Ellington

OXFORD—Whether the person is red or blue, the Ole Miss community is creeping toward a consensus: If John McCain ruins the debate for the Oxford and Ole Miss community, there will be consequences.

"I tell you what, if John McCain doesn't show up, there's going to be a lot of people in this town that will be mad as hell," said Leslie, a 42-year-old Oxford native who drives one of the shuttles commissioned specifically for the debate.

I asked some of my fellow bus travelers to help me come up with a comparison that represents how John McCain is undercutting Mississippi's good ole Southern hospitality.

"It's like going on a blind date and finding out she's ugly," says John, a mustachioed student from California. "As far as I see it, if you're McCain, you still go on that date because it's the right thing do."

That's why so many Mississippians are so mad. John McCain is trying to stand them up, and the locals don't take too kindly to that kind of rudeness.