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A senseless tragedy in Little Rock Sunday, Aug 17, 2008 By David Sanders Bill Gwatney was one of those guys you liked to see heading in your direction. Despite being two years shy of the mid-century mark, the former lawmaker/state party chairman/car dealer always gave off an air of youthful exuberance. A straight-talker, animated, confident ? at times cocky - he enjoyed getting a laugh out of people, even if at his own expense. A couple of weeks ago he strolled onto the set of my television program wearing a huge Barack Obama button. Gwatney, a Hillary Clinton superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention, said he figured I would ask him about Obama, so he wanted to save me the effort of having to ask him if he was 100 percent behind the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. After taking his seat under the bright lights, he instructed the floor producer that he needed at little powder on his face because he was "a little oily" -- an obvious opening to gig the car-dealing politician. But, he didn't stop there. Before we began rolling tape, I, along with Pat Lynch, the veteran radio personality and my other program guest, lobbied him to bring back GWATZILLA - the larger than life blow-up dragon made famous in Gwatney Chevrolet television ads years ago. But, Gwatney shot back claiming he was actually considering a career as a spokesmodel, contemplating appearing in his dealerships' new television ads. We, of course, gave our sarcastic approval, which in return earned us the trademark (porcelain-enhanced) Gwatney grin. When the cameras started rolling, he made a little news that day by verbally committing himself and the state's entire slate of Democratic officeholders to spending their political capital to deliver Arkansas' six electoral votes to Barack Obama. (It remains to be seen whether the state's moderate-talking Democrats want to be closely identified with the more liberal Obama.) We had a good time that day, which is why I cringed with disbelief when news broke Wednesday that Gwatney had been gunned down, critically injured at Democratic headquarters and was struggling to stay alive at an area hospital. And then when the announcement that he had died was finally made, it seemed so unbelievable, unfair and entirely unfortunate. Gwatney had passion and drive, which helped him as a state senator. He took the fight to the Baptist Health System and Blue Cross Blue Shield with his tireless work on behalf of the "Any Willing Provider" legislation that would allow patients pick the hospital of their choice instead of letting health insurance companies make that decision. As he neared the end of his legislative career, Gwatney was instrumental in focusing state leaders on the need to pursue large super-sized job-creating industries. In 2006, he accepted Mike Beebe's request to chair his campaign's finance effort. Subsequently the campaign set fund-raising records and Beebe crushed his Republican opponent. The chairmanship of the state's majority party is supposed to be a reward, not a death sentence. His family friends are left to mourn their painful and untimely loss. Hopefully, they will be comforted by the prayers offered up on their behalf. Meanwhile, those of us in this business will try to make sense out of the senseless act that took Bill Gwatney's life. And, we'll grieve. ------- David Sanders writes twice weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock and is a host of the Arkansas Education Television Network's "Unconventional Wisdom." His e-mail address is DavidJSanders@aol.com. |
