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Political Notebook: Boozman still welcome at family reunions Sunday, Jun 22, 2008 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - The Christmas and birthday gifts will apparently still come for Rep. John Boozman, despite his reluctance to help two family members in state House races last month. Boozman, R-Rogers, said it would have been inappropriate for him as the state's top Republican to try to influence the outcome of Republican primary races that featured his niece and his sister-in-law. Boozman's niece, Stephanie Malone of Fort Smith, won her race. She said she wouldn't have accepted his help, anyway. "I really wanted to win that election on my own and not due to who my family was," Malone said. "That was very important to me." "There's no hard feelings," she added with a laugh. But now that she's the Republican nominee, she said she expects his full support come November. Malone faces Democrat Mike Bock in the general election. The congressman said he would be as involved in the race as his niece wants him to be. Boozman's sister-in-law, Vickey Boozman, lost her bid for a Benton County state House seat to Tim Summers. Rep. Boozman, who lives in Benton County, said he knows Summers well. His sister-in-law is "very comfortable" with the loss, he said. "Both those races, I had nothing to do with, because I don't believe I, in my position, need to be involved in primaries," he said. "I don't feel like I should try to use the weight of my office to try to influence local elections." Oh happy month No, it wasn't a church service visitors to the U.S. Capitol overheard last week. It was just Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and a score of gospel music singers clapping hands and singing "Oh Happy Day." Well, maybe Lincoln was singing, or perhaps she was just moving her lips. Whatever, she said it was a good thing that she wasn't front and center. "I'd have my staff looking for me mad if I was going to start singing," she quipped. Singer or not, Lincoln said she recognized the important role gospel music plays in her state, which is why she sponsored a Senate resolution declaring September as "Gospel Music Heritage Month." Lincoln joined Christian music stars like the Winans family, Avalon, Natalie Grant and Sandi Patty for a news conference to recognize the month. It ended with the "Oh Happy Day" sing-along. The state's senior senator grew up in Helena, a Mississippi River town where she was exposed to gospel music early on in life, she said. "I've been aware of the unique traditions of gospel music all my life and the important role it's played in my life, the importance that it's played in our faith community in my state, and certainly the important role that it's played in our country," Lincoln said. Lincoln is Episcopalian. When asked to name her favorite gospel song, she said she liked "all of them." Hotline to a congressman Eight years removed from Congress, former Rep. Jay Dickey, R-Pine Bluff, apparently continues to wield some influence over at least one lawmaker. A Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill, reported last week that Dickey is one of a handful of people given wide-open access to staff members for Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. Dickey, now a lobbyist, was considered part of an "A Team" of lobbyists, according to a memo obtained by the newspaper. That meant interns were instructed to let Dickey and other "A Team" members who called the office to speak to any staffer the lobbyist requested. Fellow lawmakers and other officials did not have the same access to Young's staff as the "A Team," the newspaper reported. Young is the former House Transportation Committee chairman and is the third-ranking Republican in the House. A friend of Dickey, Young received $66,882 from donors in the Pine Bluff area for his 2006 re-election campaign. Congressional lobbying records show Dickey's clients include the Arkansas Hospitality Association, Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff and the city of Monticello. Lincoln loses Don't call Blanche Lincoln a Cinderella. The Arkansas senator fell in the first round to a former colleague in the "VP Madness" contest, a matchup of potential vice-presidential picks on the political Web site, cqpolitics.com The contest is set up like an NCAA basketball tournament bracket. Lincoln was dispatched in the first round by former Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga. Cleland won 57 percent to 42 percent. The Web site listed 32 Democrats as possible running mates for Barack Obama. Another Arkansan is still in the hunt as voters' choice - retired Gen. Wesley Clark advanced to the round of eight after dispatching Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Evan Bayh, D-Ind., in the early rounds. He faced former vice presidential candidate John Edwards in the quarterfinals. In the Republican version of "VP Madness," former Gov. Mike Huckabee was voters' choice to join John McCain on the Republican ticket. |
