Oct. 31 -- The razor thin margin of control in the Senate has drawn the focus of prominent party leaders to the contentious U.S. Senate race in Arkansas, where the two campaigns have been locked in a war of words over campaign tactics.

On Wednesday, Vice President Dick Cheney blasted Democrats and implored voters to return Republican Tim Hutchinson to the Senate.

Cheney "touted U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson's re-election as part of the antidote to a 'dysfunctional' Democrat-led Senate," reported the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Cheney said the business of government has been held up because of South Dakota Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. He said that the confirmation process for judicial nominees is of particular concern to the administration.

The Bush administration has suffered a string of defeats in the Senate as Democrats have blocked or voted down the president's nominees to the bench.

"We need to get the confirmation process moving again, and the people of Arkansas can help out with that very important task by making certain that Tim Hutchinson is returned to the United States Senate," Cheney told a crowd of supporters.

Meanwhile, Democratic Majority Whip Sen. Harry Reid rallied supporters of challenger state Attorney General Mark Pryor by arguing for a continued need to "put the brakes" on the administration.

"Reid said it's good for the country to have the Democrats in control of the Senate, providing balance with a Republican House and a Republican president," reported the Democrat Gazette.

Reid said Democrats have worked with Bush on important matters but have also served as a vital check on his more conservative initiatives.

He also invoked the name of Pryor's father, former U.S. Sen. David Pryor, saying the attorney general would be a similar consensus builder.

As the close campaign winds down both candidates are trying, with little success, to gain ground on core issues.

"Indeed, no one issue has grabbed the electorate, with the candidates trying to get traction on Social Security, prescription drugs and homeland security -- and by criticizing each other," reported the Washington Post on Oct. 28.

In the absence of substantial movement in the polls after debating the issues, the candidates have begun to argue bitterly over campaign tactics.

Hutchinson has accused Pryor of race baiting in two ads now running on radio stations with predominantly African-American audiences.

"One sponsored by Pryor's campaign says: 'If Hutchinson had it his way, 189,000 Arkansas children could go hungry.' One sponsored by the Democratic Party says Hutchinson has 'made a career in Washington of threatening the education and economic future of black children in Arkansas.' Both ads cite, among other things, Hutchinson votes in 1995 the ads say would have eliminated the federal school lunch program and cut student loans, including those to students attending 'historically black' colleges," reported the Democrat Gazette.

Hutchinson's campaign countered that the senator has consistently voted, since 1996, to increase funding to the federal school lunch and student loan programs. Hutchinson accused Pryor of using race to be divisive.

Pryor's camp, in turn, has accused the Hutchinson campaign of harassing black voters. Fliers were placed on cars during a recent NAACP rally "telling black voters to either vote for Hutchinson or not vote at all," reported the Democrat Gazette.

A Pryor campaign spokesman said he has no proof the fliers were distributed by Republicans.

Democrats also accused Hutchinson staffers of intimidating black voters at a courthouse in Jefferson County by asking to see voters' identification and taking their photographs.

The Hutchinson campaign said staffers were dispatched to investigate reports of the county clerk not requiring voters to present identification as required by law and that no one was harassed.