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Beebe Says He Hopes Lifting State's 'Swagger' Is His Legacy

Mike Beebe

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe successfully pushed to nearly eliminate the state's grocery tax over the past eight years, helped convince a Republican-led Legislature to embrace a key part of the president's health care law and enjoys an approval rating that's barely dipped below 70 percent since he took office in 2007.
 
But the two-term Democrat admits the legacy he hopes to leave after more than three decades in elected office is much more nebulous. It's trying to change the attitude of a poverty-stricken Southern state where "Thank God for Mississippi" is a familiar catchphrase.
 
Beebe leaves office next week, handing the reins of the state over to Republican Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson. Despite his high popularity, Beebe insists this means this end of his time in elected politics.
 

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