Arkansas

‘Will beat him again,’ Biden tells doubters | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Published

5 months ago

July 12, 2024

‘Will beat him again,’ Biden tells doubters | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden showed flashes of anger, defensiveness, boastfulness and defiance as he declared Thursday that he will remain in the presidential race against former President Donald Trump.

“I’m the most qualified person to run for president,” Biden said. “I beat him once, and I will beat him again.”

The response came at a rare and heavily scrutinized Washington news conference Thursday evening amid concerns that the 81-year-old is not capable of winning reelection or governing for another four years.

“I’m not in this for my legacy. I’m in this to complete the job I started,” he said.

“Can you name me somebody who’s got more major pieces of legislation passed in 3½ years?” he said. “I created 2,000 jobs this last week. So if I slow down, I can’t get the job done. That’s a sign that I shouldn’t be doing it. But there’s no indication of that. None.”

Early on, he made one notable flub when he bobbled a reference to Vice President Kamala Harris. But for an hour, he largely held his own under intense questioning, eschewing any suggestion that he was in decline, no longer capable of leading the nation and too old to serve another term.

It was unclear whether the performance was enough to change the dynamic that has set in: A growing number of Democratic lawmakers, donors and celebrities are calling on him to step aside — not to mention the majority of voters expressing doubts that he is up to the job — and Biden is digging in, insisting he’s staying in the race and will win come November. And the longer the infighting continues, the less Democrats are presenting a united front against Trump.

Even as he wrapped his news conference, Biden was confronting calls to step aside. In a statement released shortly after he walked offstage, Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Biden should end his candidacy, considering his “remarkable legacy in American history.” Fifteen other House Democrats have called on him to make way for a new candidate.

Biden said he was willing to take another neurological assessment before the election, but only if his doctors recommended it. His last exam was in January and its results were released in February.

In his first exchange with reporters, Biden was asked about losing support among many of his fellow Democrats and unionists, and was asked about Harris. Biden was at first defiant, saying the “UAW endorsed me, but go ahead,” meaning the United Auto Workers. But then he mixed up Harris and Trump, saying, “I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if she wasn’t qualified.”

Trump weighed in live on Biden’s news conference with a post on his social media network of a video clip of the president saying “Vice President Trump.”

Trump added sarcastically, “Great job, Joe!”

Most of news conference was vintage Biden: He gave long answers on foreign policy and told well-worn anecdotes. He used teleprompters for his opening remarks on NATO, which ran about eight minutes. Then the teleprompters lowered and he took a wide range of questions from 10 journalists about his mental acuity, foreign and domestic policy and — mostly — the future of his campaign.

“I believe I’m the best qualified to govern and I think I’m the best qualified to win,” Biden said, adding that he will stay in the race until his staff says there’s no way he can win.

“No one’s saying that,” he said. “No poll says that.”

Biden has explained away his June 27 debate performance as a bad night after a grueling month of international travel. Since then, he’s been out in public more, talking with voters and answering reporters’ questions. He even looks considerably less pale than he did two weeks ago.

“I’m determined on running but I think it’s important that I allay fears — let them see me out there,” Biden said.

But his campaign on Thursday acknowledged he is behind, and a growing number of the president’s aides in the White House and the campaign privately harbor doubts that he can turn things around.

But they’re taking their cues from Biden, expressing that he is in 100% unless and until he isn’t, and there appears to be no organized internal effort to persuade the president to step aside. His allies said they were aware heading into the week that there would be more calls for him to step down, and they were prepared for it. But they said they felt like he met the moment Thursday, and demonstrated to lawmakers and the public he could do the job even though he’s not known as a polished speaker.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll released Thursday provided some good news to Biden before the conference — a 46%-46% tie with Trump, who has been building a lead in many other surveys at both the national level and in key battleground states. But the same poll found two-thirds of Americans — including 56% of Democrats — want him out of the race.

A new survey from Pew found that a quarter of voters view Biden as mentally sharp, compared with more than half who see Trump that way. More voters view Biden as honest compared with Trump, 48% to 36%, however, and they were twice as likely to call Trump “mean-spirited,” 64%, than Biden, 31%. Large majorities of voters, 63%, found both men “embarrassing.”

PATHWAY TO VICTORY

Earlier, Biden’s campaign laid out what it sees as its path to keeping the White House in a new memo, saying that winning the “blue wall” states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan is the “clearest pathway” to victory.

The memo, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, also argues that Sun Belt states “are not out of reach” for Biden.

“Hypothetical polling of alternative nominees will always be unreliable, and surveys do not take into account the negative media environment that any Democratic nominee will encounter,” the memo says. “There is a long way to go between now and Election Day with considerable uncertainty and polls in July should not be overestimated, but the data shows we have a clear path to win.”

Meanwhile, the campaign has been quietly surveying voters on Harris to determine how she’s viewed among the electorate, according to two people with knowledge of the campaign who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to talk about internal matters.

The people said the polling was not necessarily to show that she could be the nominee in Biden’s place, but rather to better understand how she’s viewed. The research came after Trump stepped up his attacks against Harris after the debate, according to another person familiar with the effort. The survey was first reported by The New York Times.

Harris, meanwhile, traveled to Greensboro, N.C., hoping to refocus attention on Trump’s prior comments that he would be a dictator in his first day in office and that Russia could “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries that do not pay enough in defense spending.

“Someone who suggests we should ‘terminate our Constitution’ should never again have the chance to stand behind a microphone and never again have the chance to stand behind the seal of the president of the United States of America,” she said.

She said “the last few days has been a reminder that running for president is never easy — nor should it be” while calling Biden “a fighter.”

‘PRESIDENT PUTIN’

Biden’s other gaffe of the day came before the news conference, while announcing a compact that would bring together NATO countries to support Ukraine. Biden referred to the nation’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin” to audible gasps in the room. He quickly returned to the microphone: “President Putin — he’s going to beat President Putin … President Zelenskyy,” Biden said.

Then he said, “I’m so focused on beating Putin,” in an effort to explain the mistake.

“I’m better,” Zelenskyy replied. “You’re a hell of a lot better,” Biden said back.

After the slip, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, went on CNN to reiterate his call for Biden to step aside for another candidate. He called Biden’s chances of victory “more improbable” every time he makes a misstatement.

Doggett said the focus on the president’s “stumbles and fumbles” had become the preeminent topic of the presidential race rather than on “Donald Trump’s lies.” If that continues, the Texas lawmaker said, “then we will lose.”

In an effort to bring together anxious lawmakers with Biden’s team, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., organized a meeting to discuss concerns and the path forward, but some senators groused they would prefer to hear from the president himself. In the Senate, only Peter Welch of Vermont has so far called for Biden to step out of the race.

The 90-minute conversation with the president’s team, which one person said included no new data, polling or game plan on how Biden would beat Trump, did not appear to change senators’ minds. The person was granted anonymity to discuss the closed door session.

The meeting was frank, angry at times and also somewhat painful, since many in the room know and love Biden, said one senator who requested anonymity to discuss the private briefing. Senators confronted the advisers over Biden’s performance at the debate and the effect on Senate races this year.

One Democrat, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, said afterward: “My belief is that the president can win, but he’s got to be able to go out and answer voters’ concerns. He’s got to be able to talk to voters directly over the next few days.”

At the same time, influential senators are standing strongly with Biden, leaving the party at an impasse.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, told the AP he thinks Biden “is going to win this election. I think he has a chance to win it big.”

Sanders said he has been publicly critical of the campaign, and said Biden needs to talk more about the future and his plans for the country. “As we come closer to Election Day, the choices are very clear,” he said.

Information for this article was contributed by Zeke Miller, Seung Min Kim, Lisa Mascaro, Michael Balsamo, Colleen Long, Mary Clare Jalonick, Kevin Freking, Farnoush Amiri and Linley Sanders of The Associated Press and by Noah Bierman and James Rainey of The Los Angeles Times (TNS).

President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference Thursday July 11, 2024, on the final day of the NATO summit in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A reporter stands to ask a question at the conclusion of a news conference with President Joe Biden following the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference following the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden, right, reaches to shake the hand of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden listens during a meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Prime Minister of Portugal Luis Montenegro, left, speaks with President Joe Biden at Working Session II of the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden sits as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, looks on during Working Session III of the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden talks about children dying from gun violence as he speaks at a news conference Thursday on the final day of the NATO summit in Washington. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

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Arkansas

New statewide group promotes, aids prescribed burns | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Published

19 mins ago

November 25, 2024

Press Room

New statewide group promotes, aids prescribed burns | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

The newly formed Arkansas Prescribed Burn Association held its first meeting in mid-October.

The association works as an umbrella organization, recruiting and maintaining new groups of landowners to conduct prescribed burns throughout the state.

“Properly planned prescribed burns reduce the fuel load, which can lessen or even eliminate wildfires,” said Thomas Baldridge, one of the association’s three directors. “But that’s only part of the benefit of prescribed fire. It’s the best tool available to land managers to increase wildlife habitat for turkeys, quail, deer and all sorts of other species.”

North American bird populations have declined by more than 2.9 billion birds in the last 50 years and the loss of grassland habitat is one of the largest contributors to that loss, according to a recent study conducted by Kenneth Rosenberg and highlighted by the National Audubon Society. Fire helps open up dense underbrush to promote seed-producing grasses and plants that are beneficial to grassland species on a year-round basis.

Instead of manipulating land through dirt work or planting food plots, many landowners can turn the tide on the loss of wildlife habitat with the proper use of prescribed fire.

Baldridge said the formation of the prescribed burn association was a natural evolution to what the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and other partnering organizations had been studying the last few years.

“Game and Fish started building prescribed burn associations a few years ago. Most of our members have been fortunate to have worked with many of the staff from Game and Fish, Quail Forever and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on burns and other private land habitat projects. The prescribed burn association just sort of seemed to be a missing piece to the puzzle that was already being put together,” Baldridge said.

Hunter Johnson of Des Arc and Catrina Mendoza of Searcy share director duties with Baldridge, who also lives in Searcy.

Baldridge said the association used states like Oklahoma and Florida as templates to follow in their formation.

“Oklahoma really sets the standard for a statewide prescribed burn association. They’ve grown to a massive organization with a budget over $1 million and eight full-time staff members to support all of their chapters.”

Game and Fish, Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Quail Forever all pitched in financially to help the new association build a firm foundation. Game and Fish granted the organization $25,000. Fish and Wildlife gave it $50,000 and Quail Forever provided $17,000 derived from its specialty license plate sales.

Baldridge says trailers, safety gear and other prescribed burn necessities also were donated to the association, increasing its startup assistance to more than $200,000 in funding and equipment. Since the organization is entirely volunteer-based, all of this funding is put directly into putting prescribed fire on the landscape.

Visit www.arfire.org for more information and to learn how to set up a new prescribed burn association in any area of Arkansas.

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Arkansas

Arkansas' official depth chart for Missouri game

Published

8 hours ago

November 25, 2024

Press Room

Arkansas' official depth chart for Missouri game

FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks (6-4, 3-4 SEC) have released the depth chart for Saturday’s regular season finale against the No. 24 Missouri Tigers (8-3, 4-3 SEC) at Razorback Stadium.

Arkansas recovered from a slow start to take down Louisiana Tech, 35-14, over the weekend in Fayetteville. Missouri bounced back from a loss to South Carolina on Sept. 16 with a 39-20 win at Mississippi State on Saturday.

A few changes were made to this week’s depth chart, most notably the absence of junior defensive end Nico Davillier at the defensive end position. The pass-rusher did not play against Louisiana Tech on Saturday due to a knee injury, and senior Anton Juncaj is the lone listed starter in Davillier’s place. Backing up Juncaj is freshman Charlie Collins.

At safety, sophomore TJ Metcalf and junior Miguel Mitchell no longer have an “or” listed between them. Metcalf is the starter with Mitchell backing him up. Finally, redshirt sophomore Brooks Edmonson is listed as the backup center behind Addison Nichols instead of redshirt sophomore Amaury Wiggins, who is no longer listed on the depth chart.

Here is the full Arkansas depth chart ahead of Saturday’s game against Missouri, which is set to kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network at Memorial Stadium.

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Arkansas

Higginbottom key in win vs. old team | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Published

17 hours ago

November 25, 2024

Press Room

Higginbottom key in win vs. old team | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

FAYETTEVILLE — Izzy Higginbottom sent a text message to her teammates on the University of Arkansas women’s basketball team Saturday night.

The note contained a list of things she felt the team needed to work on from its 94-71 loss Thursday night to Oral Roberts. First on the list was better energy.

Her message resonated.

Higginbottom played with passion and excelled against her former team as Arkansas found its defense in the second half to defeat Arkansas State 76-60 on Sunday afternoon at Walton Arena.

“I personally knew how much this game meant to her,” Arkansas forward Jenna Lawrence said of Higginbottom. “Obviously, you want to beat the team that you’ve recently been on, so I just think she was really amped up — the most amped I’ve seen her for a game.

“I’m just really proud of how she performed and how she was a leader on and off the court.”

Higginbottom, a 5-7 transfer guard who played two seasons with the Red Wolves, filled the stat sheet with 15 points, a career-high 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

“When the other team shoots threes, they become speed rebounds,” Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors said. “I thought she dug a bunch of those out, and then that got us going on transition, too. She was out in front of the break leading it, getting to the foul line and created a couple of good catch and shoot looks for (teammates).”

The Razorbacks (4-3) snapped a two-game losing streak and won their second game against an in-state opponent this year. Arkansas won 71-60 in overtime at Arkansas-Little Rock on Nov. 11.

“It stinks to lose any day,” Neighbors said, “but especially if you get on a little bit of a streak, it’s easy to get (down). So, I thought it was important for us to stay above .500. You feel different when you win. I don’t know if we played any better yet. I’ll have to go home and watch, but I think we did.”

After giving up 38 points before halftime, the Razorbacks held the Red Wolves to 22 points on 8-of-36 (22%) shooting in the second half.

Arkansas State (2-3) went seven-plus minutes without a field goal between the third and fourth quarters. That stretch proved decisive as a 38-35 halftime deficit for Arkansas turned into a double-digit lead for most of the final quarter.

“We started getting all the 50-50 balls,” Neighbors said. “Before that, it was about (half). I think it was like 90-10 in that third quarter. The effort was much better. I thought our focus was a lot better.”

Arkansas State entered on a two-game win streak, which included a 100-96 victory at Arizona State. The Red Wolves fell to 3-9 all-time against the Razorbacks, last winning in the 2005 Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

A fast-paced, back-and-forth first quarter saw two lead changes and runs of 6-0 and 5-0 that helped Arkansas State take a 23-19 lead into the second quarter. The Razorbacks committed six turnovers in the period that resulted in 10 points for the Red Wolves.

Arkansas took a 33-27 with 3:32 remaining in the first half before Arkansas State closed with an 11-2 run. Kennedie Montue beat the shot clock with a three-pointer to give Arkansas State a 38-35 lead just before halftime.

Fatigue appeared to play a factor in the first half, in which Arkansas was outscored 26-2 in bench points. Arkansas State Coach Destinee Rogers made mass substitutions throughout the game and had 10 players log minutes.

Arkansas forward Vera Ojenuwa, who put up a double-double with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, scored 12 points before halftime.

The Razorbacks took a 39-38 lead early in the third quarter on a jumper by Kiki Smith, who finished with 15 points. The teams went back and forth for a while before Lawrence connected on her first three-pointer of the game to put Arkansas up for good at 46-43 with 4:01 remaining in the third. Lawrence finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.

Arkansas State ran a full-court press for most of the game and Arkansas fared better against it as time went on. The Razorbacks found Ojenuwa alone under the basket on multiple press breaks.

“For two days straight, we worked on just breaking their press and making sure we see Vera wide open,” Lawrence said. “Because the way their press was, they put all of their players in front and left Vera wide open in the back.”

As the Razorbacks built their double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, Higginbottom drove past defenders for three fast-break layups.

Arkansas finished the game on a 12-4 run, including six unanswered, to close the door.

The Razorbacks shot 30 of 67 (45%), including 7 of 27 (26%) from three-point range, and 9 of 12 (75%) from the free-throw line.

Arkansas State went 23 of 74 (31%), 9 of 35 (26%) and 5 of 7 (71%) in those categories, respectively.

Anna Griffin led the Red Wolves with 16 points and 8 rebounds, followed by Montue, who made 3 three-pointers and scored 13 points. Both Griffin and Montue played off the bench, while Wynter Rogers was Arkansas State’s highest-scoring starter with 8 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Arkansas State’s starters outside of Rogers — Crislyn Rose, Zyion Shannon, Kyanna Morgan and Shaunae Brown — combined to go 4 of 36 from the field and scored eight points. Bella Weary and Mimi McCollister provided 7 and 6 points, respectively, off the bench for the Red Wolves.

Arkansas won the rebound battle 48-42 and had a season-high 16 assists.

Six Razorbacks scored at least eight points: Ojenuwa (20), Higginbottom (15), Smith (15), Lawrence (8), Carly Keats (8) and Danika Galea (8). Karley Johnson and Lawrence led the Razorbacks with three steals apiece.

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