|
|
| |
| Sat, May. 17, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Back door to the House Thursday, Mar 20, 2008 By John Brummett Dwayne Dobbins admits it won't make any sense, at least to those not as attuned as he to the powers and mysteries of the divine. But this child sex misdemeanant says it was the Lord who put him on the ballot as an unopposed Democratic candidate for state representative from North Little Rock. It's the Lord, he says, who'll guide him through all the hatefulness that has ensued. Bill Gwatney, the state Democratic chairman, suspects this was less a matter of godliness than mortal cynicism. Dobbins said that his wife, Sharon, who held the seat and was eligible for one more term, encountered a work-related complication and needed not to run again. Then, though his wife once drew three opponents, she'd attracted none by mid-morning the last day of the filing period last week. So with his wife needing to bow out, and no one else running, Dobbins let the Lord lead him to the state Capitol to file for this wholly available opening. With only about two hours left before the ticket closed, Dobbins filed as a Democratic candidate for his wife's seat in the state House. It was the same seat he'd held until 2005 when he got convicted of a misdemeanor charge - reduced from a felony - connected to his fondling a 17-year-old girl. One element of his plea bargain was that he resign as a representative. His wife ran and replaced him. Nothing about the plea bargain conviction restricted Dobbins' ability to run again. He's entitled to seek this office. But voters are probably entitled to a choice, and to the option of political representation that does not sneak in the back door, but knocks on the front. The Republicans are no help. They are too pitiful in Arkansas for words. The Democrats were looking for Sharon Dobbins to file. Gwatney thinks the Democrats - indeed, all of us - have been bamboozled. He had an incumbent Democrat in that seat, and she had a term left. You'd assume she'd come in and file routinely for re-election. She'd given no indication otherwise. In fact, Gwatney says she called the party headquarters that Monday morning to ask how to file. They thought she was asking for herself. Later at the state Capitol, though, it was her husband who did the actual filing. Gwatney frantically started looking for a North Little Rock Democrat, one not convicted on child sex charges. None was forthcoming by the time the bell sounded. So, as we speak, Dwayne Dobbins is unopposed in this bid to return to the state House of Representatives. Gwatney says the Democratic Party could well bless a write-in candidate or Green Party candidate. He says he knows of eight people interested in seeking the seat one way or another. Gwatney is taking some criticism for letting this happen, but it's unfair. He thought he had an unopposed incumbent. The lack of real competitiveness in Arkansas legislative districts - or congressional districts, or the state as a whole - is not Gwatney's fault. It's inertia's fault. The law allows, and fairness compels, that a man be allowed to try to put his past behind him. Dobbins says this could serve as a test about second chances. Is he not entitled to one? He is, of course. But that last-minute trickery might have qualified as his second chance. Now North Little Rock voters deserve an option on whether he gets what would amount to a third. ------- John Brummett is a columnist for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. His e-mail address is jbrummett@arkansasnews.com; his telephone number is (501) 374-0699. |
