Donna Ladd

Lester Spell JFP Voter Questionnaire Posted

We have just posted a very complete candidate questionnaire we received from Commissioner of Agriculture Lester Spell, a Democrat, who is running against Republican Max Phillips. Mr. Phillips returned a substantive questionnaire before the primary, which is also posted. Please see both sets of answers on the JFP PoliticsBlog.

AG candidate Jim Hood accuses opponent of lying

We received this letter today from attorney general candidate Jim Hood, the Democrat, accusing his challenger Scott Newton of intentionally lying about Hood's record. It is reprinted verbatim:

Reaching New Political Lows

This whole lt. gov. abortion dust-up is absurd. Finally, we have two women, one black and one white, running for a major office in the state -- and we're arguing over abortion, and whether one had one or not. First of all, it's none of our business. Second of all, Ms. Tuck never should have played the abortion card first. It has nothing to do with this office. It's a wedge issue, stupid! With all that money, you'd think the candidates could figure out how to talk about issues that they actually would be elected to deal with. It's thoroughly disgusting. Y'all, they're playing Mississippians for fools again. Every time you watch another dumb-ass television commercial or hear another personal attack or another sound bite like "school discipline" without any substance behind it, remember you're being played like a fiddle by the political machine. We've got to put an end to this, or it's just going to get worse.

Restless Lucero, by Palmer Houchins

Calling Memphis country-rockers Lucero restless might be an understatement. Over the past two years, the group has logged almost 400 live shows. Despite a commitment to touring that would spell musical suicide for most groups, the band has also managed to record and release two records in just over a year. "It's always nice going home for a bit, but after you've been there for a bit, it's like 'What am I doing here?'," says Lucero vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Ben Nichols after apologizing for sounding a bit sluggish due to a "late evening" the previous night.

No Fallen Angel, by Alphonso Mayfield

The world of hip-hop is a male-dominated jungle where the fiercest competitors survive by the ferocity of their lyrical acumen. Meaning that they eat off their words. Many female artists find themselves playing a game of career cat-and-mouse, being forced to fit into one of several stereotypes. MC Rachel James of Jackson is determined to not only survive in this jungle but to reign through her lyrical ability.

[Ladd] Souls of Our Citizens

I left Mississippi in 1983 to find my place in the world. It wasn't in my home state, I knew then; I just didn't fit here. My spirit was a bit too free and independent to follow a traditional path; my heart bled a bit too easily to belong in the prevailing political climate; my voice was a bit too loud in a state that liked its women a bit more, shall we say, cooperative and demure.

James Meredith

Talking to Mr. James Meredith is a right-brain experience. The conversation isn't linear, organized, disciplined. It jumps around to topics that the thin, intense grandfather is interested in at the very instant. As the 70-year-old Kosciusko native talks first about the legacy of slavery in Brazil (where he just visited); the need for people to "blend" in society; Ole Miss back in 1962 when he integrated the stubborn old institution; the oddity of growing older; and finally young people's need to work harder, you can easily see why his name ended up in lights. It's hard to imagine someone more unique, more creative, more daring, more willing to offend one or another status quo.

Go, Rush, Go

The Associated Press reports: "New ESPN commentator Rush Limbaugh said on the network's pregame show that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback do well." McNabb reacts.

Barbour's company to profit off Iraq

The AP's Emily Wagster Pettus wrote an important story today about Haley Barbour's D.C. company's plans to make a lot of money in Iraq. She begins: "Lobbying partners of Haley Barbour have established a company that says it will help its clients with business opportunities in the Middle East, including rebuilding in postwar Iraq. New Bridge Strategies "will seek to expedite the creation of free and fair markets and new economic growth in Iraq, consistent with the policies of the Bush Administration," the company's Web site says." That's a busy little side business he has going up in Washington, eh?

Barbour choice of white supremacists?

The Clarion-Ledger today mentions Barbour appearance on a racist site, as a JFP reader revealed on our blog (scroll to bottom) last week: "Barbour wears a lapel pin with the U.S. and state flags and he is in a photograph on the Web site of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a neo-Confederate group accused of racist views. Barbour says he doesn't know anything about the council. The picture was taken at a council-sponsored barbecue in July used to raise money for private academy school buses." The Ledger doesn't go into more details about the barbecue; it is at the Black Hawk rally,which was started by the CofCC,the modern-day version of the White Citizens Council. The rally does still raise money for buses for white "seg" academies, even as it draws a variety of candidates, including Democrats and some African-Americans (much as the Neshoba County Fair). Interestingly, also in the photo is Bill Lord, a former campaign manager for Trent Lott, who was head, I believe, the Carroll County chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens. You will recall that Lott's close involvement with the group caused a national stir (as it should have) a couple years back. Barbour's disavowal of knowledge about the Council is simply ridiculous and patently impossible. Here we go again. (By the way, readers, tell us if they take the photo off the CofCC site, which I'd predict will happen before the day is out. We have a screen shot we can post instead.)

Is this even parody?

"Treasury Secretary John Snow announced Monday that the federal government will discontinue its long-term, low-yield investment in the nation's youth," The Onion "reports."

First Gubernatorial Candidate Debate Sept. 29 at Belhaven

WHAT: The first of four 2003 gubernatorial candidate debates to be held across the state. The event is being sponsored by WLBT-TV and Belhaven College and will be aired live on WLBT-TV.

Bizarro NAFTA logic

Sid Salter often reminds me of George Will: Clearly, he has a good mind, which shows up sometimes in his columns, but he's so busy using it to shill for the GOP that it's hard to remember that sometimes. Case in point: His Sunday column apologizing for Haley Barbour's hands-on role in NAFTA implementation—which led directly to the loss of so many Mississippi jobs. The point of the column is to remind voters that NAFTA was signed into law by a Democrat — duh. Who doesn't know that one of the Democrats' biggest sell-outs to the GOP in recent years was NAFTA? This is a major black mark on Clinton's record, and the main reason I first started turning against "New Democrats" (other reasons soon piled up). But, the point here and now in Mississippi, is whether we should elect a governor who is the CEO of a D.C. lobbying firm that handled much of the NAFTA implementation, not to mention helped push for it, despite warnings that it would take away jobs back in his home state? The closest he could come to tying Musgrove to NAFTA is his membership in the party who agreed to come on board the train being conducted, in part, by Haley Barbour. That's really weak. It's not like Musgrove is a poster-boy Democrat, after all. He can easily argue that NAFTA is one of the many issues that he takes umbrage with national Dems over. This one's a pitifully obvious shill.

Hoodwinked! The U.S. Chamber Pulls a Fast One on Mississippi with 'Tort Reform'

It sounded mighty convincing: "Mississippi faces a crisis in medical malpractice insurance." The warnings by industry have been dire: "This is a wake-up call for Mississippi." The reports of doctors bolting the state have been breathless: "It's the harassment of dealing with meritless lawsuits." When the tort-reform hysteria blew up in 2001, Mississippi, it seemed, was finally on top of something: The state's "trial-lawyer cabal" was harnessing "runaway juries" willing to mete out "jackpot justice" and drive all our good doctors and job-producing businesses out of "lawsuit central" (the state).

Sid Salter on Haley Barbour

In the Sept. 13 issue of National Journal: "I think (Barbour's) been successful in changing his image from someone who just showed up on Crossfire to a guy who rolled up his sleeves, went out into rural Mississippi, shook hands, and sweated through his shirt," said Sid Salter, a political columnist with The Clarion-Ledger, in Jackson, Miss.

Scary Burbs

<i>Urban Flight May Shorten Your Life</i>

Last spring, during the media frenzy over crime in the city, I interviewed a Brandon woman who had been the victim of an armed robbery in Jackson. She wasn't physically harmed, but she clearly had been terrified by her experience, and understandably so. But to hear her tell it, life in Jackson was a sheer every-day hell where you put your life on the line every second you spend in the city. And life in the suburbs, she seemed to think, was the most safe and healthy alternative to big city.

[Talk] ‘You Don't Need No Ticket'

Hope was palpable in the new Union Station the evening of Aug. 26. Mayor Harvey Johnson had wisely chosen the almost-completed "multi-model transportation center" as the site of his annual State of the City address. The building itself is remarkable: the renovation keeps (or replaces) the retro styling of a train depot of the past, while avoiding the mistake of over-designing that so often makes new construction tacky and uninviting.

[Talk] Home to Roost

The chickens George W. Bush hatched in January 2001 when he signed the No Child Left Behind education bill are starting to come home to roost. Now in the second year of high-stakes federal testing requirements that treat every student just alike—regardless of background, special-ed status or need for remediation—public schools are beginning to feel the pressure of federally required but under-funded tests. The NCLB standards may cause them to shut their doors if they can't figure out how to bring every student up to "proficient" (next to highest out of four levels) with the sole determination being the outcomes of controversial tests.

Cheers to Gailya Porter!

Last week, we learned that Smith Elementary has ranked as a Level 5 school. We featured principal Gailya Porter as "Jacksonian" a month ago in our education issue. Here's an encore of that story in honor of a remarkable school and community.

Wesley Clark for President?

Salon reports today: "On Wednesday Clark officially declared himself a Democrat, telling CNN that if he ran for president, he'd seek the Democratic nomination. 'It's a party that stands for internationalism. It's a party that stands for ordinary men and women,' Clark said. 'It's a party that stands for fair play and equity and justice and common sense and reasonable dialogue.' He told the network he hadn't made up his mind to run but added, 'I'm closer to working my way through it.'"

[Talk] No Discernible Effect

With no discussion to speak of, the Jackson City Council re-instituted its youth curfew ordinance at its Aug. 26 meeting. With City Councilman Ben Allen out of the room temporarily, the rest of the panel voted unanimously to re-up the curfew. The ordinance makes it unlawful for any minor under 18 "to remain in or upon any public street, highway, park, vacant lot, establishment or other public place within the city" during the forbidden hours of midnight to 6 a.m. Saturday and Sundays, and from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays. The curfew also includes a truancy clause requiring school-age kids to be in school from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on school days.

[Ladd] No More Wink-Wink Politics

Waaaa-powwww, right in the kisser! So, what was that loud explosion that hit the middle of last week? Certainly, it could have been me letting out 42 years of pent-up frustration at yet another act of stupidity by an elected official in Mississippi.

"How to Lose the Intelligent Vote, Part I"

Things are looking so positive in Mississippi. State Democrats chose the most qualified candidate for state treasurer regardless of race. Dialogue has started to happen about intelligent issues. There are signs that more progressive voters may turn out to the polls this November. Then: wha-powww, right in the kisser! Dear Gov. Musgrove: Your invitation to bring Alabama's "10 commendments" monument to the Capitol is a silly political ploy that may well lose you more votes than it gains (say, like this one). You are smart enough to know that the reason the First Amendment contains an anti-Establishment clause is in order that the Freedom of Religion can exist and be enforced. By pretending otherwise, and courting the vote of that conservative rural chick in Kemper County, you are insulting the intelligence and thumbing your nose at the support of many, many potential voters in Mississippi who understand that not allowing religious monuments in government spaces will help afford them their religious freedom. You are certainly doing *nothing* to help increase turnout among those who are so frustrated with the lack of a choice in political candidates. You don't play politics with the U.S. Constitution, not if you care about what's in it, or the people you serve. You should be ashamed. Furthermore, it's actions such as these that, in the long run, tarnish the reputation of our state and encourage our bright, young people to go live somewhere else where thinking and intelligence isn't ridiculed and mocked by our political candidates out to pander for some quick and easy votes. We deserve better. (I'm not even addressing Barbour's pander here; he's a member of the Grand Old Panderer party, so it's expected.)

Mayor Johnson's ‘State of the City' Address

In its entirety: State of the City Address, Mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr., August 26, 2003, 5:30 p.m., Union Station

Dillon Celebrates Women's Equality Day

Gubernatorial Sherman Lee Dillon sent around a statement saluting Women's Equality Day. It reads: "Green Party Gubernatorial Candidate, Sherman Lee Dillon is fed up. As the father of four daughters and the grandfather to three granddaughters, Sherman Lee thinks it is time for Mississippians to heed the rights of our mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts -- all women. August 27 is Women's Equality Day. Sherman Lee thinks that it is not enough that women have had suffrage for eighty-three years. More must done to honor women and ensure equality.

Howard Dean jumps to a 21-point lead in N.H.

Building on his incredible momentum, presidential candidate Howard Dean jumped to a 21-point lead over Kerry in New Hampshire, drawing a wide range of support, from liberal to moderate, men and women. The other candidates are in the single digits. This support is coming after a remarkable "Sleepless" tour of the last several days, with Dean raising $1 million on the Internet. See his Blog for America to get in the know about one of the most grass-roots campaigns we've seen in a long time.

[Ladd] Gentlemen, Tone It Down

Every day of the past week I've heard someone, usually a white progressive, ridicule City Councilman Kenneth I. Stokes. "He's crazy." "He's a lunatic." "He's a racist." The outspoken Ward 3 representative is disliked pretty much universally in the white community. In fact, moderates and liberals probably dislike him more than conservatives do; his brand of outrageous race-baiting gives some conservatives what they want: a reason to bash black leaders. It's counter-productive at best.

[Talk] Social Republicans

Aug. 21, 2003—Barbara Blackmon's race might hurt her chance at the lieutenant governor's post this November, but it might help put fellow Democrat Ronnie Musgrove back into the governor's mansion. That was one of the messages at the Aug. 11 Stennis Institute Capitol press corps luncheon at Hal and Mal's in downtown Jackson where two political scientists, one black and one white, predicted what is in store.

Monica Minter

Seated comfortably with perfect posture, Monica Jeany Minter calmly focuses on the photographer, her eyes never leaving his face until she thoroughly understands his instructions. Nothing about the busy Friday afternoon outside Banner Hall distracts her. The Murrah High graduate is a young lady with a new role—Mississippi's Miss Hospitality. Since being selected in July, 21-year-old Minter—a senior at Jackson State University where she is a political science major with a 3.4 GPA, the current Miss Jackson State and active in many campus organizations—has already been on the job.

Important Correction About Run-Offs

In the issue of the JFP out today, we said you could vote in the run-offs on Tuesday ONLY IF you voted in the Aug. 5 primary. The secretary of state's office called immediately to call our attention to the mistake: *You can vote in the run-off* even if you didn't vote in the primary, but you do have to vote for the same party (I suppose, unless you didn't vote at all; then you can take your pick).

Amy Tuck Revives State Flag Issue

Whoa. How should we read this interesting turn of events? Does Ms. Tuck believe it will be politically expedient to have a rebel flag debate as part of her race against Ms. Blackmon? It seems rather desperate. One thing, though: This story is rather odd: Is she just answering a question about the flag? Or did she bring it up herself? It seems like an important piece of missing information.

Green Party of MS Says Stop Buying Public Offices

(Aug. 16, 2003, press release) The Green Party of Mississippi announces its support for a new project called "White House for Sale" which tracks the special-interest contributions to President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign and analyzes the record of favoritism, conflicts-of-interest and influence peddling related to those contributions. The project is sponsored by Public Citizen, a national, nonprofit public interest organization with 140,000 members, which focuses on returning the power of government to the voters and taxpayers.

Gary Anderson confident about run-off

Gary Anderson, who could become the first African-American elected to state office since Reconstruction, told the Mississippi Link that he is confident about the Aug. 26 run-off with Rob Smith, who is white. "When I looked at the numbers we carried counties all over the state. Our voting strength was not in any one area of the state, but all across the state," Anderson said. "Smith had a very narrow margin even in his own county. We had big numbers everywhere, even in rural Mississippi."

[Talk] Rebels for NAFTA

Every year at the Neshoba County Fair, candidates bring in college students to do their dirty work. They did it back when I was head of "Students for Stennis" at Mississippi State—when, as it happens, Haley Barbour ran against him. We all stuck stickers all over us, screamed and yelled for our candidates, and jockeyed to get our candidate signs in front of the cameras—and in front of the opponent's signs.

School Daze: Testing Madness

As I proctored a classroom full of seventh-graders taking the Grade Level Testing Program (GLTP) test last April in a suburban Jackson public school, I couldn't help but think that some of the children are going to be left behind. The students in this room, although mostly white, were very different from each other. Some were fidgety, others defied any suggestion of authority, one or two were geeky and smart-looking, several seemed more concerned with their appearance than anything else. They all had one thing in common: They seemed extremely nervous about taking the writing exam.

Barbour Denies NAFTA Charge

(Aug. 14, 2003, press release from Musgrove campaign) (Jackson, MS) Haley Barbour is trying to deny his involvement with NAFTA and to minimize the scope of his work for the Republic of Mexico. Unfortunately for Barbour, his public record is very clear on these issues. Haley says in 2003: He did not lobby for NAFTA Fact: Haley Barbour himself said at the time that he helped pass NAFTA. Fact: Over 41,000 Mississippi jobs were lost due to NAFTA (Economic Policy Institute)

Electronic Voting Easily Hacked?

The Washington Post reports that many states are backing away from electronic voting machines: "Since being released two weeks ago, the [Johns] Hopkins report has sent shock waves across the country. Some states have backed away from purchasing any kind of electronic voting machine, despite a new federal law that has created a gold rush by allocating billions to buy the machines and requiring all states, as well as the District of Columbia, to replace antiquated voting equipment by 2006."

Open Primaries in Mississippi?

Is the closed-primary system outdated? The Sun-Herald explores.

"African Americans for Dean" Site Launches

It's intriguing to watch the efforts of the Dean campaign to reach out to the black community. Earlier today, the campaign announced that he has appointed a new deputy campaign director with impressive credentials of organizing in the black community. Now, Courtney Smith of Florida has announced a new African Americans for Dean Web site. I think the real test of this new grass-roots campaign is whether Dean can turn his success on the Internet with young, white progressives into a broad-based campaign that reaches into every American community. Let's keep watching.

Sun-Herald: A Question of Priorities

The Sun-Herald today editorialized about Tuesday's election: "Last year, 43,466 Harrison Countians decided it was worth a trip to the polls to vote on a flag. This week, 22,280 Harrison Countians decided it was worth a trip to the polls to vote on who would be the Democratic or Republican party nominee for governor.

Chasing the Youth Vote

Here's a story from Wiretap magazine about the strategies (and lack of) behind luring the youth vote. This talks about the Harvard report that our teen columnist Jessica Kinnison wrote about in the last issue. Not surprisingly, the writers find that "Generation Dean" is the only presidential campaign figuring out how to tap into young voters--and that is genuinely trying to increase turnout. They write: "What Generation Dean has figured out is that young people want to feel powerful. Young progressives are disgusted with Bush, and at this stage of the game, with no campaign announcement from Ralph Nader or any other third-party candidate, the Democratic Party is the only alternative. Dean, sensing the discontent of young partisans, said in one campaign speech, 'If you want young people to vote in this country, we had better stand for something, because that is why they're not voting.'" Mississippi candidates would do well to heed this advice.

Reed Branson: Race No Longer a Factor?

Commercial-Appeal writer Reed Branson examines the Mississippi primaries in the light of their race implications: "Mississippians are once again about to dance with, or around, the awkward issue of race. And if history is an indication, it will be tense and sometimes clumsy. But it also could be a watershed moment."

Kamikaze: Left Behind, by Alphonso Mayfield

The term "kamikaze" is a well-known phrase used to identify Japanese pilots who flew suicide missions during World War II. However, the term has a much deeper significance with the translation of the "Divine Wind." The last translation is a remembrance of two seemingly divine storms that crushed the attempts of Kublai Khan to invade Japan in 1274 and served as inspiration for those famed pilots. So on the surface a kamikaze can mean many different things. Like the term, rapper Kamikaze, born Brad Franklin, is not what he appears on the surface.

Tough Questions: Gov. Ronnie Musgrove

They said they'd give me 15 minutes. I took 23. In that minuscule amount of time—enough time for sound bites, but not as much substance as I'd like—I tried to pack in as much meat as possible about issues that matter in the state of Mississippi. I really wanted to focus on the No. 1 issue facing the state of Mississippi, the big kahuna that, as GOP opponent Mitch Tyner wisely pointed out at the Neshoba County Fair a week later, will pretty much solve all the other problems if we can get it right. In my interview with Musgrove, and at appearances I trailed him to over the next week to make up for the 23 minutes, I was impressed with the fact that he likes to talk education—even though he's not asked that many questions about it.

Blackmon Makes History

Will Barbara Blackmon become the first African-American -- and a woman at that!? -- to be elected statewide in Mississippi since Reconstruction? Time will only tell.

Sherman Lee Dillon's "Blog" ... of sorts

It's not a really a blog—you can't post comments—but Dillon's gubernatorial race journal is the closest I've seen to a candidate posting a blog, and direct comments to the voters, in the state. Dillon's race for governor on the Greens ticket officially kicks off today.

Stories by Donna

<i>Urban Flight May Shorten Your Life</i>