Governor Womack?

It looks as if the Benton County Republicans are sending up a trial balloon for their next gubernatorial candidate. If Lobbyist Asa Hutchinson couldn't cut the mustard in 2006, then maybe they will gift Governor Mike Beebe with opposition from Rogers Mayor Steve Womack in 2010.

Last week, Governor Beebe said the Arkansas State Police would participate with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency only to the extend of training in identifying fraudulent immigration documents. The state police won’t have any more authority, take on any additional duties, or add any additional personnel as a result of the agreement. “We are not going to do the federal government’s job or raise taxes on Arkansans for duties they are already paying taxes to the federal government to accomplish,” Beebe said rather emphatically.

Today's Benton County Daily Record has the first shot over the bow, a letter from immigration policy expert K. B. Swanson of Bella Vista under the head "Mayor Womack Should Run for Governor." Swanson first dismisses the incident in which Adriana Torres-Flores was locked in a holding cell and forgotten for four days, saying "mistakes happen" and "If she wasn’t an alleged lawbreaker, she wouldn’t have been in that situation." Swanson regrets that "the Great American Sucker" might compensate her for the violation of human rights and personal dignity.

"Thank God for Mayor Steve Womack," Swanson says prayerfully. "He has the political guts and courage to speak his mind. He is so right on — our federal government is once again useless. If more Americans do not start speaking out on this issue, our grandchildren will no longer have a country called America. Mayor Womack, thank you so much for your leadership. Please run for governor of this great state."

Good suggestion, especially if Womack first resigns the office of mayor.