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Braun Drops Out; Endorses Dean

AP is reporting: "Former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun dropped out of the presidential race Thursday and endorsed Howard Dean as 'a Democrat we can all be proud to support.'

Barbour Stashes Riches in Blind Trust

[Statement] (Jackson, Miss.)--In one of his first actions after his Inauguration, Governor Haley Barbour created a blind trust and will place all of his investment and income earning assets in it. Previously, Governor Barbour resigned as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Barbour, Griffith and Rogers, Inc., his Washington lobbying firm. The firm is entirely owned by the Interpublic Group of Companies, a holding company that is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Salter on Barbour Inauguration

The Clarion-Ledger's Sid Salter writes today: "Coupled with the state's money problems is the political reality that Barbour, Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, House Speaker Billy McCoy and the vast majority of lawmakers in both houses ran for election or re-election on the strength of a no-new-taxes platform. Barbour inherits 'built-in' expenses from the previous administration that include the latter phases of the $338 million, six-year phased teacher pay increases, economic development incentives to Nissan, Northrup Grumman and Howard Industries and state bonded indebtedness that approaches 7 percent of the state's general fund."

Haley Barbour's Inaugural Address

Inaugural Trivia

Barbour Stashes Riches in Blind Trust

Capitol Games: Ayana's Guide

BARBOUR'S APPOINTMENTS

Following is the JFP's primer to need-to-know information about the Legislature and state government. We will be adding information as we go. Send suggested information to: [e-mail missing]

[Fleming] Storm Clouds A'Brewin

There is nothing like the honeymoon period of a governmental transition. Optimism is running rampant, public officials are cordial to each other, and controversy doesn't seem to raise our blood pressure as high. But, alas, this too shall pass, and we will be right back to normal, stabbing each other in the back, making insensitive decisions and forgetting our purpose.

Space…The Fiscal Frontier?

No less an expert on fiscal responsibility than Treasury Secretary (and former railroad baron) John Snow did the chat shows on Sunday to push the notion that a new, bold moon and Mars initiative would not be too expensive of an undertaking. The story notes that a similar plan proposed by G.H.W. Bush (but without a moon base) would have cost $400-500 billion in 1989 dollars.

Poll: Alternative news gaining influence over TV, dailies

AP reports: "People are turning increasingly to alternatives such as the Internet for news about the presidential campaign, shifting away from traditional outlets such as the nightly network news and newspapers, a poll found. Young adults were leading the shift, with one-fifth of them considering the Internet a top source of campaign news for them, said the poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. About the same number of young adults said they regularly learn about the campaign from comedy shows like 'The Daily Show' and 'Saturday Night Live.' ... Nightly network news was named as a regular source of campaign news by 35 percent, down from 45 percent four years ago, and newspapers by 31 percent, down from 40 percent. ... Four years ago, young people were far more likely to have said they learned about the campaign from nightly network news, 39 percent, than the Internet or comedy programs. Now, all three are cited about equally as sources of campaign news. ... Comedy shows like "The Daily Show"are making fun of what they see as the insufficiency of news programs, especially those on cable," said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. He said that highlights the need for more traditional news shows to learn how to appeal to younger adults."

Tease photo

Haley's Choice: Native Son Barbour Comes Home to Run for Governor

The big sign draped between two trees next to the Neshoba County Fair pavilion in August 1982 caused a lot of drama: "Happy Birthday, Senator Stennis."

Dean campaign: ‘Annoy the media'

The corporate media's habit of taking quotes out of context is being discussed on Dean's Blog for America right now. Here's a posting by Matthew Gross that is a very telling exchange between CNN's Paula Zahn's and Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi:

‘The Harry Truman of our generation'

In a big endorsement, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa has endorsed Howard Dean just days before the primary there, reports the Associated Press, "calling him the 'kind of plain-spoken Democrat we need' and giving a key boost to the embattled front-runner 10 days before the state's kick-off caucuses. ... In the interview, Harkin praised Dean's straightforward approach to campaigning, saying it brought a breath of fresh air to the campaign trail. He said the former Vermont governor is 'the Harry Truman of our generation. Howard Dean is really the kind of plain-spoken Democrat we need.'"

MoveOn, Bush, Hitler and the RNC

If you've heard anything about the recent flap over MoveOn's reported advertisements, comparing Bush to Hitler, you need to read this Salon article, which gives the rest of the story. It's another example of how things that are 'widely reported' are often not reported entirely accurately. "Two online entries out of hundreds in MoveOn's TV-spot contest compared Bush to Hitler, and Republicans cry 'hate speech.' But they're the ones who are twisting the truth," Salon reports.

Bush backed by core supporters; women undecided

AP is reporting: "Men, evangelicals and rural voters are supporting President Bush by big margins at the start of this election year, while traditionally Democratic-leaning groups such as women have more divided loyalties, an Associated Press poll found. More people say they will definitely vote for Bush's re-election, 41 percent, than say they will definitely vote against him, 33 percent, according to the poll conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs. Another 24 percent said they would consider voting for someone else. ... n the question of re-electing Bush or definitely voting for someone else, men were more likely to vote to re-elect Bush by 49 percent to 26 percent. And rural voters leaned toward Bush by an equally lopsided margin. White evangelicals said they would support Bush rather than vote for someone else by an even wider margin. Women were more divided, with 39 percent saying they would definitely vote for someone else and 35 percent saying they would vote to re-elect Bush."

Bush ‘hatred'; Wilson Carroll Talks Back

Very compelling column by E. J. Dionne Jr. in the Washington Post: "Republicans won in 2002, but Bush lost most Democrats forever. Conservative critics of "Bush hatred" like to argue that opposition to the president is a weird psychological affliction. It is nothing of the sort. It is a rational response to getting burned. They are, as a friend once put it, biting the hand that slapped them in the face. No one understood this sense of betrayal better or earlier than Howard Dean. Dean's candidacy took off because many in the Democratic rank and file were furious that Washington Democrats allowed themselves to be taken to the cleaners. Many of Dean's current loyalists had been just as supportive of Bush after Sept. 11 because they, too, felt that doing so was patriotic. So Dean also spoke to their personal sense of grievance."

Howard Dean on the race question

"'Dealing with race is about educating white folks,' [Howard] Dean said in an interview Tuesday on a campaign swing through the first primary state where African-American voters will have a major impact. 'Not because white people are worse than black people about race but because whites are in the majority, and therefore the behavior of whites has a much bigger influence on hiring practices and so forth and so on than the behavior of African-Americans.'"

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