I've been busier than a one-armed paperhanger at the Sistine Chapel. Therefore, there is nothing to post this month.
After tax season, I plan to write about Phil Bryant. From January 1, 1981 to the present, I keep a detailed diary. I served with Bryant for seventeen months on the Rankin County Republican Executive Committee (from Dec. 1988 to April 1990). One reader of my blog wondered why I passionately dislike him so much. You will soon know why.
I'll blog one more time in March. But after tax season, be prepared for some juicy stuff.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
I'm For Cliff Brown
I got blasted by comments from my last post. For the record, I would support Cliff Brown if I lived in that district. Brown is a solid conservative and an honorable person. I would be proud to have him as my state senator (Dean Kirby is my state senator and he has done a great job.).
I will be the first to tell you I am not familiar with the politics of other counties--including Simpson County. This is why I welcome comments from readers in other counties. I know Perry Lee's district extends outside of Rankin County and Rankin County is just a small portion of that district.
I was not aware of Lee's background and his voting record on all the issues. If he is from the county club wing of the GOP then we don't need him. From what I have read from the comments, he's out of touch with the little guy.
I apologize to all those I offended. I guess I'm not familiar with local politics outside of Rankin County and it showed. I had no idea there was so much disenchantment with Sen. Lee.
For the record, I definitely do NOT want Cliff Brown to lose and the article was not written to convey I wanted him to lose. I was pointing out the difficulty of throwing out an incumbent. I also pointed out the issues where the incumbents are vulnerable. I hope on August 7Th (providing there is no Democratic opponent) I can call Cliff Brown "Senator Brown."
I will be the first to tell you I am not familiar with the politics of other counties--including Simpson County. This is why I welcome comments from readers in other counties. I know Perry Lee's district extends outside of Rankin County and Rankin County is just a small portion of that district.
I was not aware of Lee's background and his voting record on all the issues. If he is from the county club wing of the GOP then we don't need him. From what I have read from the comments, he's out of touch with the little guy.
I apologize to all those I offended. I guess I'm not familiar with local politics outside of Rankin County and it showed. I had no idea there was so much disenchantment with Sen. Lee.
For the record, I definitely do NOT want Cliff Brown to lose and the article was not written to convey I wanted him to lose. I was pointing out the difficulty of throwing out an incumbent. I also pointed out the issues where the incumbents are vulnerable. I hope on August 7Th (providing there is no Democratic opponent) I can call Cliff Brown "Senator Brown."
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
The Test on How Incumbents Will Do
In District 35 for the State Senate, incumbent Perry Lee is opposed by Cliff Brown of Florence. As of today, I would say Lee would win by a landslide. But because this is the only race (so far) where an incumbent legislator has primary opposition in Rankin County, it will be interesting to see how much anti-incumbent feeling there is out there. Here are the following storm clouds that should worry incumbents:
1. The beef plant fiasco. If you want to really anger the average voter, just talk about that $55 million dollar boondoggle. I have talked to a lot of voters and they are red-hot angry about it. Will it translate to anti-incumbent voting?
2. Hurricane Katrina. There are a lot of people who are complaining how slow the government is in aiding the victims. Brown lives in south Rankin County and is running in a district that had a lot of hurricane damage. Will that hurt Lee?
3. The grocery tax. Let's face it: The average voter is for raising cigarette taxes to fund a sales tax cut on groceries. While that will not help the rich, it will help the little guy. But Lee's district is not a wealthy district. The tax cut would help them. Would Brown vote for raising the cigarette tax to cut the sales tax on groceries? That is a sleeper issue.
4. Accountability. Does the average taxpayer feel they are getting his money's worth out of state government? A lot of people say "no." Can Brown capitalize on that?
If I were a betting man (and I'm not), I would say Lee will get 75% of the vote. He'll have the pac funding and the name recognition. But if he gets less than 60% of the vote, there is a deep disgust with incumbents and you could find a lot of political corpses come Election Day. And if Brown should win, you could see the makeup of the state legislature heavily change. Brown is the canary in the political coal mine. It'll be interesting to see how that bird will chirp come August 7th.
1. The beef plant fiasco. If you want to really anger the average voter, just talk about that $55 million dollar boondoggle. I have talked to a lot of voters and they are red-hot angry about it. Will it translate to anti-incumbent voting?
2. Hurricane Katrina. There are a lot of people who are complaining how slow the government is in aiding the victims. Brown lives in south Rankin County and is running in a district that had a lot of hurricane damage. Will that hurt Lee?
3. The grocery tax. Let's face it: The average voter is for raising cigarette taxes to fund a sales tax cut on groceries. While that will not help the rich, it will help the little guy. But Lee's district is not a wealthy district. The tax cut would help them. Would Brown vote for raising the cigarette tax to cut the sales tax on groceries? That is a sleeper issue.
4. Accountability. Does the average taxpayer feel they are getting his money's worth out of state government? A lot of people say "no." Can Brown capitalize on that?
If I were a betting man (and I'm not), I would say Lee will get 75% of the vote. He'll have the pac funding and the name recognition. But if he gets less than 60% of the vote, there is a deep disgust with incumbents and you could find a lot of political corpses come Election Day. And if Brown should win, you could see the makeup of the state legislature heavily change. Brown is the canary in the political coal mine. It'll be interesting to see how that bird will chirp come August 7th.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Blacks and the Mississippi Democratic Party
Back in January 2005, the blacks in the Georgia State House of Representatives screamed how they were being shut out of the legislative process and removed from all the committee chairmanships they held. They called it "racist" and wanted something done.
So what happened? Why the outcry? What was going on in the state of Georgia? It's very simple. For the first time since Reconstruction, the Republicans won the State House. All of the black legislators were Democrats. The Republicans decided that party members would get the committee chairmanships. Hence, no blacks were committee chairmen. The GOP again retained control in the 2006 elections. It will be a while before the Democrats take control of either legislative body in Georgia.
Fast forward to Mississippi. Obviously, committee chairmanships are decided by the Lt. Governor and House Speaker. But that could change. Mississippi has never been known for its party divisions in the State Legislature. But a year or so ago, the GOP decided to elect a minority leader and whip. That does not bode well for bipartisanship in the Legislature. Should the Democrats retain control of the House, the Speaker just might appoint all Democrats to committee chairmanships. And blacks will control a lot of those posts.
Odds are the Democrats will control the House next year. But it is only a matter of time before the GOP takes control. It will be a lot more partisan Legislature than it was under Gov. Musgrove and previous governors. If all the black legislators are Democrats, they just might not get any committee chairmanships. They might object, but why should the GOP appoint them to any committee chairmanships? Most of the GOP legislators are conservative. Most of the black legislators are liberal.
Blacks should re-examine their love affair with the Democratic Party. I can understand why the blacks want to stay in the Democratic Party. After all, a solid majority of Democratic primary voters are black. Blacks wield a lot of power in the Democratic Party. And when the Democratic Party is in control, blacks will have a good chunk of power. But what happens when the Democratic Party loses its power. Blacks are shut out of the power process. There is a lot of truth to the old political cliche': Always dance with the ones who brung you. And most blacks do not want to dance with the GOP.
Take Rankin County, which is solidly GOP. How many blacks have any position of power? How much influence does the black community have on the GOP? The answer is "none." You may get a few blacks appointed to some boards and commissions, but that's about it. There is very little power on those boards and commissions.
The GOP has changed quite a bit in the past thirty years. It certainly isn't as conservative as it was thirty years ago--or even twenty. Admittedly, the late Gov. Kirk Fordice was no friend of the black population. One could make a very strong case that he was racist (I personally think he was.). But his breed is the old time 1960s and 1970s Republicans, which did have a racist tinge with some of those Republicans. The new breed can't stand racism. This is especially true among the Christian Right. The CR is reaching out to blacks in volunteer efforts and on the social issues. One very strong reason the CR is not racist because of its very strong religious beliefs--especially that the Lord Jesus Christ died for ALL people.
And just what has the average black got out of the Democratic Party other than power? Billions have been spent on welfare but there is a strong black (and to some degree, white) underclass. The Democrats promote dependency; The GOP promotes opportunity and hope. Maybe the GOP isn't perfect, but shouldn't blacks give an ear to what the GOP has to offer? Shouldn't the black voter be more discriminating in its vote rather than just voting for an individual just because he has a (D) after his name? And to maintain its power status, shouldn't blacks get involved in the Republican Party and vote Republican so they can get the fruits of power should the GOP be in the driver's seat? Black voters shouldn't put their eggs all in the Democratic Party basket.
Hopefully, blacks will wake up and carefully choose both sides. The last thing this state needs is a lily-white Republican Party and a solidly black Democratic Party.
So what happened? Why the outcry? What was going on in the state of Georgia? It's very simple. For the first time since Reconstruction, the Republicans won the State House. All of the black legislators were Democrats. The Republicans decided that party members would get the committee chairmanships. Hence, no blacks were committee chairmen. The GOP again retained control in the 2006 elections. It will be a while before the Democrats take control of either legislative body in Georgia.
Fast forward to Mississippi. Obviously, committee chairmanships are decided by the Lt. Governor and House Speaker. But that could change. Mississippi has never been known for its party divisions in the State Legislature. But a year or so ago, the GOP decided to elect a minority leader and whip. That does not bode well for bipartisanship in the Legislature. Should the Democrats retain control of the House, the Speaker just might appoint all Democrats to committee chairmanships. And blacks will control a lot of those posts.
Odds are the Democrats will control the House next year. But it is only a matter of time before the GOP takes control. It will be a lot more partisan Legislature than it was under Gov. Musgrove and previous governors. If all the black legislators are Democrats, they just might not get any committee chairmanships. They might object, but why should the GOP appoint them to any committee chairmanships? Most of the GOP legislators are conservative. Most of the black legislators are liberal.
Blacks should re-examine their love affair with the Democratic Party. I can understand why the blacks want to stay in the Democratic Party. After all, a solid majority of Democratic primary voters are black. Blacks wield a lot of power in the Democratic Party. And when the Democratic Party is in control, blacks will have a good chunk of power. But what happens when the Democratic Party loses its power. Blacks are shut out of the power process. There is a lot of truth to the old political cliche': Always dance with the ones who brung you. And most blacks do not want to dance with the GOP.
Take Rankin County, which is solidly GOP. How many blacks have any position of power? How much influence does the black community have on the GOP? The answer is "none." You may get a few blacks appointed to some boards and commissions, but that's about it. There is very little power on those boards and commissions.
The GOP has changed quite a bit in the past thirty years. It certainly isn't as conservative as it was thirty years ago--or even twenty. Admittedly, the late Gov. Kirk Fordice was no friend of the black population. One could make a very strong case that he was racist (I personally think he was.). But his breed is the old time 1960s and 1970s Republicans, which did have a racist tinge with some of those Republicans. The new breed can't stand racism. This is especially true among the Christian Right. The CR is reaching out to blacks in volunteer efforts and on the social issues. One very strong reason the CR is not racist because of its very strong religious beliefs--especially that the Lord Jesus Christ died for ALL people.
And just what has the average black got out of the Democratic Party other than power? Billions have been spent on welfare but there is a strong black (and to some degree, white) underclass. The Democrats promote dependency; The GOP promotes opportunity and hope. Maybe the GOP isn't perfect, but shouldn't blacks give an ear to what the GOP has to offer? Shouldn't the black voter be more discriminating in its vote rather than just voting for an individual just because he has a (D) after his name? And to maintain its power status, shouldn't blacks get involved in the Republican Party and vote Republican so they can get the fruits of power should the GOP be in the driver's seat? Black voters shouldn't put their eggs all in the Democratic Party basket.
Hopefully, blacks will wake up and carefully choose both sides. The last thing this state needs is a lily-white Republican Party and a solidly black Democratic Party.
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