These are desperate times for the Republican Party of Arkansas and the new Chairman has come upon an idea. The problem…what’s good for the goose is good for the gander as the Governor starts his march to appoint ‘his people” on influential board appointments. It’ll be a race the Democrats will win at the end of the day.

State GOP has untapped resource, observers say

 The Republican Party of Arkansas should do more to take advantage of former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s legacy, Republican political observers say.

During his 10 years in office, Huckabee appointed hundreds of people, most of them Republicans, to state boards and commissions. Some say those appointees constitute a group of potential political candidates that has been overlooked by the state GOP.

“These are individuals that we have failed to tap, to engage them to continue on,” said Dennis Milligan of Bryant, who was elected state GOP chairman May 19.

Calling the Huckabee appointees a “farm team” for the Republican Party, Milligan said the GOP should make use of that resource by providing “training, guidance and advice” to any Republican whose appetite for public service has been whetted by a state appointment.

“It’s going to be a lasting legacy for a number of years. … It doesn’t mean they’re going to end up being candidates, but they are people we can approach,” he said.