Let’s be honest. Brad Morris had a pretty big uphill challenge. Running as a Democrat on a ticket under Barack Obama against a popular incumbent Congressman Alan Nunnelee was never going to be easy.
Morris served as Chief of Staff for former Congressman Travis Childers, who Nunnelee pummelled by 15 points in 2010 to take the MS-01 seat. Morris was supposed to be the resurrection of the “conservative Democrat” who could straddle the fence between Nancy Pelosi and the people of North Mississippi.
Childers spent his two years in Congress voting with Nancy Pelosi and then coming home to obfuscate his support of her. However, unlike the late Rep. Jamie Whitten, who made an art form of delivering mixed messages in DC and North Mississippi, the Internet and more engaged voters made running from Whitten’s playbook impossible for Childers.
Unlike the also-ran Democrat challengers to Congressman Gregg Harper or Steven Palazzo this cycle, Morris was supposed to at least put up a fight against Nunnelee. He hasn’t. Fundraising has been abysmal. Messaging has been tepid. Support from the state Democratic Party and Rickey Cole appears to have been negligible. He hasn’t even gotten on the radar of the DCCC. They haven’t put any resources in – a sure sign they know Morris is a lost cause. It doesn’t appear that he will make an even good enough showing to merit another chance in two years.
In short, Brad Morris has not even gotten out of the starting gate.
Nunnelee for his part has run a disciplined race and will likely hold close to the margin he beat Childers by in 2010 even considering that Obama will be on the ticket, which will undoubtedly get more Democrats to the polls. Nunnelee is popular and has worked hard in the district and in DC. There may be some last minute campaign histrionics by Morris in the last 12 days of campaign 2012, but there’s nothing on the horizon that will move the needle even remotely.
If the Democratic Party in Mississippi can’t help move the needle for Brad Morris, who is a smart guy with a reasonable pedigree in a year where the incumbent president is on the ticket, it shows you how far in the ditch the party really is. Absent signs to the contrary, it looks like it will stay that way for a long time.
Magnolia Tribune
