Paintin’ It Blue in Mississippi
This is the third long-term Republican House seat won by a Democrat in recent weeks (the other two were in Illinois and Louisiana). The Republican party threw all its putative assets into the race, beginning with race itself.
GOP ads linked Childers with Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright. One said that Childers took “Obama’s endorsement over our values.” Another declared, “Records prove Obama endorsed Childers!”
It didn’t work. Neither did bringing in Dick Cheney on Monday — a desperation move that may well have hurt the Republican candidate. While Davis was trying to link his opponent to Obama and Wright, he was linking himself with Cheney and President Bush, which is increasingly looking similar to tying yourself to an anchor when jumping into water.
John McCain will have that anchor hanging from his neck in November, as will Republican candidates around the country.
Three of the four Congressmen from Mississippi are now Democrats. What’s more, there is a very real chance that, with Obama at the head of the ticket, a huge African-American vote in November will enable Democratic former Governor Ronnie Musgrove to defeat newly appointed Republican Senator Roger Wicker. Furthermore, as I argued nearly two years ago, there is a real possibility that Obama could carry Mississippi.
Dr. Robert McElvaine
Millsaps College
Huffington Post
5/15/8
Magnolia Tribune
