Researching your topic in newspapers will give you the latest information on what people think about your topic. The newspapers interview voters and report on candidates' speeches every day. And different papers will provide different perspectives. Newspapers in some cities will offer more of a Democratic twist and others will present the Republican side. And depending on the size of the paper, and the nature of the voters, several of the smaller independent parties might be represented too.
US Newstream- Provides full text for select U.S. and international newspapers. Television and radio news transcripts included. (Supported by the Arkansas State Traveler Project. This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Science.)
For Arkansas related topics, you will need to search the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The library does not have online access to the newspaper, but you can access it through the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) if you have a library card. The library does have the back issues of the newspaper on microfilm, including both papers before they merged in 1991. There is an index for the Arkansas Gazette, but not the Arkansas Democrat.