 15% of the vote.” When ARCN asked if she thought excluding Drown and Gray was fair, Bernard added, “Of course it’s fair. The two parties that count are both represented by Blanche and Boozman. A Democrat and a Republican. That’s all that matters. The third party is a no party. Third parties are usually arrogant extremists who want nothing more than to take America back to the days of ball and chain slavery. They don’t understand that we’re moving into a new world that is better for everyone.” When ARCN mentioned to Bernard that America’s first elected president, George Washington was an independent, she declined further comment.

Supporters of independent candidate Trevor Drown and John Gray will join in solidarity to protest the AAC’s decision. They plan to be at the front entrance of the convention center on Friday morning, August 13th, at 8:30am. Drown issued the following statement about his exclusion from the AAC debate in his recent press release (read entire press release here):

“I served this country in combat and thousands of Arkansans signed the petition to place me on the ballot. Now a tax-payer funded organization, which lobby’s for elected county officials in Arkansas, schedules a debate and closes it to two candidates; the Republican and the Democrat. Is this the American way? ”

ARCN has confirmed that Drown or any candidate not running as a Democrat or Republican in Arkansas are forced to go through a signature gathering process to prove they have a “modicum of support” from the voters. Drown and his army of volunteers qualified for the Senate race by gathering over 14,000 valid signatures, 4,000+ more than what’s required. Gray, the Green Party candidate gained ballot access through a lawsuit against Arkansas filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of the Green Party and their candidates.

CORRECTION: Donna Shade, Campaign Manager for Green Party Senate candidate John Gray, emailed ARCN the following: “The Green Party of Arkansas gained access to the ballot the same way Mr. Drown did. They were required to submit a petition with at least 10,000 valid signatures, which was then certified by the Secretary of State.“

Roy Fleshman, a friend of Trevor who served with him in the military, and is also one of Trevor’s campaign advisor’s contacted ARCN and gave the following statement:

“My concern is this association [AAC] has a mission of educating their members (county elected officials) and it is funded by the taxpayers. While most of these members are enjoying the luxury of an all expenses paid convention funded by taxpayers, American soldiers from Arkansas are voluntarily serving overseas on the battlefield in some of the most dangerous places in the world. The AAC’s failure to include the first independent candidate who is one of only four combat veterans currently running for the U.S. Senate is a disgrace to those soldiers service. The next time anyone from the AAC wants to thank a veteran or member of the military, they should bite their tongue, and just walk away. Their cavalier disrespect for our political process is a major part of the problem we have today. The two party system is about power and control, not about governing.”

Update: KATV, which is sending a moderator to the AAC forum/debate, fails to even list Trevor Drown or John Gray. http://www.katv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12939477 not even on their candidates page http://www.katv.com/global/Story.asp?s=12783184. Fox16 had several articles about Lincoln and Boozman, but none on Trevor Drown or John Gray. KTHV at least listed both Drown (http://www.todaysthv.com/news/elections/story.aspx?storyid=100701&catid=331) and Gray.

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