LINCOLN DEBUTS NEW AD TO PLAY UP AG CHAIRMANSHIP

Sen. Blanche Lincoln counters Lt. Gov. Bill Halter’s Coach with her own Farmer.

Today, Lincoln debuted a new TV ad that plays up the strength of her chairmanship of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.

The ad, which you can view here, notes that it took 184 years for an Arkansan to receive the Ag chairmanship. It also states that Lincoln “forced the Department of Agriculture to put 700 Arkansans back to work in the Ouachita and Ozark forests.”

"It took us 184 years to get that chairmanship. I don't know why we'd want to give it up,” asks Lonoke County farmer L.D. Brantley.

We'll see if the ad shores up or improves Lincoln's standing in rural Arkansas. In October 2009, Talk Business polled the issue of the Ag chairmanship for Lincoln. Roughly one-quarter said it would influence their vote, another quarter said it would not. 47% said it made “no difference.”