LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — When it came time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of a dam on the Little Red River this fall, former President Bill Clinton came running. But once he arrived in the state, he had more on his mind than just public works.
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Given Mr. Obama’s low approval here, Democrats are subtly invoking the Clinton name, sometimes slyly suggesting to voters that the current occupant of the White House may soon turn the keys over to Hillary Rodham Clinton, should she run for president.
Mr. Obama will be in office for only three more years, Mr. Pryor noted with a smile during the interview, adding, “Who’s there the next four years?”
Both the former president and his wife are expected to take to the campaign trail here in the months ahead, and if they help Democrats win, it could underscore their enduring influence in Arkansas and suggest that she could be competitive in a state Democrats have lost ever since Mr. Clinton left the White House. However, a string of Democratic losses next year could indicate that Arkansas is joining its Southern neighbors in becoming a Republican-dominated state and could raise questions about the currency of the Clinton legacy.
“The 2014 election in Arkansas is not going to be about who is the president, it’s about who is going to be the president,” said James L. Rutherford, the dean of the University of Arkansas graduate school, which is named for Mr. Clinton, and a longtime friend of the former president’s.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/us/is-arkansas-still-friendly-to-bill-clinton-tests-it.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp&pagewanted=all
