MS-01 congressional candidate Angela McGlowan made a long-awaited second appearance on the Paul Gallo show on Supertalk Mississippi radio today. This was largely a follow up to an August 2009 appearance on Gallo where she spoke forcefully for registering guns on tax returns. Since then, she has recanted previous statement while casting aspersions on one of her primary opponents.
I listened to the interview in its entirety. The segments recorded are below.
First Segment
Second segment (audio picks up at 2:30 mark)
Final segment
The interview was wide ranging and hit on several points of interest.
Stylistically, the interview was problematic for McGlowan. She came off as defensive most of the time on her positions. However, she was equally combative a good bit of the time interrupting and asking “can I finish? can I finish?” to Gallo and callers on at least a dozen occasions. That sort of abrasive media presence will not serve her well “on the stump”. A propos of nothing, she tried to sneak in several attacks on one of her primary opponents, state Senator Alan Nunnelee, calling him a RINO and repeating disproven DCCC talking points about his tax records.
McGlowan still maintains that she does not believe in gun control and that she was playing “devil’s advocate” in her August 2009 interview with Gallo. However, she seemed to contradict herself when at several points in the interview that she had “changed her mind” on the issue. This invited a question from someone who was obviously a lawyer late in the final segment that questioned her on how could she “change her mind” on the issue if she really didn’t believe what she said in the first place.
Gallo asked several questions about her residency and callers peppered her with questions about homestead exemption, where she has voted in the recent past and other such issues. McGlowan owns property (not her residence) in Lafayette County, but did not engage callers on question of where she and her husband file homestead exemption and where she has been voting in the most recent elections.
The biggest bombshell occurred in the last 3 minutes of the interview when Paul Gallo asked her whether or not she would support the eventual nominee if she lost. She stated (at 9:50 in the final segment) that she would support Mayor Henry Ross if he advanced in the primary, but not Senator Alan Nunnelee if he became the Republican nominee. Republican voters are extremely leery in MS-01 to avoid the disaster in the 2008 primary that saw a jilted Glenn McCullough not actively support the eventual nominee, Southaven Mayor Greg Davis. Both McCullough and Davis will forever wander the larger elective political wildnerness for not being able to effectively come together after that primary.
She also stated that she would “more than likely” write a book on Mississippi politics and her congressional candidacy experience.
Democratic supporters of Travis Childers have been licking their chops hoping for a bloody primary fight. The DCCC is clearly targeting Nunnelee as the man to beat. However, McGlowan’s repeated appearances continue to dig the hole so deep that I now doubt that much, if any, blood will be shed in the primary. Nunnelee will likely stay above the fray and not engage her in attacks because there will be no real need to do so. Based on her performance, McGlowan seems to marginalizing herself to the extent where she will not be much use to Democrats to bloody Alan Nunnelee up by proxy.
This has been a rough stretch for McGlowan and it is difficult to see how she will gain real traction or support in this contest. Her best bet? Stay off the radio, find a message and get on it . . . fast.
Note for readers . . . As has been disclosed on multiple occasions, the author has made a reportable contribution to Alan Nunnelee in this race.
