Politics is something I will not write about here very often. It can be incredibly divisive and I don’t think that’s what ag needs. However, I think tis is an exception with a point, so here I go.
I know a lot of people will be talking about the elections in their home states today but I have to say the race I was watching most closely was one that I didn’t get a vote in. Its one that saw a very strange turn of political parties as well. It was the Senate race in Arkansas. Most everyone I know in Arkansas — Democrat and Republican wanted Senator Blanche Lincoln to return to DC.
Lincoln has a real connection to agriculture, the kind of connection that transcends party lines. She’s exactly the kind of person we need in DC. She’s walked rice levees and turnrows. She actually takes time to talk with real farmers. We suffered a loss here and I have to wonder if I and others could have done more.
If you aren’t familiar with her, I have previously blogged about her. And would share this video of her
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyHTg2SPiOg]
We need to find more ways to break outside of our comfort zones and talk with people who may not have a shared interest in agriculture but certainly have a vested interest in food. Making those connections are our responsibilities. We need to do it in the way that helps people see things they may be overlooking.
In the meantime, I also wonder where Blanche Lincoln will head after this. I hope agriculture can still count her among the advocates we have on a national stage. We need more people like her, not fewer.
Agree, Janice.
Boozman’s a good guy. He’ll probably make Arkansas a good senator, with a sincere desire to represent the will of the people.
But farmers and agribusiness will lose significant and influential friend in the Senate in Senator Lincoln’s leaving.
We’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone else for the Ag Committee who’s had the depth of personal experience in farming she did.
With the wave that came at her from the left in May, and the one from the right yesterday, I’m not certain anyone could have done more for her re-election.