Reflections on Neshoba

by Alan Lange

It had been 13 years since I had been to the Fair. I forgot how much I enjoyed it and know it will be an annual thing for me and MP.

Though the level of most speeches was not high, there was plenty of backslapping and intrigue. The elected officials’ speeches (Hood, Bryant, Clark, Reeves, & Dale) were pretty predictable. There was a real speech-to-speech lovefest between Dale and Barbour.

Barbour looked good
In a scheduled 10 minute speech that went 25, Haley Barbour really touched all the bases. He was enormously gracious to George Dale about his work in Katrina and Jack Gordon on helping reign in the fiscal side of the State’s house.

The only person he really beat on was Ronnie Musgrove. Over and over Barbour pummelled Musgrove and the shape he left the State prior to Barbour’s ascension. Musgrove is rumored to be a pretty high-likelihood to run for Lt. Gov.

If we get to October and nobody has emerged as a clear candidate for Governor on the Democratic side, the downticket Ds will have a major problem on their hands. Barbour is skillful enough to pick them apart and, behind the scenes, is ruthless enough to do it. I think it’s legacy building time for Haley and if he runs 2007 right, he’ll set the table for the party in the state for another decade.

Meanwhile, the Barbourites were working the crowd pushing the Kool-aid. Actually they were pushing water – bottled water – Haley water.

I guess that’s one step removed from holy water. At least that was what they said when they handed it out.

Downticket Races

The only real bit of intrigue right now is the Lt. Governor’s race. Phil Bryant is undeniably in full campaign mode for Lt. Gov. (though he hasn’t officially announced).

His signs were up all over and stickers with his new logo promoting his website were all over. He looked good and his speech was good. I spent some time with Phil and he is very sharp on the stump.

Eric Clark spoke in his Secretary of State capacity. He walked right up to the “I am going to run for Lt. Governor” line, but he did not cross it. Clark has done a good job as SOS, especially on instituting electronic voting. He has not particularly been a thorn in Barbour’s side and is a pretty conservative Democrat. Whether he stays as SOS or tries for the Lt. Gov. spot, he will have a fight on his hands.

Charlie Ross was there in a little more low-key capacity backslapping and working the money crowd. That was the first time I had spent time talking with Charlie. There is no question in my mind that he’s running for Lt. Gov.

As a sidenote, it is a shame that the Republican Party and the State will likely lose either Bryant or Ross in a primary fight. Ultimately, I wish the Governor would intervene. Given his exceptional legal skills and his work on tort reform, Ross would make an OUTSTANDING candidate for AG and he’d have a real shot to unseat Hood. However, the scuttlebutt now is that Bubba Pierce is locked in to run for AG against Jim Hood. Always lurking behind the scenes, Scott Newton was in the crowd. Arguably, he could make a run for AG or Auditor.

Tate Reeves looked polished as always. Word in the crowd was that Cecil Brown was not going to run for Treasuer as previously thought. No word now as to who might run on the D side of the ledger.

With the State Auditor’s seat being functionally open, no true contenders have emerged on either side. However there is a suprisingly strong effort by some Metro Jackson politicos to draft Jackson City Councilman Ben Allen to run for the spot. With his name ID and Republican credentials and statewide base of contacts, he could be a compelling candidate.