'Don’t vote for what they tell you you have to be against,' Clinton says. Clinton to Ark.: 'Vote your heart'

CONWAY, Ark. — Former President Bill Clinton on Monday warned Arkansans to avoid taking a “protest vote” against national Democrats in the midterms, urging them instead to “vote your heart” and back Democrats running at home. He also blasted the influence of outside money in the races.

Drawing rousing applause in a fiery speech here at the University of Central Arkansas, the beloved former governor of this state called on the crowd to vote “for what you are for, not for what you are against.”


He said that since the civil rights tumult of his childhood, he has been “sick and tired of people trying to stir people up, make them foam at the mouth and vote for what they’re against instead of what they are for. How many times have we seen people do something they knew better than to do just ’cause they were in a snit?”

( Also on POLITICO: Bill Clinton tries to save Arkansas from GOP)

Clinton spoke on behalf of candidates including Sen. Mark Pryor, who is locked in one of the closest Senate races of the cycle against Republican Rep. Tom Cotton; former Rep. Mike Ross, who is running for governor; and House candidate Patrick Henry Hays. He was joined at the podium by popular Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, also a Democrat.

“They want you to make this a protest vote,” Clinton said of Republicans. “They’re saying, ‘You may like these guys, but hey, you know what you gotta do, you gotta vote against the president. After all, it’s your last shot.’ It’s a pretty good scam, isn’t it?

“Vote your heart,” he urged the crowd. “Don’t vote for what they tell you you have to be against. Vote for what you know you should be for.”

( Also on POLITICO: Clinton Brand: Centrist populism to celebrity)

Arkansas has tacked sharply right over the past several years of President Barack Obama’s administration, becoming one of the last states in the South to turn red. Clinton is seeking to counteract that trend in the midterms this year through fundraisers, campaign appearances and this week’s intense, two-day swing through four cities.

Clinton said Cotton is asking voters to “give me a six-year job for a two-year protest.”

Offering an impersonation of the Republican congressman, Clinton ran through a litany of positions Cotton has taken and concluded, dripping with sarcasm: “‘No, I’ll never vote for equal pay for equal work. Are you kidding? Would I vote to raise the minimum wage? No way. But I’ll give you one more protest vote. But you gotta give me six years for a protest that will be irrelevant in two.’”

The former president said that Ross’ opponent, Asa Hutchinson, is making the same argument for a “four-year job that doesn’t have a lick to do with Washington, D.C., so you can have one more protest.”

( Also on POLITICO: Clinton Library sets new document release)

Clinton slammed the role outside groups have taken this election cycle and the millions of dollars spent by conservative groups on ads designed to influence the races. He went on to mock voters explaining that they couldn’t vote in their best interests because of what “all this out-of-state money buying television ads tells me to.”

“‘I’d like to think about Arkansas, I’d like to think about our future, I’d like to think about what would be best for our children and grandchildren,’” he said. With his voice dropping to a whisper, the impersonation continued: “‘But I just can’t do it.’”

He also argued that outside groups are “trying to hijack our politics,” a theme he echoed in a later speech in Jonesboro, a northeastern town home to Arkansas State University.

Attendees milled around after that address as a Clinton advance staffer passed out memorabilia — old Clinton signs and his biography, “My Life” — that the former president had signed for them.

“Best wishes, Bill Clinton,” he scrawled in the book belonging to an attendee named Robert. Outside the arena, three young men hawked “Hillary Clinton 2016” T-shirts and Bill and Hillary Clinton buttons.

Despite the unpopularity of the national Democratic Party here in Arkansas, Bill Clinton maintains major cachet in the state. His presidential library is here; he and his wife, Hillary Clinton — a possible 2016 Democratic presidential front-runner — frequently visit; and he has taken a deep personal interest in many Arkansas races for months, people close to him say. And he made it a point to note his personal relationships with the candidates — he also introduced several down-ballot pols as “longtime friends” as he urged attendees to “be faithful to the true heritage of your state.”

His fans note that in 2012, Clinton gave a highly effective speech at the Democratic National Convention, explaining the new health care law in such an accessible fashion that Obama joked he should have the title “Secretary of Explaining Stuff.”

Clinton tapped into that mode on Monday, outlining in Conway the various ways the country and the economy have improved over the past several years.

“I don’t expect anybody to vote on that” because not everyone has seen evidence of that yet, he said. “But I’m telling you the truth.”

He praised Beebe for working with Republicans and Democrats alike, and said the governor’s approval ratings are sky-high because “he doesn’t run away from party label, but believes in working with everyone.”

Clinton will also visit the University of Arkansas, in Fayetteville, and stop by the northwest city of Rogers to stump for the candidates during his two-day swing.

Republicans see Arkansas as a major pick-up opportunity in their quest to reclaim the Senate. Pryor, the son of Arkansas legend David Pryor, a former governor and senator, is working to keep the race as locally focused as possible.

Pryor, who spoke ahead of Clinton, asked the former president — who has just become a grandfather — to take a “selfie” with him.

Clinton told reporters after the speeches that he would be “surprised” if Pryor didn’t win “if we get good turnout,” and he praised the incumbent senator for “trying to work with everybody, be fair to everybody.”

“Now, that’s not what the outside ads say, but that’s what the real facts are,” Clinton said, before going on to take selfies with students — even admonishing one to move an arm out of the picture — and thank soldiers for their service.