The end of a good run

In 1992 a serious young woman named Blanche Lambert walked into my office at the Marianna Courier-Index.
She explained to me that she was running against Bill Alexander for the Democratic nomination for his congressional seat. We visited for a while. She was very pleasant to talk to.
The big issue of the day was gun registration. She was for it. So was I. But, I feared it would be the kiss of death for her campaign in Eastern Arkansas, which is a hunting bastion in a hunting-friendly state.
So, Lambert did something that impressed the heck out of me. She scheduled a meeting with the local gun lobby. And she explained to them, face to face, why she was for gun registration and why they should be, too. Lending credibility to her argument was that she was an experienced hunter herself, and knew guns as well as any of them.
She won the Democratic nomination, helped along by Alexander’s involvement in a banking scandal in which congressmen were writing hot checks by the truckload.
She served two terms in the House, got married, changed her last named to Lincoln and had twins. She stepped out of politics for two years, but  in 1998 was elected to the U.S. Senate, where she has been ever since.
During that time, Lincoln was always open, accessible and helpful whenever I called. Occasionally I’d run into her in our respective roles as journalist and politician, and she always made time to talk about our mutual friends in the delta, sometimes to the intense frustration of her handlers.
I remember one telephone conversation during which I interviewed her about some national issue that had a local impact. I no longer remember what that was. But after that on-the-record conversation we visited a bit and she gave me some insight into George W. Bush, after I asked a specific question about him. And I won’t be recounting that conversation because it was off the record. But I did appreciate her candor.
I’m going to miss having her as my senator. She’s had a good run. Unlike some senators, when she leaves office, it won’t be in disgrace. She can be proud of her term of service to our nation.