For those with long memories of Arkansas politics, the nascent candidacy of Carlton Saffa for U. S. Senate has a tincture of Monroe Schwarzlose all over again. If you’re unfamiliar with Schwarzlose, he was a Cleveland County turkey farmer, home canning expert and perennial Arkansas political candidate who — despite previous single-digit showings — garnered 31 percent of the vote against Bill Clinton in 1980. Ernest Dumas, then the Gazette associate editor, described Schwarzlose as a “quixotic candidate.” With the emergence of Saffa, the mantle may have been passed.
Where Schwarzlose traded in folksy, front-porch witticisms and preposterous campaign promises, Saffa’s early pitch appears mostly fueled by invective and dubious jabs at Sen. Mark Pryor, whom Saffa hopes to unseat. In the current era of no-claim-too-outrageous, Saffa has already managed to pad a fledgling war chest with contributions. To wit, he has created an independent expenditure committee — a so-called super PAC — aimed at defeating Pryor in 2014.
Saffa told the Arkansas News Bureau that the committee, Retire Pryor, has spent close to $10,000, with about $8,000 going to buy a full-page ad in the statewide newspaper.
A Republican, Saffa said he disagrees with Pryor’s politics, particularly his support of the federal health insurance reform law, but his campaign is not focused on Pryor’s votes or policies. Retire Pryor exists primarily as a vehicle to proffer allegations that the senator used his influence to shield his mother-in-law from an IRS investigation concerning unpaid taxes.
Pryor spokesman Michael Teague has repeatedly denied the charge and complained that Saffa has not backed it up with proof.
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“Nothing he says has any truth… None of it adds up,” Teague said. “This guy is just slandering Mark Pryor with no evidence.”
Saffa compared himself to a news blogger.
“What I’m doing essentially is no different from some guy with a blog who’s reporting on the news and trying to find a new angle,” he said. “In my own little way, I’m hunting my story down.” Of course, Saffa has his own problems with which to contend. As the Arkansas News Bureau reported, his college years were marked with controversy. He admitted he was nearly expelled but said he believed it was in retaliation for opposing the UA administration on a number of issues.
Saffa was a member of the student government in 2004 when it sued the university over meetings of a task force that UA administrators claimed were not subject to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. He also was involved in “Oust the Kommissar,” a push for the removal of then-Chancellor John A. White and then-Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Johnetta Brazzell.
Efforts to expel Saffa ultimately were dropped. He later left the university without graduating.
For one who predicates his electoral efforts on casting out ethical demons, his experience with the U of A provides a questionable foundation. Even so, Saffa found a paradoxical ally in state Sen. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville, who thought he was treated unfairly by the administration. “I have a lot of respect for him. I think he does his homework and he has very strong principles,” Madison said.
That’s all well and good, but the flame of strong principles is all too easily fanned into demagogic wildfire when political office is at stake. Americans have shown an increasing tolerance for rhetorical firebombs, swift-boating and their kin. Arkansans ultimately knew better than to elect the turkey farmer; let’s hope they know better than to elect any turkeys.