Little Rock: the political, literary, cultural, historical, and scandal center of the known universe.

Vernon Jordan said it to a crowd in downtown Little Rock, way back at the start of the Roaring Nineties, when Bill Clinton had just been elected president and Arkansas Chic was all the rage: Welcome to The Political Center of the Universe.

Mr. Jordan, sir, you had no idea.

One Clinton era may be over, but Little Rock, Arkansas, still looks a lot like the political center of the universe. Not to mention a center of history, literature, and a distinctively Arkinsawan strain of Southernness.

You won't just be attending a convention, you'll be getting some great copy. By the time the NCEW convention hits Arkansas' capital city in September 2008, we could be talking about the presidential nomination of another Clinton, a former first lady of Arkansas before she moved somewhere out of state.

Or we could be pondering the electability of yet another ex-governor of Arkansas and Man From Hope. Mike Huckabee, our current chief exec, is mulling a run. (Hey, how about a made-in-Arkansas, Huckabee/Hillary match?)

Or we could be reconsidering the political viability of a former NATO commander turned television analyst turned presidential candidate: Wes Clark of, yep, little 01' Little Rock, Arkansas.

Even if The Huck or The Hill or The Gen'l aren't in the news come '08, you can bet the original Clinton will be. When isn't he?

From your five affordable hotel options in funky downtown Little Rock, you can walk to the Clinton Presidential Center, Library, Museum, Park, & Shrine, where you just might see The Big Guy himself. His old haunt at the state capitol is just up the street. (Don't be surprised if we're in the middle of a court-ordered special session. You'll see some politickin' that'd make Looziana blush.)

Next door to the Peabody, cousin to Memphis' renowned hotel, and complete with matching marching ducks, you can step into the Old State House, where Bill Clinton both announced his candidacy and twice accepted victory on election night.

History? We're et up with history--good, bad, and, we're sorry to say, ugly.

A short drive from downtown is Little Rock's once notorious, but now famous, Central High School, site of the 1957 Desegregation Crisis. These days, Central High produces some of the top scholars in the state. And the old Mobil gas station where the mob once circled is now an historical museum.

Walking through it, looking at the old pictures and headlines, you can feel the fever pitch of those days and wonder at how things have changed--and how they haven't.

Culture? Hey, we're thick with it. To start with, Little Rock is a Southern river town. 'Nuff said. Think of Little Rock as a big place writ small. In the last decade or so, we've reclaimed our riverfront. You'll be staying within stumbling distance of our own little French Quarter, the River Market. It's got the amenities of the original in New Orleans but not the crime. Eat, drink, be merry, and watch the river pass by. It's the South. Y'all can relax.

Well, when you're not being tempted by our grand plans for NCEW '08. To name a few more:

* A session on Southern literature. One of this country's great literary magazines is based just up the road from Little Rock in Conway, Arkansas. Heard of the Oxford American? If not, you'll want to. It publishes some of the best Southern writing this side of Faulkner--and some that side of Faulkner, too.

We'll lasso its editor, Marc Smirnoff, to join the notable likes of John Shelton Reed, the de Tocqueville of Dixie, and Mississippi's own Hodding Carter, in exile until recently with the Knight Foundation, to answer the one never-changing question in these always-changing latitudes:

Is there still a South?

* A look back at the Clinton presidency. (And maybe a look ahead to the Clinton presidency?) This and other events could be held at the Clinton Library, overlooking the Arkansas River and downtown Little Rock. And, yes, we hope to have Bill Clinton himself to parry with the inky wretches. He's got some practice at it. Ask Paul Greenberg.

* A retrospective on the '57 Crisis, one year after its fiftieth anniversary. The sides are still drawn: Justice Jim Johnson in defense and Roy Reed--formerly of The New York Times, Arkansas Gazette and author of Faubus--with the counterpoint.

* A panel on stem-cell research with comments from our resident geniuses at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, our world-class research and teaching hospital.

Downtime? No problem.

How about a river cruise down the Arkansas?

How about a visit to the historic Scott Plantation where we can all play Old South to beat the band?

How about a reception at the Governor's Mansion deep in Little Rock's antebellum Quapaw Quarter?

Psst, we'll even give you a map for the city's unofficial Clinton Scandal Tour. Or you can just ask any reporter during the Nineties for directions.

So come on down to Little Rock, Arkansas--the political, literary, cultural, historical, and scandal center of the known universe. Like we said, it's a great news town.

Paul Greenberg is editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. E-mail [e-mail]