Blanche Lincoln, Bill Halter trading very early lead in Arkansas Senate runoff

After three weeks of post-primary campaigning, polls have finally closed in the Natural State, where incumbent Blanche Lincoln and challenger Bill Halter are each vying for the Democratic senatorial nomination.

Villagers have described the contest as a clash of ideological views (Halter's progressivism versus Lincoln's "centrism"), but the truth is, it's actually a movement versus establishment battle. It's not about ideology.

If Halter wins tonight, it will be a great victory for populism and a significant defeat for the power brokers in our nation's capital, who have tried to defend Blanche Lincoln. (That includes Barack Obama and Bill Clinton). If he loses, it probably won't be by very much, since he's run a strong campaign, embracing the concerns of working families. Unions have been deploying resources aggressively on his behalf, and union volunteers have been very busy manning phone banks.

Now, their work is over, and the results are starting to trickle in.

The two candidates have traded the lead several times, but there are so few precincts in that the results simply aren't even the slightest bit conclusive. The last update was roughly a half hour ago; the numbers then were as follows:

Arkansas Senate runoff
Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter (Democrat) 46.69% (1,768 votes)
U.S. Senator Blanche Lambert Lincoln (Democrat) 53.31% (2,019 votes)

6:58 PM UPDATE: Lincoln's lead has widened, but not by that much. Still early.

Arkansas Senate runoff
Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter (Democrat) 45.15% (12,112 votes)
U.S. Senator Blanche Lambert Lincoln (Democrat) 54.85% (14,714 votes)

I'll update this post again when fresh numbers are available.