“This Is Not A Position We Want To Be In”

Those words, from Democratic Party Chairman Rickey Cole, aren’t exactly what you want to hear 13 days before an election. Cole was basically talking about the general disarray of the party, the lack of candidates in statewide office, and the inability to raise the necessary money. Cole did try to talk positives, most of what we’ve heard before- said that money isn’t a deciding factor, talked about grassroots activists, number of voters who choose the Democratic primary, etc.

Most of the talk regarding Democrats and statewide offices have been about the fact that Democrats didn’t field a candidate for the open lieutenant governor’s race, or secretary of state and state auditor. We can also say they didn’t field legitimate challengers in the races for insurance commissioner and agriculture commissioner. Joel Gill will meet Cindy Hyde-Smith and Louis Fondren will challenge Mike Chaney; but they are simply not serious candidates who can compete. That’s five of eight offices where the GOP basically got a free pass.

Besides the governor’s race where the Democrats fielded two serious candidates, and along with Jim Hood, the only other race they were actually competing was state treasurer. Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran was a nice get for the Democrats, but as we said yesterday, and when campaign finance reports came out, she just doesn’t have the resources necessary to compete with Lynn Fitch. Johnny DuPree’s struggles with raising money have been well documented in the press, and while he has a very appealing story, I just haven’t seen him do a whole lot motivate voters to turn out for his side. Rather, it looks like he will be on the wrong side of what ought to be billed as the most boring election in state history.

Which leads us to Hood. By all accounts, he’s in good shape to win a third term. Because of the office he holds, he has been able to be a thorn in the side of Haley Barbour and Republican legislators at times, but that thorn could be a look weaker if the GOP takes over the House. There were rumors- but never any real talk- that Hood may run for governor this year. He is the strongest Democrat in the state and this was an open seat year. Hood declined. The question is: Is Hood happy with being attorney general forever? Chances are top Republicans like Delbert Hosemann or Chris McDaniel are not going to take him on. Hood could make a run for a potential open Senate seat in 2014 without having to give up his day job, but any Democrat winning that is a long shot. Of course, 2015 will be another election year, but one in which Phil Bryant will be running for a second term in all likelihood.

I like to refer to Hood as Mike Moore 2.0. Moore spent 16 years as the state’s attorney general (when Democrats controlled nearly everything), and then turned down various calls to run for other open offices over the past several years (as Democrats ran out of serious candidates). His name was at the top of many Democratic wish lists when open seats came up, but he declined. For Hood to opt against a run this year, he looks like he is content in his current office forever, like Moore.