Jim Keet says he's "in this to win"

2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Keet says he's no sacrificial lamb.

In this interview I did today with the Little Rock businessman and former state lawmaker, Keet notes that he flew a "Kamikaze mission" when he ran as the GOP nominee against Congressman Ray Thornton in 1990, and he doesn't plan to do so again. That despite the fact that the Democratic incumbent Mike Beebe has a current approval rating north of 80 percent and has several key Republican political operatives donating to his campaign.

Keet tells FM 89 News he'll announce full details of his plan in the next few weeks, but he's advocating a complete revision of the Arkansas tax code. He wants to "throw the tax code out" but Keet says he's NOT endorsing the flat tax idea. Instead, Keet wants to cut capital gains and income taxes to spur additional investment and the creation of new jobs in the state.

Keet says he called Governor Beebe, with whom he once served in the Arkansas Senate, and they've agreed to have a campaign based on a productive discussion of the issues.

-------

UPDATE: The Republican Party of Arkansas distributed this image by email tonight, identifying it as Keet's "official photo." Earlier today, the image above was the only Keet photo I could find with a Google search.