I want to know what are Blanche Lincoln approval numbers. That's what matters.

Maybe, just maybe, if Lincoln were to stand up for the little guy, her numbers might not be so bad.

But that's conjecture, since it's never going to happen.

And yet, just think how much benefit could be gained by those same people of Arkansas from a Federally subsidized system of free/cheap clinics and increased availability/affordability of insurance. It's sometimes amazing and always discouraging just how hard it is to get people to make the connection that they are strongly opposed to something that would personally benefit them.

I can attest to this. I recently transplanted to Arkansas to live with my fiance for awhile after getting out of the Army.

The lies about the Health care bill are treated as biblical truth here, and yet noone that I've asked has even fact checked the stuff they believe, muchless read the bill. They also refer to Fox News as "real news."

I've read several letters to the news paper along the lines of "get the government out of my Medicare." A response to that letter was printed stating the obvious, that Medicare wouldn't exist without the Government. The general response to that, shown over several letters, was that that belief is just what the angry, fascist Democrats want people to believe.

Yeah. This state needs help. In other news, if any sane Arkansas happen to be reading this, I'd love some rational company.

Not much has changed in Arkansas since African American children were attacked and taunted trying to attend school in 1957, and the governor called out the National Guard to prevent them.

Flush Ark down the tiolet with these stupid asholes who will vote once again against their own interests!

Maybe when Arkansasians learn how to read and turn on a computer, they'll exit their outhouse, enter their doublewide, turn on their Apple IIe, read the internet, and get offended.

How did Arkansas elect someone like Bill Clinton governor five times and voted for him for President twice? Has the state gotten more conservative since then?

Well, when their elected leaders feed this stuff and don't say it's crap, then of course it becomes conventional wisdom.

Especially when Rush Limbaugh is their defacto leader ...

Jesus, I can't imagine how anyone might convince these folks that liberals are their enemy. Why would anyone prefer being called "Real Americans" when they could have us calling them inbred, shit-hole dwellers? Seriously, replace the redneck or white trash with any disadvantaged ethnic group and these comments just scream Redstate wolverine.

"Jesus, I can't imagine how anyone might convince these folks that liberals are their enemy."

These rednecks and the politicians who exploit them with that "Real American" crap have been running my country into the ground for thirty years. If they had a constructive idea in their peabrains, I'd be happy to listen. But they don't, and, as it stands, I don't see any benefit in playing nice.

Fetal alcohol syndrome.

Can we just let them secede already? Then the rest of the birthers can move there, and have a good ol' time reliving the 19th century.

Every state has something good about it. Arkansas is far away and has nothing I will ever need. That's good.

Hi. I was born, raised and currently live in Arkansas. For those curious, I can explain these weird things about my state.

First you may be wondering why so many (just over half!) people question or deny the citizenship of our president. It is racism. I'm sure that is no shock to hear. But as a non-racist, white Arkansan I have been shocked many times over at how ignorant and repulsive otherwise seemingly decent people's attitudes are over race. The racism is no longer flaunted publicly as it was just a few decades ago. Rather it is kept under the surface, only to be revealed when in the right company or talked about in code that non-racist may not understand. And these folks will grasp at anything that reinforces their prejudice towards our president due to his skin color.

Second, how can we have Democrats as both senators, three of our four representatives, every state-wide office and overwhelming majorities in both state chambers and still be so conservative? To answer this one we have to look back to history. Arkansans pride themselves on tradition, and voting patterns are no exception. The lone Republican representative from Arkansas is from the northwestern part of the state. This is the part of the state where most folks sided with the union during the Civil War. The rest of the state was solidly with the confederacy. There are literally generation after generation of voters in Arkansas that will keep voting for X party simply because their parents did.

Has a state that voted for Bill Clinton as governor and then president really become that much more conservative? LOL. No, not hardly. At least in the sense that people are now waking up to some new political ideology. Rather the people here are, in general, not very well educated. Back when Bill was getting elected we did not have Rush Limbaugh and Fox News selling conspiracy, hate and self righteousness from The Right. Unfortunately, the uneducated are exactly who are drawn into the twisted world view the right-wing noise machine pumps out.

Is Arkansas full of stupid, inbred rednecks (and other names)? Yes, this is true. Arkansas *is* full of stupid, inbred rednecks. However, the inbred thing is very exaggerated. Most are simply stupid rednecks.

Even so, there are enclaves of nice, decent progressives, too. A few of them have posted in the comments above. We are just like progressives everywhere and generally share all of the same policy views and attitudes. So when you say, "Fuck Arkansas, they didn't vote for Obama." I say, "No, fuck you. I did vote for Obama." Along with 40% of voters in this state.

So why would a progressive live in Arkansas? Aside from Republicans (which I've heard can actually live anywhere!), this isn't such a bad place. The cost of living is extremely cheap. The job market is not too bad. The roadways are not overly congested. There are nice places to go camping, hiking, bicycling, sailing, and just about any other outdoor activity (no further than a thirty minute drive from where I live). In fact, there are not many places in the US where I would rather live.

I just moved to Arkansas from Texas, and so was rather appalled to hear this poll reported on the local news last night. (I'm from Dallas; the county voted for Obama at least.) The local news got what this article didn't. The poll was heavily skewed toward older voters; less than 15% of the people polled were under the age of 30, and I would hazard to guess that the number holds true for those under the age of 45 or so. So, the news station went and interviewed students at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, and not a single student they talked to seemed impressed with the idea of Rush Limbaugh. One visibly recoiled at the idea. They generally supported Obama. The reporter also implied that even though the poll was run by an independent organization, the pollster had close ties to Republicans.