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Vote For Haley 2007-11-05 19:12:45 ...

2007 Predictions (Re-Posted) 2007-11-05 18:44:54 I originally posted these predictions two weeks ago. Just wanted to get them back at the top since the election is tomorrow. No race has changed (INHO), a couple of numbers are slightly tweaked, and I have decided to pick someone for the Ag Commish race. Here they are: Guv: Barbour- 58, Eaves- 42 Lite guv: Bryant- 54.5, Franks- 45.5 SofS: Hosemann- 55, Smith- 45 AG: Hood- 56, Hopkins- 44 Auditor: Pickering- 52, Sumrall- 48 Treasurer: Reeves- 61, O’Hara- 39 Insurance: Chaney- 51.5, Anderson- 48.5 Agriculture: Spell- 50.5, Cole- 46, Riley- 3.5 ...

Clarion-Ledger Endorses Bryant, Franks Campaign Whines 2007-11-05 18:40:35 This was sent by the Franks campaign to Ronnie Agnew and copied to Sid Salter who has since posted it on his blog: Ronnie - I am writing this letter as a citizen and as a colleague….not as a member of Jamie’s staff. And I would be writing it much more forcefully and vociferously were I not a member of his staff. In my entire life, the two things I have always been are citizen and journalist. I am writing this letter as both, because both are my passion. As a citizen and a journalist, I have never been so dissapointed in a publication as I am right now in the Clarion Ledger, which I condider to be a first class operation. As a citizen, I feel that your endorsement of Phil Bryant is a slap in the face of every hardworking Mississippian. This is what your publication said in your endorsement of Gov. Barbour: “Barbour has failed to represent average Mississippians when he protects low taxes on tobacco and opposes tax relief on groceries. He has been a tepid supporter of publ ...

MS Center for Public Policy: In Mississippi Elections, It’s Haley vs. The Trial Lawyers 2007-11-05 17:31:58 From RedState: When Haley Barbour took office as governor of Mississippi four years ago, he made good on a campaign promise to make tort reform his first priority. After the new House Speaker and his cronies refused to act, Barbour used one of the few powers a governor has under the Mississippi constitution: he called a special session and forced the issue to be dealt with. He won. Today, the governor tells potential suitors, “Mississippi is open for business.” Toyota, among others, apparently concurs. When the automaker recently announced plans to build a $1.3 billion plant in Mississippi, a top company official made clear that Toyota would not have chosen Mississippi if not for tort reform. A recent survey found that 95% of the members of the state chamber of commerce believe Mississippi is headed in the right direction under Barbour’s leadership, not only because of tort reform but also for his performance following Hurricane Katrina. Read on… ...

Clarion-Ledger Endorses Barbour for Governor 2007-11-05 06:27:28 From the CL: Barbour’s record is clear. He has done a good job of attracting new jobs as shown in his personal role in helping land the new Toyota plant in Blue Springs. Toyota is just one of a strong list of new investments, which mean a better quality of life for thousands of Mississippians. More important, Barbour has stressed the foundational issues for economic development. He has emphasized work force training and has sought to restore funding for higher education, especially two-year schools so crucial for that training. His successful efforts in tort reform have helped bring stability to the business climate. Barbour’s most important role, however, has been his leadership following Hurricane Katrina. Not only did he help marshall state and private resources to dig out from the rubble of the disaster, he used his political skills to bring much-needed federal aid to the state. He was decisive, knew what had to be done and did it. His Katrina efforts have defined his first ...

Clarion-Ledger Endorses Bryant for Lt. Governor 2007-11-05 06:26:24 From the CL: The lieutenant governor should be a person who has a plan, but also works to build coalitions and use consensus politics to act in the best interests of the state. Phil Bryant has those skills. Bryant is a former legislator who was appointed state auditor by former Gov. Kirk Fordice. He was reelected twice because he has run that office well with the sole goal of protecting the taxpayers’ interests. He has increased the accountability in state government. Despite the negative nature of this campaign, Bryant is not a negative person. He is a consensus-builder. He supports Barbour and philosophically agrees with him on major issues. However, Bryant has shown throughout his tenure as auditor that he is his own person. He has not been partisan and he has been willing to say “no” to Barbour and to powerful legislators when he thought they were wrong. ...

Clarion-Ledger Endorsements 2007-11-05 06:22:23 Here is a wrap-up of whom the state’s largest newspaper endorsed over the past week: Governor- Haley Barbour Lt. Governor- Phil Bryant Attorney General- Jim Hood Sec. Of State- Delbert Hosemann Auditor- Mike Sumrall Treasurer- Tate Reeves Insurance Commissioner- Gary Anderson Agriculture Commissioner- Rickey Cole For the record, I picked seven of those eight endorsements correctly back in August. ...

MS GOP Rallies Troops 2007-11-03 20:21:20 From the Mississippi Republican Party: Fellow Republican: Democrat Congressman Bennie Thompson has an ad playing on statewide radio attacking Haley Barbour in an attempt to energize his supporters to turn out on Tuesday for John Arthur Eaves. This is the same Bennie Thompson who recently said Congressional staff needed to be inoculated before attending a NASCAR race and threatened any African American who supported Judge Charles Pickering’s nomination with being a “Judas.” Thompson says in the radio ad, “John (Eaves) is a GOOD DEMOCRAT” and “We have the power to make Eaves governor if we vote in strong numbers.” Please use the following link to hear the radio ad: http://majorityinms.com/2007/10/31/listen-to-bennie-thompson-pro-eaves-radio-ad/ There is a perception by some that Haley Barbour will defeat John Arthur Eaves. Unfortunately, there was a similar perception in 1999 when Mike Parker ran against Ronnie Musgrove. Republicans voted in small numbers that year and ...

Bill Minor Is Clueless (Example No. 278) 2007-11-02 22:18:52 Maybe after the election, Bill Minor will take a vacation. On second thought, he will probably write about how any Republicans who won is because they pandered to racists. I don’t care to dissect his rantings from this week, but was left wondering if Bill Minor has the slightest clue of history when he made this statement about Phil Bryant wanting to appoint Republicans to significant committees: Is this what Mississippi really wants? A concentration of legislative power such as the state has never seen before? Oh yes because Mississippi has a long tradition of a bi-partisan Republican and Democratic legislature. Can someone remind Bill Minor that just 16 years ago when Kirk Fordice was elected the first Republican governor since Reconstruction the House featured 19 Republicans (with 103 Dems) and the Senate included nine Republicans (with 43 Dems). Bill Minor is a partisan Dem and I am not knocking him for that, but let’s tell the truth and not try to fudge history to get your way ...

British Newspaper Ranks Haley As 16th Most Influential Conservative in U.S 2007-11-02 19:12:33 From the Telegraph: 16. HALEY BARBOUR Governor of Mississippi About to be comfortably re-elected as Mississippi governor, Barbour is one of the most accomplished Republican executives in the United States. As a successful Southern governor with immense experience, he is a potential future presidential candidate who would be a clever pick for vice-presidential running mate in 2008. Received national plaudits for his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated Mississippi’s Gulf coast, while neighboring Louisiana’s Democratic governor floundered. Barbour, 60, has cut his state’s budget deficit in half without raising taxes and used the skills he honed as a Washington lobbyist to good effect in winning over a Democratic-led state legislature. A highly successful chair of the Republican National Committee, Barbour helped lay the foundations for the Republican Revolution and the takeover of Congress in 1994. ...

Weekly SEC Picks (Week Ten) 2007-11-02 07:02:02 Ole Miss is now guaranteed to have their fourth consecutive losing season. LSU at Alabama- We all know how good LSU is doing, but Alabama is playing some pretty good football also. I will go with the upset in Tuscaloosa and pick Bama (even without Doyle Jackson in the replay booth- no, I’m still not over that). South Carolina at Arkansas- South Carolina’s hot start has kind of cooled down as SEC play got into full drive. Arkansas is playing better of late, but hasn’t real beat anybody good (including Ole Miss), and I think SC will win the road game. Tennessee Tech at Auburn- I think I’ll go with Auburn. Vanderbilt at Florida- Look for Florida to bounce back big time and beat up on Vandy. Troy at Georgia- Look for Georgia to keep the momentum going and beat up on Troy. Northwestern State at Ole Miss- Don’t know if it is going to be worth the tank of gas to see this, but Ole Miss will win. Louisiana-Lafayette at Tennessee- Another easy opponent for an SEC team, and I expect UT ...

More Newspaper Endorsements for Haley 2007-11-01 18:39:28 What the Madison County Journal and Neshoba Democrat (both the same editorials) had to say about Haley: Gov. Haley R. Barbour believes that education is Mississippi’s number one economic development issue and our top quality of life concern. A more educated workforce means better jobs and a higher standard of living. More Mississippians than ever before are working under the Barbour administration and they’re earning more money. We believe Gov. Barbour has demonstrated he is committed to forging bi-partisan relationships in the Legislature and elsewhere for the common good. What they say about Eaves: …But what’s Eaves going to do for Mississippi specifically policy-wise? Even Barbour, a Presbyterian deacon grounded in his Faith, would be hard pressed to ‘out-conservative’ Eaves and his Bible-thumping rhetoric that is, inappropriately, pandering to evangelicals. So as Election Day approaches, if you don’t know what Eaves really believes policy-wise, don&rsq ...

Larry Sabato on Governor’s Race 2007-11-01 12:23:56 From Sabato’s Crystal Ball: Mississippi Governor It doesn’t take an acute political analyst to predict the easy reelection of Haley Barbour over Democrat John Arthur Eaves. Barbour has never been in trouble, having been perceived as doing a very good job after Hurricane Katrina–in contrast to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco. Despite Eaves’s appeals to religious fundamentalists (a fairly unique strategy for a Democratic candidate), he still trails Barbour by double digits in the polls. Nothing significant has changed, and this contest will be over very early in the evening. ...

Listen To Bennie Thompson Pro-Eaves Radio Ad 2007-10-31 22:11:08 Listen here. I imagine this ad has a lot to do with Mike Espy endorsing Haley. For some reason I haven’t heard this on country radio in Jackson. Hattip: Y’all Politics ...

Cochran Thinking About Retirement? 2007-10-31 17:34:33 This would be a huge loss for the state if Thad Cochran does decide to step down. Here is what was reported in The Hill today: The senior Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Thad Cochran, will soon announce whether he will retire from the upper chamber, a decision that could further shake up a powerful panel and even give Democrats hope of picking up a seat in the GOP stronghold of Mississippi. Cochran says he will make an announcement after Mississippi’s statewide elections, which are on Nov. 6. When asked Tuesday if he would definitely run for reelection, Cochran told The Hill, “No, I didn’t say that. I’m preparing to run for reelection, but I haven’t made an official announcement.” The liberal blogs have been talking about this a good bit today (here and here) and it seems they think they have a shot at this seat. The obvious frontrunner for them is Mike Moore. Mississippi Democrats seem to think he’s the best thing since sliced bread and he has a real s ...