Don’t you know its right there after life, liberty and property in the Bill of Rights. The ACLU, fresh of a series of lawsuits targeting Desoto county, has moved east to Itawamba county.
The ACLU, when they are not busy supporting terrorists, have been on a jihad against any Christian symbols and traditional values that make up the backbone the nation was founded upon. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again- the ACLU will not sleep until every inch of this country resembles San Francisco.
And through wealthy liberal donors and even our taxpayer dollars, they are able to pressure localities into abiding by their threats rather then spend money defending themselves.
This brings us to Itawamba High School. The ACLU had threatened the school with a lawsuit if they didn’t allow Constance McMillen, a lesbian, to bring another female to prom. The school said, fine, the prom is off and encouraged students and parents to create a private, non school-sponsored prom.
Apparently that infuriated the NAMBLA fans, and they have now filed a lawsuit to force the school into having a prom- and allow the lesbians to show up. Because, as you know, all students have a Constitutional right to a school-sponsored prom.
As long as groups like the ACLU are around, and have the money to back up their talk, the country is in trouble.
Continue reading How Dare You Take Away My Constitutional Right To Have a Prom? >>
The partisan fight to sell the governor’s jet is picking up steam with House Democrats for the second time in the past month. Odds are some bill will pass the House and get killed in the Senate. Nothing new there.
One of the men who has a direct hand in this, naturally, is the House Appropriations Chairman Johnny Stringer (D-Montrose), a supporter of selling the jet. And on Wednesday Haley Barbour did not hold anything back when he issued this statement directed at Stringer: “I’ve cut the governor’s office by 8.7 percent. When Johnny Stringer cuts the House budget by that much, come back and talk to me.”
Continue reading Barbour Unleashes on Stringer re: Guv’s Jet >>
Earlier this week, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann gave the thumbs up to the signatures from the Voter ID ballot initiative. Using the Majority In Mississippi PVI, our friend JackCUDA, came up with some interesting statistical data on where the bulk of the signatures came from.
Probably not too surprising, but 58.1 percent of the total certified signatures came from MIM Republican PVI counties (those that have given the GOP at least 57 percent of the vote in the last four statewide elections). Further, 77.5 percent of all signatures were collected from MIM PVI counties where the GOP average was 50 percent or better.
Top 20 Signature Counties:
Top 10 MIM PVI GOP Counties:
Top 10 MIM PVI Democrat Counties:
We will also be working on the MIM PVI to make it more informative for readers, as well as bringing you more statistical goodies.
Continue reading Where Did Voter ID Signatures Come From? >>
MS-01: I mentioned earlier today that Angela McGlowan has completed her campaign website, and if you stroll over to the Issues section, you will see that the first topic she mentions is the Second Amendment. McGlowan says, in part, “I will fight against each and every attempt by government to require law-abiding citizens to register the firearms they have the right to possess.”
MS-01: Angela McGlowan is also starting to utilize her Twitter account. She was recently asked by some random person in Ohio- “Are you really for gun control?” McGlowan responded by saying, “No! These are lies spread by my opponent.”
MS-01: Travis Childers apparently didn’t give a response to The Hill about the Congressman’s position on healthcare reform when recently asked. I have no reason to suspect Childers would change his vote to yes, but it makes you wonder why his office wouldn’t respond if for no other reason then to dispel claims by opponents that he waits to get the OK from Nancy Pelosi before voting. That said, The Hill has moved Childers from the “No comment” column to “Firm No, Leaning No, Likely No.”
MS-04: Steven Palazzo made a comment on his Facebook page that will probably raise some eyebrows from Joe Tegerdine supporters. Palazzo said, “…we are going to send a conservative and a Republican to Washington. One who was born and raised in Mississippi.” Tegerdine, as has been mentioned on this blog, was born and raised in the Northwest before moving to Petal a few years back.
MS-04: Joe Tegerdine and Steven Palazzo both made appearances at a GOP event last night in Hattiesburg. According to Tegerdine, it “ended up being a major event with a debate like format.”
MS-04: Steven Palazzo has just updated his campaign website, PalazzoForCongress.com. It now how has plenty of information including a bio, stances on issues, news, and a blog.
2010 House & Senate: Roger Wicker played political analyst recently when he said this about Democrats and healthcare: If Senate bill passes, it will be “the paramount issue that will see a lot of (Democrats) going home for good after the November elections.”
2012 President: Writing on his blog, Jim Herring calls Haley Barbour the “dark horse” in the race and lays out several reasons why Barbour would make a strong candidate. He also touches on some of Barbour’s baggage, and how he could handle what would potentially be thrown at him.
Earlier today, House Democrats announced they are banning earmarks to for-profit corporations, who often times return the favor with campaign contributions. This comes as the House GOP are looking into giving up earmarks altogether.
In response, Sen. Thad Cochran said this: “Congress cannot ignore its constitutional responsibilities to approve the allocation of federal funds. I will continue to work with Chairman Inouye to ensure that the bills reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee are prepared in a transparent manner, conform to federal laws and only approve spending that is in the national interest.”
The Angela McGlowan campaign has launched the full McGlowan For Congress website that had been pretty idle for about a month. The new website features news, issues, videos, background and more.
Continue reading McGlowanForCongress.com Officially Launched >>
In the non-partisan runoff to fill the open state Senate seat in District 36, Albert Butler defeated Jimmy Strong by a vote of 3781 to 2496 (according to Jimmy Strong’s website).
Not much of a surprise here. Butler was endorsed by the state Democratic Party in this heavily Democratic district and the balance of the Senate will remain the same when he is officially sworn in.
Butler currently serves as a Claiborne County supervisor.
MS-01: The Desoto Times Tribune has a nice write-up on Gail Giaramita, who is running as a Constitutional Party candidate for this seat, with a little background on the candidate. She previously ran for the state legislature as a Republican, but said she no longer embraces many views held by the GOP establishment.
MS-01: Talking Points Memo’s obsession with Angela McGlowan continues. In a sarcastic headline, “Keeping the Dream Alive,” they wonder if more GOPers will support social security privatization. Doesn’t take much to realize what they are doing- they think this is a winning issue for Democrats and trying to use it against Republicans.
MS-01: Travis Childers has also spoken about privatization when he said this in a recent email blast: “Mississippians are also being threatened by some in Congress who plan to resurrect Social Security privatization, a policy that was soundly rejected by the American people during the previous administration. I have responded strongly in defense of Social Security and have called on all Members to reject a plan that would gamble the financial security of millions of hard-working Americans in our volatile stock market.”
MS-01: Writing on his Facebook wall, Henry Ross announced that he signed the Mount Vernon Statement, which he calls “a pledge to recommit our country to limited, God-Centered Constitutional government.” You can learn more about this at themountvernonstatement.com.
MS-01: There’s a lot of stuff out there essentially saying Angela McGlowan isn’t “really black” because she is a conservative and a Republican. That said, I think this random blogger takes the cake for going over the top by referring to McGlowan as a “wanna be Black Sarah Palin.”
MS-04: Mississippi Democratic ED Sam Hall says this about Gene Taylor: “Some Democrats are angry at him because of his votes on health care and the stimulus package…But every two years, the overwhelming majority of is constituents- Democrats and Republicans- return him to Washington because they know he is a voice for the Fourth Congressional District of Mississippi first and foremost…Good luck, Congressman Taylor. We’re happy to have you as our nominee for Congress, and we support you wholeheartedly!”
2011 Gov: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Luckett spoke with the Voters League in Itta Bena last Thursday and the Greenwood Commonwealth covered his speech. Here is some of what Luckett said, which looks to be the themes of his campaign: “Production of renewable fuels, improvement of roads and bridges, enhanced promotion of tourism, better-funded law enforcement, increased and innovative manufacturing efforts, and standing firmly behind our farmers means that we can- and we will- move forward.”
Trent Lott: Kind of an interesting find here. In Karl Rove’s upcoming book, Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative, Rove said this about Trent Lott and his removal as Senate Majority Leader: “Lott blames me for forcing him out as Senate majority leader following his comments suggesting America would have been better off if a segregationist had been elected president in 1948. But there was a moment when I could have offered advice that might have kept him from losing public support and forfeiting the trust of his GOP senatorial colleagues. I didn’t take the moment to disagree with his rosy (and incorrect) assessment that the issue was going away. Pressing him to do an immediate and full apology that showed he understood how badly he had offended many Americans might have kept him in the majority-leader post.”
According to sources from the Coast, Rep. Gene Taylor accused Republican challenger Joe Tegerdine’s campaign of tampering with the Congressman’s website at the dedication of the new University of Southern Mississippi Trent Lott National Center for Excellence in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship on Friday.
They state that when Tegerdine approached Taylor to shake his hand, the Blue Dog Democrat and 20-year incumbent immediately dismissed any pleasantries to accuse Tegerdine’scampaign of tampering with his website. Taylor threatened it was a federal offense and that there is an investigation underway to determine the source of the cyber-attack.
Tegerdine openly denied the allegations to Taylor and seemed taken aback by the Congressman’s choice of venue and words. Sources said that Tegerdine informed Taylor that if it was discovered that anyone related to his campaign had participated in such actions they would be immediately asked to disassociate themselves from future campaign efforts.
In a statement made after the incident, Tegerdine is reported to have said, “I am really disappointed by Congressman Taylor’s behavior. I think we expect a higher level of professionalism and decorum from our elected officials. It confirms again to me why I am in this race, we deserve better.”
We will keep a close eye on this story and track it to see if any new details emerge.
MS-01: Alan Nunnelee spoke about healthcare reform this morning, and offered this statement which includes nine bullets points for healthcare reform that he would support.
MS-01: Patsy Brumfield covered Alan Nunnelee’s press conference today (although you may think she did it on behalf of the Childers campaign). I think this offers a good perspective on what we should expect from the newspaper that doubled as Childers’ campaign HQs in 2008- apparently not much has changed this time around.
MS-01: Angela McGlowan seems to be getting a lot of attention from the liberal blog, Talking Points Memo. They wrote up a second story on her support for social security privatization, as outlined in a press release her campaign issued last week. On a side note, they said they are awaiting a response from the Nunnelee campaign. Hopefully they ignore the request, and realize no Republicans should be communicating with that blog.
MS-01: Independent candidate Les Green said he will officially begin his campaign on Thursday, according to the Daily Journal. His campaign kickoff event will be at noon at Gale Community Center on Elm Street in Hernando.
MS-02: WLBT has a very short write-up on George Bailey, a Clinton native, who is running in the GOP primary for the right to take on Bennie Thompson. Here is some of that story: “George Bailey is a Republican who says he is strong about his faith. Bailey is a former veteran who also worked in law enforcement. If elected, he says he wants to reform the corrections system, work with academic institutions and civil organizations.”
MS-04: Steven Palazzo will be speaking on Tuesday night at Southern Miss along with several GOP leaders including Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, Sen. Pro Term Billy Hewes, and GOP Chair Brad White.
MS-04: Palazzo’s primary opponent, Joe Tegerdine, will be speaking at the same event. Don’t expect much in the way of fireworks.
MS-04: A new pro-Tegerdine/ anti-Taylor website (www.genepelositaylor.com) has a couple posts up criticizing the incumbent and this post- it looks familiar, where have I seen it before?
2010 House: Here is one bloggers coverage on the four Congressional races that are up for grabs in the state this fall. He labeled Thompson, Harper and Taylor as safe, while giving the slight edge to Childers in the first.
2012 President: Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch will most likely support Mitt Romney in 2012 (as he did in 2008) should the former Massachusetts governor run again. And one of the two names he mentioned as a possible VP candidate is Haley Barbour. Should Haley not run in 2012, I imagine we will then begin to hear VP talks.
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann just announced the initiative to place voter identification on the ballot for voters to decide upon was successful, and will be on the November 2011 ballot as per state law.
This is just the third initiative drive to make it on the ballot, and would be the first to pass should voters approve of it.
Continue reading Voter ID Will Be On 2011 General Election Ballot >>
In an earlier election notebook, I referenced an article where Alan Nunnelee said he would not directly respond to Angela McGlowan, saying he needs to exert his energy on the “giant roaming in the valley” rather than “family fights.”
Nunnelee expanded upon that statement in his campaign blog, when he added this:
The lesson I learned from this (1 Samuel 17:28) is that we must remain focused on the “Giant in the Valley”. If we choose not to do so, we can expend all of our energy fighting within our own family. While we are engaging in family fights, the Giant continues to roam. In 2010, the giant we face is the liberal agenda unleashed on our country by Nancy Pelosi. Our own Congressman has empowered her to advance this agenda, and she must be stopped. I’m confident in my conservative credentials and therefore I feel it is best to ignore the taunts of others within our own family and focus on our mission.
Continue reading Nunelee: Pelosi Is “The Giant in the Valley” >>
Mississippians have been getting political news online for the past decade, and thanks to a helpful website known as the Wayback Machine, we can look at old websites as they looked on a certain date. Sometimes the pictures don’t always work, same with the links, but it does provide an interesting snapshot to the way things were.
I suppose it has slipped the mind of many because the vote occurred nine years ago this spring, but few issues in recent history have attracted the attention of the April 2001 flag referendum vote. And it’s worth noting that the vote was taking place at the dawn of the Internet age for many, so let’s take a look back.
MS Opinions (www.msopinions.com) served as a popular platform including a forum (or message board) for people to sound off and you can even still see some of those nine year old comments. Its original mission statement was to “provide a service to the citizens of Mississippi in helping them reach an agreement and a conclusion of the current controversy surrounding their state flag.” The website, which was a clearing board of sorts, provided tons of information, polls, links, news, and history for all interested parties. Here is a direct link to the flag info.
For a (very boring) screenshot:
Continue reading Taking A Stroll Down Memory Lane: The Flag and The Internet >>
MS-01: The NRCC launched a series of campaign attacks yesterday targeting vulnerable Democrats on healthcare, including Travis Childers. The ad said, in part, “President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi are having some trouble coming up with the votes. As Democrat leaders continue to lose support for their latest healthcare push, they will be leaning heavily on Travis Childers to be a vote in the ‘yes’ column. Pelosi gave Childers a free pass the last time around, but it looks like that permission slip has expired.”
MS-01: I already linked to this last night in the story about the House jobs bill- also known as the HIRE Act in some circles- but it’s worth looking at Childers’ press release in support of the bill again. One thing I notice is he makes no mention of the cost of the bill- surely that wasn’t on accident. And second, he says it will create “some 300,000 jobs.” I would be careful of predictions. It didn’t work out so well for the Congressman in his press release in support of the stimulus bill last year.
MS-01: Kind of interesting find here. It looks like Angela McGlowan’s bestseller Bamboozled is available to read for free at Google books. In the intro (on page xxv), McGlowan, who attended Ole Miss, said she was “an opponent of the University of Mississippi’s Rebel flag.” You may remember fans essentially stopped waving the flag at games when sticks were banned in 1997.
MS-01: Alan Nunnelee will be making a healthcare policy statement on Monday at 9 am at the Nunnelee for Congress Campaign headquarters (438 East Main Street).
MS-03: Andy Taggart fired back at the state Democratic leaders who said people felt “disconnected” from Gregg Harper. Taggart said, “Considering that two of those candidates are Joel Gill, whom Harper defeated with nearly two-thirds of the vote just over a year ago, and Shawn O’Hara, who has run for virtually every office in the state, one might wonder who, exactly, it is that is most disconnected.”
MS-04: Joe Tegerdine, writing on his Facebook page, promoted the Fair Tax calling it “fair and simple.” He added, “It would be a boon to our economy and stop Congress from the manipulation and control it exerts over the American taxpayer.” To learn more about the Fair Tax, check out their website- FairTax.org.
MS-04: Gene Taylor introduced legislation yesterday to repeal NAFTA, saying 29 percent of manufacturing job losses since 1993 are linked to the bill. Regarding the timing of the bill, Taylor said, “At a time when 10 to 12 percent of the American people are unemployed, I think Congress has an obligation to put people back to work.”
MS-04: During a press conference which was original scheduled to be about the NAFTA repeal bill, the topic turned to healthcare as Taylor was joined by Rep. Bart Stupak- now one of the most noticeable Congressmen in the country for his role in demanding strict abortion language in any healthcare bill. Stupak said he doesn’t care about the process, or the press he has received, adding, “We can make it the (Gene) Taylor amendment. I don’t care. I have no pride of ownership.” Taylor responded, “No, because I’m not going to vote for the bill.”
2010 House: Brian Perry’s column this week looked at the 26 people who are vying for Congress from Mississippi, although many do not actually live in the district they are hoping to represent.
The Washington Scene section of The Hill has four different photos of Angela McGlowan posing with high-profile Democrats such as Jimmy Carter, Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson. One picture even had her next to Danny Glover, who is more of a socialist then a Democrat.
Check out Washington Scene for all the photos.
Apparently these photos were included in press and publicity materials that were handed out to journalists and previously appeared on her website- which has been scrubbed clean for some time now.
I imagine McGlowan has many photos with many people. And during a campaign, these kinds of photos are the ones that make the headlines.
Continue reading Pictures of McGlowan With Prominent Liberals Appear in The Hill >>
Failure In MS-02
Candidates officially qualified for Congressional races in Mississippi this week and Republicans have put a pretty good group of challengers together in the 1st and 4th districts to challenge incumbents, but really failed in MS-02. I know the seat is safe for Bennie Thompson, but if you have a year to have a chance to really have any sliver of chance to pick that seat off it would have been this year. It is a non-presidential year and there is some considerable voter apathy from Democrats nationwide. I know it sounds crazy but, I think had Republicans picked a solid candidate they could have at least been competitive in the district. Just go back to 2002 when Bennie only got 55% of the vote going up against Clinton LeSueur and realize that it is not impossible for a Republican to be competitive in the district. Simply put Republicans failed in their recruitment efforts in the district and missed a chance at a possible upset in a year perfectly fit for one.
Furloughing
Latest talk from Jackson this week centers on furloughing teachers in the state for 5 days in the school year and also shortening the number of classroom days down by 5. I really like the idea and think it would be a great idea to help save money for the state. I honestly don’t think 5 days are really going to be missed all that much anyway from a curriculum standpoint. Maybe it will actually serve as a challenge for schools to step up their game and make the most out of every day they have as opposed to the considerable amount of waste that exists anyway. I don’t blame the teachers in this situation. The real issue with the public school system is administrative and is in dire need of consolidation and streamlining, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on any of that ever happening.
WLBT in Jackson had a good segment this week on some of the waste we see in our school systems related to excessive travel expenses and is definitely worth a look if you are interested.
Childers’ Plant?
I got a real kick out of the email from the Prentiss County Republicans saying that Angela McGlowan being a plant for Travis Childers relating to her comments about not wanting to support Nunnelee if he were to be the GOP nominee in the district. I of course misinterpreted the headline here and let my mind do the rest of the work. So there you have it Travis Childers grooming and making sure Angela McGlowan is ready to bring down the GOP in MS-01
In something you don’t see everyday, Representatives Gregg Harper and Bennie Thompson both opposed a House bill, while Representative Gene Taylor and Travis Childers both supported it. The bill was the $15 billion jobs bill that recently cleared the Senate (that Wicker and Cochran supported). The final House vote was a rather close 217-201.
Harper joined 165 Republicans in opposing the bill mainly for fiscal reasons. But Thompson joined several other members of the Black Caucus who opposed the bill arguing that it does not spend enough and therefore will not make a difference.
Meanwhile the two Blue Dogs, Taylor and Childers, supported the bill saying that it will create jobs while not going overboard in spending. Childers promptly sent out a press release saying this bill will “create new small business and construction jobs, spur private sector hiring, and help rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.”
This may be one of the first times I remember the Black Caucus joining the GOP in opposing a bill, while the Blue Dogs join rank-and-file Democrats in supporting it.
Following the events of the past week which started with comments by Angela McGlowan saying she would not support Alan Nunnelee should he be the GOP nominee, and were then followed by an e-mail from the Prentiss County GOP chairman where he questioned McGlowan’s party loyalty amid her Nunnelee attacks, Henry Ross has now issued a statement on where he stands- and what he would do should he not be the GOP nominee:
After the primary, win or lose, I will work to ensure our party is unified to retake our rightful seat in Congress. I trust that my opponents will do the same. Ensuring our seat is retaken by a conservative is more important than any campaign alone. We need to elect conservative fighters who are unafraid of defeat and that can be counted on by the people. I promise I will work with whomever the nominee is to restore a conservative voice in November.
Things in MS-01 just got a whole lot more interesting this morning. As Y’all Politics noted, Prentiss County GOP Chairman Roy Gray recently sent an e-mail to GOP Chairman Brad White and other local party leaders questioning Angela McGlowan after she said she would not support Alan Nunnelee should he be the GOP nominee.
The e-mail raised the possibility that McGlowan was “a plant for Travis Childers,” adding, “Angela has previously stated that she intended to run a positive campaign focusing on the defeat of Travis Childers. Good advice that she needs to heed.”
He called on her to withdraw from the race if she can not support the eventual GOP nominee. “I, for one, believe McGlowan should run her race in a respectable manner, keep her mouth shut and support the Republican nominee whether it be her, Ross or Nunnelee and if she can’t do this we as a party should demand that she withdraw from this race today,” Gray said.
According to the story in Politico, Gray received positive feedback and encouragement from other local leaders.
Update: The entire e-mail from Gray to White and others is below:
Continue reading Prentiss County GOP Chair: Is McGlowan A Plant for Childers? >>
In an email the Mississippi Democrats sent out announcing their 2010 slate of Congressional candidates, it went over many of the themes you would expect for this type of message. They praise the Democratic candidates and give you a chance to make a donation among other things.
But there words on healthcare show the tightrope the state party is walking. They have generally supported Obama’s healthcare plans, have spent a lot of time bashing Republicans who oppose it, but are supporting the re-election of two Democrats who joined Republicans in opposing the bill last year- and still do oppose it.
In the email, Jamie Franks said, “We don’t want to turn either of these seats (MS-01 and MS-04) over to Republicans. If we do that, our numbers in the House of Representatives could fall to dangerous levels when it comes to deciding whether or not we even see a vote on health care, much less get it passed.”
So using that math, Democrats are relying on two Democratic Representatives who oppose healthcare reform to help usher the legislation through final passage in the House.
The Democrats know they can’t go too far with this- in either direction. They have a larger African-American base who generally support healthcare legislation, but also rely on white conservatives who are not exactly warm to Obama’s proposals.
On a side note, I imagine the Republicans running against Taylor and Childers are happy to use the words of Jamie Franks against them. This fall they can remind voters that the Democrats are relying on the two Congressmen for a vote on healthcare.
