Are pro-Mike Espy forces overplaying their hand by trying to divide #mssen along racial lines

**WARNING – GRAPHIC CONTENT**

Yesterday, a group of inner city ministers in Jackson hastily called a press conference to call on Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith to resign after remarks she made over the weekend in reference to a friend and supporter, saying, “I would fight a circular saw for him . . . If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.”

https://www.facebook.com/WLBT3/posts/10155643495125653

Then late yesterday, Herbert Sandler’s PowerPAC Plus, which has put nearly $2,000,000 to work on behalf of Espy this cycle, produced and released the following ad featuring a group of white people at a lynching with graphic depictions of the victims.  Sandler is also the founding chairman of ProPublica.

AGAIN – WARNING – HIGHLY GRAPHIC CONTENT FOLLOWS

PowerPAC+ would not return calls for comment about the ad.   The ad on their facebook page has syndication.  Facebook has put a graphic violence warning on the ad, but has yet to take the ad down.  The leader of PowerPAC+, Steve Phillips, is author of the new book Brown is the new White and is also the son in law of Herbert Sandler.  PowerPAC+ would not provide comment.

In response to the pro-Espy ad, Republicans are now fighting back.

Governor Phil Bryant responded to the ad as follows.

“The use of these horrific images to sow the seeds of racial division, strictly for political purposes, is reprehensible. Mike Espy should immediately call for the removal of this despicable Political Ad and condemn its use in his campaign.”

Requests for comment to the Espy for Senate campaign on whether or not he supported the tone of the messages on his behalf were not returned.

Editors note – In the 14+ years of Y’all Politics, this is the absolute worst political ad we’ve covered – anywhere.  We struggled with the decision to put the PowerPac+ ad out in further circulation than what it already was.  It’s distasteful.  It represents everything that those  who live and work and worship in Mississippi would fight a lifetime to prevent those who couldn’t find Mississippi on a map from instigating and promoting for purely political gain.  Put simply, this is not what we’re about.  However, it’s unfortunately newsworthy and we hope instructive to shed light on those that would do Mississippians harm by needlessly and wantonly provoking the worst imagery to divide Mississippians in the pursuit of political power.