Arkansas governor competent, likeable

The cries of "throw them all out" are probably greater now than in most recent memory.

A lot of it is understandable.

The economy continues to falter. A lot of people are out of work. When one looks at the various levels of government for relief, often there is none to be found.

One of the main reasons for the dissatisfaction is the preoccupation among political leaders with getting re-elected (and holding power), rather than solving problems. As we have said before, if a constructive idea emanates from one party, it automatically is considered defective by the other party.

But always keep this in mind -- we are the ones who elected those in office and we do a lot as a society to perpetuate the current toxic atmosphere.

It's a "knee-jerk" reaction to make a clean sweep and bring in a whole new batch of politicians. But will that solve the problem?

We doubt it, because in reality the system itself is flawed -- as long as we treat elections and the aftermath more as entertainment-competition than governance, we will keep getting the same results.

This "horse-race" view of politics and elections is now so ingrained in our public thinking that we wonder if it will ever change.

With that backdrop of disappointment and dissension among voters, it is good to know there are still some political leaders who get it right.

Such is the case with Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe.

We were privileged to hear Beebe as part of a panel discussion last week at a tri-state newspaper convention in Mississippi. In addition to the host state and Arkansas, newspaper folks from Tennessee also were in attendance.

The subject was economic development and the top officials in that field from Mississippi and Tennessee, Gray Swoope and Matt Kisber, also served on the panel. All three were impressive in their remarks, but Gov. Beebe stole the show.

The governor showed both a great command of the subject at hand, but also a "down-home" touch that clearly resonated with those in attendance. There were numerous comments made after the session by our Mississippi and Tennessee friends that we have an impressive governor -- and we can assure you those two states (and their newspaper publishers) are not teeming with Democrats.

Gov. Beebe has established a strong level of competence, and knowledge of state government, through a long and distinguished career as a state senator, attorney general and governor. He has done it the right way through hard work, a sense of cooperation and reasonableness and old-fashioned goodwill.

The result is a person who knows how to get things done both within his own party and, so to speak, across the aisle.

We are certain virtually every Arkansan at the meeting, regardless of political affiliation, left the session with a sense of satisfaction that a person of this caliber is our governor.

Arkansas also can be proud of our system of state government that insures we don't spend beyond our means. As a result, Arkansas is one of only four states, Gov. Beebe noted at the meeting, not facing severe budget issues in the current economic recession.

We as a society have a long road facing us in restoring civility in government and actually learning to work together in a competent manner. Hope remains as long as there are political leaders such as Mike Beebe "in the game".