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Chip Pickering

/> Congressman Chip Pickering hails from a longtime Republican family from Laurel, Mississippi. Currently serving his fourth term representing Mississippi's Third District, he was first elected to Congress in 1996, at the age of 33. Chip serves as Vice Chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and also serves on the Agriculture Committee. He is also an assistant majority whip in the House of Representatives. Before coming to Congress, Chip pioneered the first full-time presence by a Southern Baptist missionary behind the Iron Curtain in Budapest, the capital of then communist Hungary. President George H. W. Bush appointed Chip to the United States Department of Agriculture to bring economic and democratic reform to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Later, as a member of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott's staff, and as a professional staff member on the Senate Commerce Committee, Chip helped shape the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996. He continues to be a leader on telecommunications and technology issues reflecting the growing importance of these industries to Mississippi's economic future. Chip served as George W. Bush's Co-Chairman of Mississippi for Bush 2000 and has been chosen again this year as President Bush's Co-Chairman of Mississippi for Bush 2004. Chip's growing record of achievement has earned him a reputation as an effective voice for Mississippi's interests, a rising star in the Congress, and a champion for the changes that are transforming America's economy in this century and beyond. Chip holds a bachelors degree in business administration from the University of Mississippi and a masters degree in business administration from Baylor University. Chip is married to the former Leisha Jane Prather of Memphis, Tennessee. Leisha is an accomplished pastry chef with some of her creations featured on the Food Network. She also operates an event planning business. She has coordinated events for the Presidential Inauguration, planned the 9-11 Widows' Baby Shower in New York, worked with the First Lady's Luncheon, and catered dinners for some of the most prominent names in Washington, DC including Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's chief advisor. After graduating from the University of Mississippi where she was a cheerleader, Leisha worked with high school students while serving on the staff at a church in Dallas, Texas. She has also served in missions work in China, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Palmer Home for Children, leads the Congressional Members and Families Committee, and works with organizations including the Republican Spouses, Congressional Club, and the International Club. Chip and Leisha have five sons: Will, Ross, Jackson, Asher, and Harper. The Pickering family resides on a small farm in rural Madison County. Bio and picture taken from the official Chip Pickering campaign website

Terry P. Johnson - District 5

Terry P. Johnson has lived his entire life in the Fifth Supervisors District of Hinds County. He has the experience necessary to conduct the general and special elections in an honest, timely, impartial manner and to keep the lists of registered voters of up-to-date and available. His educational degrees include a B. M. degree (music education) from William Carey College in Hattiesburg, an M. M. degree (organ performance) from Mississippi College in Clinton, and an M. E. degree (secondary education with emphasis on English) from Mississippi College. Additional training has been completed at Jackson State University in Jackson. In elections, he worked for twenty years as a poll manager. For the past seven years, he has been hired by the Democratic Party to coordinate its primary elections. For these elections, he has hired qulified the candidates, approximately five-hundred poll managers and additional staff, designed the ballots, corresponded with the hosts of the polling places, organized the supplies, and certified the results. As the chairperson of the municipal election commissioner for the past twelve years, he has also completed the above tasks and, in addition, has been responsible for the voter rolls and the purging of the roles. Three years ago, he was elected by the Mississippi Democratic Executive Committee as the co-chairperson of the Elections Sub-committee. Acting in that capacity, he has conducted training sessions for poll managers in Hinds, Holmes, and Scott Counties. He has been elected to represent the Fifth District on the Hinds County Democratic Executive Committee for four consecutive terms. He has previously served as the co-chairperson of its Affimative Action Sub-committee. He has also served as a special advisor to the Young Democrats of Mississippi - Hinds County chapter. He is a member of ECAM (Election Commissioners Association of Mississippi), Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church, and the Jackson chapter of the NAACP. He is presently the organist for the (Episcopal) Church of the Good Shepherd in Terry and the First Presbyterian Church in Hazlehurst. He previously served as the organist at the Terry United Methodist Church, where he was the church treasurer and Sunday School superintendent. He is an adjunct instructor of Belhaven College in Jackson and the interim librarian of the Power Academic and Performing Arts Center in Jackson. A former dean of the Jackson Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), he has performed concerts in Hinds, Copiah, Forrest, Simpson Counties and Tangipahoa Parrish, Louisiana. He has also performed in two operas and numerous dramatic productions, a number of combined community services, and has composed and performed music for silent movies. His writings have appeared in a variety of Mississippi publications. He has been fortunate enough to be an active volunteer for the Radio Reading Service (since its first year of existance), International Ballet Competition, New American Freedom Summer, March of Dimes, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jubilee JAM (since its first year of existance), Terry High School, Perryman Elementary School, Mississippi Education Television, Friends of Terry, Carey Children's Street Theatre, Playhouse North, the Jackson-Hinds Library System, Glories of Baroque Dresden exhibit, Mississippi Department of Health, Multiple Sclerosis Society of America, and other organizations.

Of 'Rednecks' and 'Shoe-Shine Boys'

Web Exclusive

Today at 4 p.m. Mayor Harvey Johnson called for the State Fair Commission to speak out against the views of white supremacist Richard Barrett, while stopping short of calling for a boycott of the Mississippi State Fair in October. "I would like the commission to go on record saying that they are against the views of the Nationalist Movement and urge the attorney general to re-open this case," Johnson said at a press conference at his office.

Poll: Americans Uninformed About Bush, Kerry

AP reports: "If matching presidential candidates to their positions on basic issues were like a 'Jeopardy!' category, most Americans wouldn't earn a single dollar. More than half of those polled by the National Annenberg Election Survey didn't know President Bush alone favors allowing private investments of some Social Security money. Nearly as many didn't know that only Democratic candidate John Kerry proposes getting rid of tax breaks for the overseas profits of U.S. companies. Importing drugs from Canada? That's a Kerry issue, but nearly half either didn't know or thought Bush also supported changing federal law to allow for drug imports from Canada."

eZra Brown

With a soft voice laced with traces of his native South Carolina, eZra Brown speaks earnestly about the positives he's found in Mississippi since coming here in 1992. "I'm excited about the way Mississippi is actually growing. Young fire is a good thing. … There's gold everywhere."

Admission o' the Year

The Indianapolis Star reports: Norman Ornstein, a congressional analyst at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said the issue (gay marriage ban) is being pushed by Republicans to energize their conservative base. "The upside potential in convincing the Christian conservative community that Armageddon will come if John Kerry and Democrats are elected is greater than losing Log Cabin Republicans and some socially moderate Republicans," Ornstein said.

Jay Losset

When Jay Losset, 28, talks about Jackson, you can tell he's excited. When I interviewed him, he moved to the edge of his seat when he mentioned the changes going on in Jackson, rocking back and forth and moving his hands wildly as he discussed the city.

Jackson Convention Center: The $65 Million Question

Update: On Thursday morning, Jeff Good and Dan Blumenthal, owners of BRAVO! and Broad Street restaurants, announced that they were pledging 1% of their sales between now and the election to the Capital City Convention fund. Good and Blumenthal both expressed support for the convention center, saying it would be good for business and downtown Jackson. Good says they chose the 1% approach "to validate how inconsequential 1% is to a restaurant transaction, when compared to the great good it can serve." Good estimated that his company's total donation could be $5000 or more, based on the prior year's sales. by Todd Stauffer

It's About the Issues, Stupid!

Samac Richardson - Position 2

"/>Originally from Neshoba County, Philadelphia, Mississippi, Samac is the son of Myrtis and the late Burdette Richardson. His parents were both school teachers; his father also served two terms as Neshoba County Circuit Clerk. Samac has one brother, Dr. C. David Richardson, an ophthalmologist in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Samac graduated from Philadelphia High School in 1965 before attending East Central Community College. He received a B.S. degree in Accounting from Mississippi State University in 1970, and a Juris Doctor degree from The Jackson School of Law (now the Mississippi College School of Law) in 1975, where he served on the Honor Council. He is also a 1993 graduate of the National Judicial College. While attending law school, he was employed by The University of Mississippi Medical Center as Project Administrator for Family Planning and Nurse Midwifery and The Central Mississippi Planning and Development District as Fiscal Officer. He has been married 34 years to the former Libby Ashley of Franklin County, Mississippi, and they have resided in Rankin County, Mississippi since 1972. They have two children, Kim and Steve. Kim has a B.A. degree in Communications from Mississippi State University and is a program manager for the Mississippi Law Enforcement Liaison Office. Steve also has a degree in Communications and is attaining a second undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University in Computer Science. Samac is a Gideon, and they are members of Pinelake Baptist Church. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge, York and Scottish Rite Masonic Bodies and Wahabi Shrine Temple. When he has free time, he enjoys fishing, particularly fly fishing, and outdoor activities, including gardening with Libby. Bio and picture taken form official Samac Richardson campaign websites

Bennie G. Thompson (Democrat, Incumbent)

"/> A native of Bolton, Mississippi, Congressman Thompson was educated in the public schools of Hinds County, Mississippi. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Tougaloo College, and a Masters of Science degree from Jackson State University. He went on to complete extensive coursework at the University of Southern Mississippi toward a doctorate degree in Public Administration.

George W. Bush & Dick Cheney (Republican, Incumbent)

/> George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States. He was sworn into office January 20, 2001, after a campaign in which he outlined sweeping proposals to reform America's public schools, transform our national defense, provide tax relief, modernize Social Security and Medicare, and encourage faith-based and community organizations to work with government to help Americans in need. President Bush served for six years as the 46th Governor of the State of Texas, where he earned a reputation as a compassionate conservative who shaped public policy based on the principles of limited government, personal responsibility, strong families, and local control. President Bush was born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut, and he grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas. He received a bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1968, then served as an F-102 fighter pilot in the Texas Air National Guard. President Bush received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1975. After graduating, he moved back to Midland and began a career in the energy business. After working on his father's successful 1988 presidential campaign, he assembled the group of partners that purchased the Texas Rangers baseball franchise in 1989.

John F. Kerry & John Edwards (Democrat)

"/> John Kerry has never forgotten the lessons he learned as a young man – lessons that have been strengthened in his 19 years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has learned that America must work with other countries to achieve our goals and the world's common goals. From his ground-breaking work on the Iran-Contra scandal to his leadership on global AIDS, John Kerry has distinguished himself as one of our nation's most respected voices on national security and international affairs. As chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, he worked closely with John McCain to learn the truth about American soldiers missing in Vietnam and to normalize relations with that country. As the ranking Democrat on the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, he is a leading expert on that region, including North Korea.

Kerry Goes After Cheney, Haliburton and ‘Mess in Iraq'

AP reports: "Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Friday that the Bush administration ignored overcharging in defense contracts awarded to Halliburton, the company once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, calling it evidence of the president's mismanagement of the war in Iraq.

Kerry to Bush: ‘You Own It'

John Kerry unleased a new campaign theme today, which paints George W. Bush as the "Excuse President" by focusing both on lost jobs and on the mounting casualties (and apparent disarray) in Iraq.

James Anderson

James Anderson's favorite phrase is "theater begets theater." He loves to get others excited about theater by doing it himself. "Theater is all about intentions and getting the right wig if you do a period piece," says Anderson, who is a veteran of theater in Mississippi at age 55. And good intentions are exactly what he has for the stages here in Jackson.

‘A Real Buzz': Young People Expected to Vote in Record Numbers

New York Times today: "After dismal turnout by young voters in 2000, surveys this year show that interest in the election among the young is near the highest level it has reached at any time since 18- to 20-year-olds were given the vote in 1972. And state election officials say registration of new young voters is coming in at levels they have not seen in years. Polls in the spring and summer from the Harvard Institute of Politics, the Pew Research Center and MTV all found that young people say they plan to vote at a rate that will far eclipse the low-water mark of four years ago. The pool of potential young voters is substantial - about 40.6 million Americans ages 18 to 29, or one in five eligible voters, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, or Circle, a nonprofit research group that has concentrated on the youth vote.

Bush Calls Kerry Campaign ‘Pathetic'

AP reports: "President Bush chided Sen. John Kerry and fellow Democrats on Monday for asserting that Republicans will undermine Social Security, calling the strategy 'the most tired, pathetic way to campaign for the presidency.' Traveling by bus through the southwest corner of this battleground state, Bush tried to improve voters' perceptions of his domestic policies by condemning Democrats for going negative—even as he held Kerry's plans up to the harshest possible light. "'I'm running against a fellow who has got a massive, complicated blueprint to have our government take over the decision making in health care,' the president said. 'Not only is his plan going to increase the power of bureaucrats in your life, but he can't pay for it unless he raises your taxes. What would you expect from a senator from Massachusetts?" Bush said, as a partisan crowd cheered the reference to Kerry's home state and its liberal leanings.

Will the GOP Try to ‘Suppress' Non-White Vote?

Columnist Bob Herbert writes in The New York Times: "More than 80 percent of the population of Detroit is black. This is very well understood by John Pappageorge, who is white and a Republican state legislator in Michigan. 'If we do not suppress the Detroit vote,' said Mr. Pappageorge, 'we're going to have a tough time in this election.' Oops! Republicans aren't supposed to actually say they want to suppress black votes. That's so retro. It's so Jim Crow. This is the 21st century, and the thing now is to do the dastardly deed, but never ever acknowledge it. That's where our friend Pappageorge went wrong. After his startling quote was published several weeks ago in The Detroit Free Press, Mr. Pappageorge, who is 73, apologized and said he certainly never meant to suggest that anything racist or illegal take place. But he reiterated to me in a phone conversation last Friday that he did indeed mean that the vote in Detroit needed to be kept down."

Fox News Poll: Bush Lead ‘Razor Thin'

A Fox News poll released yesterday finds that Bush's convention bump in the polls has smoothed out, and the two men are nearly in a dead heat in nationwide polling: "Thoughts of the Republican National Convention (search) appear to have faded as quickly as memories of Labor Day at the beach, as less than a week after the GOP gathering in New York City the latest FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll shows the presidential race in a dead heat. Clearly President George W. Bush made gains in critical areas such as leadership and trustworthiness, but just days after his convention ended, Bush's edge over Democrat John Kerry(search) is razor thin." ...

Did Cheney Go Too Far with Attack?

New York Times today: "Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that the nation was more likely to 'get hit again' by terrorists if John Kerry was elected was one of the toughest attacks launched in a presidential election in 40 years. But Mr. Cheney's latest assault on Mr. Kerry, which startled Democrats and Republicans alike, raised a central question even in this notably ferocious presidential campaign: Is it possible for a candidate to go too far, and alienate the very voters he is trying to court?

Kirti Naran and Rina Patel

In a corner shop at the Bel Air Shopping Center, 1999 Highway 80 West, there's a quiet—yet totally unintended—sociological experiment underway, wrought at the skilled hands of Kirti Naran, 31 (pictured, left) and Rina Patel, 26 (right).

Log Cabin GOP Votes Down Bush Endorsement

AP reports: "The Republican Party's largest gay and lesbian organization, which endorsed President Bush in 2000, is withholding its endorsement of the president for re-election because of his support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. The national board of Log Cabin Republicans voted 22-2 Tuesday night to hold back the endorsement and called Bush 'disloyal' to the 1 million gay men and lesbian women who it said supported his candidacy four years ago.

Former Gov. Kirk Fordice Dead at 70

Here is a statement from his family, following by a statement from Gov. Haley Barbour: "It is with a sad heart that our family announces the death of Daniel Kirkwood Fordice. Our beloved father lost his battle with leukemia earlier today at University Medical Center in Jackson. Over the last several weeks as news of his illness spread, our father was buoyed by the supportive calls, letters, visits and prayers he received from Mississippians across the state. The people he served while in office served to lift his spirits during his final days. We would like to express our gratitude to all of those who have been so kind to our father and to our entire family over the years. "

Denying the Troops a Secret Ballot

A New York Times editorial: "Members of the military will be allowed to vote this year by faxing or e-mailing their ballots - after waiving their right to a secret ballot. Beyond this fundamentally undemocratic requirement, the Electronic Transmission Service, as it's known, has far too many problems to make it reliable, starting with the political partisanship of the contractor running it. The Defense Department is making matters worse by withholding basic information about the service, and should suspend it immediately."

The South Will Rise Again

Alternet is featuring a provocative piece by Nina Burleigh, who argues that the "Old South" is "crumbling away." More: "The change has not been sudden, but more of an erosion. Slowly, slowly – as slowly as the hundred long years of Strom Thurmond's life – the reign of white and black men who came of age in an era of separate drinking fountains and burning crosses is ending. Republicans – as they are wont to remind black voters – freed the slaves under Abraham Lincoln. The South was dominated, though, by white male Democrats throughout the first half of the twentieth century, until LBJ signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Southern majority turned to the Republican Party, which has been quadrennially tossing racist red meat to poor whites ever since. LBJ predicted that was ahead, remarking, when he signed the law, 'I have signed away the South for a generation.' It turned out to be two. But forty years later, with Thurmond's death, the retirements of North Carolina's Jesse Helms and now, Sen. Fritz Hollings of South Carolina, and Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia in 2004, the old conservative bulls in the Senate who have retarded the South's social progress for decades are finally letting go."

‘Dixiecrat' Zell Miller Wows Republicans

Conservative columnist/blogger Andrew Sullivan had this to say about Georgia "Democrat" Zell Miller's performance at the convention last night: "Zell Miller's address will, I think, go down as a critical moment in this campaign, and maybe in the history of the Republican party. I kept thinking of the contrast with the Democrats' keynote speaker, Barack Obama, a post-racial, smiling, expansive young American, speaking about national unity and uplift. Then you see Zell Miller, his face rigid with anger, his eyes blazing with years of frustration as his Dixiecrat vision became slowly eclipsed among the Democrats. Remember who this man is: once a proud supporter of racial segregation, a man who lambasted LBJ for selling his soul to the negroes. His speech tonight was in this vein, a classic Dixiecrat speech, jammed with bald lies, straw men, and hateful rhetoric. As an immigrant to this country and as someone who has been to many Southern states and enjoyed astonishing hospitality and warmth and sophistication, I long dismissed some of the Northern stereotypes about the South. But Miller did his best to revive them. The man's speech was not merely crude; it added whole universes to the word crude."

The Death of Conservatism (As We Know It)?

Conservative columnist David Brooks rethinks today's Republican Party in the cover story of this week's New York Times Magazine: "Democrats may imagine that the G.O.P. is an amalgam of fat cats and conservative ideologues, but things feel different inside Republican circles. Inside there are, beneath the cheering and the resolve, waves of anxiety, uncertainty and disagreement. You hang around Republicans, and you begin to hear all sorts of discordant things. Jesse Helms recently remarked he wouldn't have voted for the tax cut if he'd known how bad the deficit would become. Three of the senior right-wing columnists -- George F. Will, Robert Novak and William F. Buckley Jr. -- have come out, in their different ways, against the war in Iraq. I had lunch recently with a senior Republican official who said his party had succumbed; it was ''defeatist'' about reducing the size of government. As Will himself has observed, under President Bush, American conservatism is undergoing an identity crisis."

London Branch

Photo and story by Lynette Hanson

The day I sat down to talk with London Branch, 67, he was dressed in a kelly green and old gold retro-style knit shirt with a collar, tucked neatly into his slacks.

‘Skinny Kid' Barack Wows Dems in Jackson

JFP Web Exclusive

"A skinny kid with a funny name" brought his fund-raising efforts to Jackson today, speaking at a multi-racial fund-raising breakfast at Mikhail's Northgate. Democratic star Barack Obama, a state senator on Chicago's South Side who is running for U.S. Senate in Illinois, says he knows people will ask why he has come to Mississippi. "This is the south side of Chicago, granted the very south side, but everyone has connections to Mississippi," said the 42-year-old constititional law professor. Moreover, he said, Americans should believe that everyone in the country is connected. "If a child can't read in Mississippi, then that affects me, even if it is not my child," he said.

Ellington