EDITOR'S NOTE: The story below includes references to polling conducted by the firm Research 2000. The reliability and accuracy of Research 2000's polling has since been called into serious question by a report published in June 2010 by a group of statistical analysts.
The union group, AFL-CIO, took a hard line against Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln's link to one of her most prominent reelection supporters Friday, attacking former President Bill Clinton -- who is currently on the campaign trail in Arkansas -- and Lincoln for their mutual support of NAFTA.
AFL-CIO has campaigned passionately for Lt. Governor Bill Halter in his battle to defeat Senator Lincoln in a Democratic runoff that will take place on June 8. Their latest punch comes in a release charging that "BLANCHE LINCOLN AND BILL CLINTON SENT OUR JOBS TO MEXICO AND CANADA."
"Bill Clinton and Blanche Lincoln took us in the wrong direction when they supported NAFTA," the e-mail reads. "They sent thousands of Arkansas jobs to Mexico and Canada, and yet they're still bragging about their support of the job-killing deal."
Clinton spoke at a Lincoln rally at Philander Smith College in Little Rock Friday and issued a counter attack against the unions that have so actively supported Bill Halter.
"Her opponent is not her opponent," Clinton said. "Her opponents are the people trying to make her this poster child."
"If you want somebody to channel your anger, don't vote for her," Clinton continued. "In other words, this is about using you and manipulating your votes to terrify members of Congress from other states."
Meanwhile, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee also got into the action, going online with ads that compare Halter to Bill Clinton.
A PCCC official explained to Talking Points Memo that the goal of the ad campaign was to underscore Arkansas voters "who once found Bill Clinton an inspiring rising star and now feel that way about Bill Halter." The ad links to a page full of quotes from Arkansans who see the similarities between Bill Halter and the state's most famous Democrat, Bill Clinton.
As of Thursday, Halter held a significant lead in both fundraising and polling numbers, raising nearly a quarter-million dollars more than Lincoln in the past month and topping her 47 to 44 percent in the latest Research 2000/Daily Kos poll.