IMHO - expected. He has good career, spanning decades, and, on the other hand, Arkansas becomes more and more difficult to win even for relatively conservative Democrat. Except few black majority and some other liberal areas (Little Rock, Fayetvtille) it will soon become an Eastern Texas...
that's too generous. Even in Texas, the democrats have a good electoral safety net (central SA, most of Houston, South Dallas, Central Fort Worth, El Paso and all of south Texas). Democrats in Arkansas have a much lower floor.
