Friday Ramblings with Robert
Haley’s Out
In a bit of a surprise Haley Barbour ended his campaign for President before it ever began. For months it was speculated that he would for sure take a shot at it and based on his travels and some of the people he hired it looked like a foregone conclusion, but alas it was not meant to be. Haley Barbour knows politics like the back of his hand and you have to think he knew that the deck was going to be stacked against him and it was going to be a long shot. He did the thing that most politicians should do in situations like this and just said no, why waste the time and effort when you can already see the writing on the wall. Haley Barbour can help the Republican Party, both locally and nationally, in much greater ways than he would have ever been able to do as a front line contender. The man is a behind the scenes political powerhouse and I believe that is where he will focus his energies after he has served out his term as Governor.
That Residency Thing Again
I bet Bill “Memphis” Luckett would love for this whole residency issue albatross that is hanging around his campaign would just disappear already. The man who wants to be Governor of Mississippi was living in Memphis, TN just a little over 3 years ago. It says right here that he needs to have lived in the state for five years prior to the day of the election. Simple math will tell you that it will not even be 4 years by then considering he still claimed to be a resident of Tennessee in December 2007. Memphis Luckett’s people claim that Republicans are scared of his candidacy and that is why these residency documents have come to light. Frankly, I doubt any of the Republican leaders in this state are shaking in their boots at the thought of having to square off with Memphis Luckett in November. I guarantee you the people of Mississippi will not take this lightly if he makes it to the general election in November. There is a great deal of state pride present here and it will be hard to accept a carpetbagger from the northern territory of Memphis as the next governor.
Devastated South
The last couple of weeks devastating storms have pounded not only our state but the entire southeast. All of that came to a head earlier this week when violent tornadoes swept through the southeast leaving 300 of our neighbors dead and many others left to pick up what pieces were left. The worst still may not be over as now the Mississippi River is nearing record levels that could devastate areas up and down its banks with flooding in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee. It will be important to keep all of those dealing with the effects of what these storms have brought and what their aftermath may still leave with flooding in our thoughts and prayers.
Luckett is his own worst enemy. I say let’s all do whatever we can to see his car is forever filled with gas because the more he speaks, the more people hear him speak the more votes for Bryant. We need to present the information about his “disqualifications” as a bonafide resident of the state to authorities(Not Jim Hood for heaven’s sake!) and then forget about it and stand aside!!!! He may even be responsible for a few folks leaving the Democratic party along the way.
You should know democrats are only concerned about residency when the candidate is a republican. In MS House 82, democrats challenged my candidacy because they said my 89 year old mom lived a mile outside the district. It did not matter that I owned and lived in a house for 2 years inside of the district. They got the 2 democrat election commissioners to vote for my removal (one was a church member of mine.) I had to bring a affidavit from my 90 year old next door neighbor, to verify that I have been disturbing him for more than 2 years by starting up my motorhome next to my house every week. And God only knows how many times I heard Bennie Thompson remind folks, I only moved into the district to run against him. (Which was TRUE.) Now, I am building a home in Vicksburg, so the next time I expect to hear him say, that boy might live in the district now, but hasn’t lived here as long as I have. Democrats and residency are quite a combination.
Bryant may not be the Republican nominee. If I remember correctly, he was tied up in the beef plant mess as well. Hopefully, people will do their research and we can get a proven business leader like Haley in Dave Dennis.