EDITORIAL: Ark. U.S. Senate debate was the Harrington show due to Cotton no-show

Arkansas registered voters and Libertarians all over this country got to see a rare spectacle in politics Wednesday night. The spectacle: a one-man debate involving a Libertarian challenger to the current sitting Republican. That Republican, Tom Cotton, decided to decline and then no-show.

That’s right. For an entire hour and then roughly 15 minutes afterward for a press conference, the Arkansas PBS debate was the Ricky Dale Harrington, Jr. show. The lone opponent has grown to be a threat to Cotton’s power, especially with a rare instance with no Democrat in the race. The last poll pre-debate had Harrington down by 11 points. That will now likely change because Cotton decided to sit on his hands and did nothing.

Cotton is seeking a second term in office and according to most Arkansan voters, yet he’s not very popular in the Natural State. Morning Consult reports that Cotton has a 48% approval rating. Not good if he’s thinking with $6 million in the bank that he has re-election in the bag.

Even Harrington was disappointed in Cotton’s no-show to the debate.

“I’m a little disappointed. I was looking forward to looking him in the face and talking about the issues and having an intellectual debate on policy,” Harrington said. “He’s on Fox News, I don’t know how many times a week – two or three times a week? – but he can’t come here to address the people of Arkansas. Why would you want to support somebody that does that?”

The debate panelists were George Jared and Steve Brawner from Talk Business and Politics and Donna Terrell from Fox 16 in central Arkansas. The three would alternate in asking questions to Harrington, Jr. throughout the duration of the debate.

Harrington on the issues

Harrington would state the following in his opening statement, clearly resembling the economic and health crisis surrounding COVID-19:

“Right now in our country, we’re in pain. We’re in emotional pain, we’re in physical pain, mental pain, We’re in pain right now from the uncertainty of what’s going on in our country,” he said. “I want you to know, I feel your pain.”

Harrington, a preacher and former Arkansas Department of Corrections chaplain, promises to be a problem solver.

“What we need right now is someone who is going to unite this country,” he said.

Throughout the debate, Harrington would draw contrasts with Cotton, disagreeing on various issues, including criminal justice. He would agree with nothing Cotton has done.

Criminal justice

Cotton claims there is an under-incarceration problem in America.

“The United States holds about 25% of the world’s incarceration population. The state of Arkansas has one of the highest incarceration rates per capita,” states Harrington. “Our criminal justice system has been monetized.”

“This is the main thing: we know people do bad things and they should be punished for what they’ve done, but there should be no innocent people in prison,” Harrington adds. “And surely, no innocent people should be condemned to death.”

Healthcare

Harrington said he “personally benefitted” from the Affordable Care Act but realizes that many did not. He would like for a compromise to take place between those wanting to amend the ACA and those calling for Medicare for All to find common ground for common sense healthcare. This would allow for those who want government insurance and those who want private insurance.

“Why not amend it rather than replace,” he asked. “My vision is to try to bring those together for something that benefits those who want public health care and those who would like to go with private insurance.”

Government spending

Harrington would start with a reduction in military spending when asked about the $27 trillion national debt. Part of the question was how to control the Federal government’s out-of-control spending.

“Whenever I talk about the military budget, it’s not the soldiers, the airmen, the sailors, the Marines, who put themselves in harm’s way to serve this country,” Harrington states. “We need them and their morale to be as high as it can be – ready to go out and defend America. But, we spend a lot of money on defense contracts.”

He would be, in fact, referencing weapons systems from companies such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

“We need to take a look at that, how much money we’re spending on that, and what we can cut,” Harrington adds.

Other issues

Harrington would also share some of his thoughts on other issues. Among those were war powers, abortion, COVID response, and defunding the police.

Social media response

There were plenty of positive responses on YouTube and Facebook regarding the debate.

Regardless of the outcome

Regardless of what happens on November 3, this could very well be one of the shining examples for Libertarians in Arkansas in what should be the Libertarian Party of Arkansas’ finest moments in nearly half a century.

I highly recommend that you watch this rare spectacle in action. I have added the video below with the starting point around 4:45. The following press conference is roughly around the 1:06:30 mark.

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