Wicker To Keep Seat

Republican Roger Wicker proclaimed victory over former Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove late Tuesday in the hotly contested battle for the seat formerly held by long-serving Republican Trent Lott.

But although Wicker made a victory speech, at press time, Musgrove’s campaign refused to concede, saying it wasn’t over until “all the votes are counted,” as they had information there were likely tens of thousands of affidavit ballots in the state still to be counted.

At 91 percent reporting, Wicker received 56 percent of the vote to Musgrove’s 44 percent, with a 119,079 vote margin. Surrounded by supporters and joined by Republican Gov. Haley Barbour at a downtown Jackson hotel, Wicker thanked his volunteers for their hard work.

Musgrove Panders

People, this is pandering and should be called when seen.

Former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove toured a portion of downtown Gulfport on Thursday, pointing at a damaged building as a sign that change in Washington, D.C., is necessary.

Multi-perils insurance and an improved economy both would make recovery easier and faster for South Mississippi residents, Musgrove said.

The Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate spent one of the remaining five days before the election campaigning on the Coast. Musgrove faces Republican Roger Wicker in the race to fill former Sen. Trent Lott’s unexpired term.

“The people of the Gulf Coast are resilient, and they have worked hard to rebuild and recover following Katrina,” Musgrove said, adding that multi-peril insurance would speed up recovery. “But there is still so much work to be done, and it is a shame that three years later we still have situations like this.

People of Mississippi will vote for on conservative or the other….there is not a spit’s worth of difference between the two candidates…and as long as Mississippi keeps voting for the conservs it will remain at the bottom of most economic scales.

MS: Senate Candidates On The Economy

This is a reprint of an article published in the Jackson Free Press.
Ronnie Musgrove
As governor, Democrat Ronnie Musgrove was exceptionally tight-fisted. His opponent, interim Sen. Roger Wicker, has frequently charged that he squandered a budget surplus during his administration. This is inaccurate and misleading, as Musgrove dealt with a national economic downturn and decreased state revenue by cutting spending. He managed to balance the state’s budget without increasing taxes, against the recommendation of the Stennis Institute for Government.

In 2001, Musgrove vetoed 42 appropriations bills that legislators had based on an estimate that state revenue would grow by 3.7 percent for the next year. Musgrove contended that a 1 percent growth estimate was more realistic. Legislators overrode his veto, and Musgrove had to cut $55 million in state spending later that year when it became clear that revenue would fall below the Legislature’s projection.

As senator, Musgrove would support closing tax loopholes for companies that outsource American jobs. He also denounces tax breaks for big oil companies, which he says are inflating the price of oil.

Roger Wicker
Republican Roger Wicker, true to his fiscally conservative views, is a staunch opponent of tax increases in nearly any form. He supports making George W. Bush’s tax cuts permanent and repealing the estate tax.

Wicker voted against the final version of the $700 billion bailout package. He has called the bailout a “bad deal” and said that he would have preferred free-market alternatives, such as establishing a program to insure mortgage securities.

Wicker also supports suspending or eliminating the capital gains tax to aid investors. Despite his aversion to taxes and federal spending, Wicker is a skilled navigator of the federal earmark system that McCain and Musgrove deplore.

“I like to hear a job creation idea from local people about how we can enhance the quality of life,” Wicker told the editorial board of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Oct. 13.

As a U.S. representative and interim senator, Wicker has secured federal funding for numerous projects in Mississippi, many of which have created jobs and bolstered local economies.

“I’m a mainstream Mississippi conservative who sees the benefit of a small amount of federal effort, working together with state and local folks to create jobs for Mississippians,” he told the Daily Journal.

Thad Cochran
Thad Cochran, also Republican, has distinguished himself as an opponent of higher taxes and increased government spending. He has voted repeatedly to repeal or cut the estate tax, which applies to those with estates worth $2 million or more. Cochran voted multiple times for reducing taxes on capital gains in 2005 and 2006, earning a 0 percent rating from Citizens for Tax Justice, a progressive taxation interest group.

Despite his fiscal conservatism, Cochran is renowned in Congress for securing federal earmarks. In 2008 alone, Cochran secured $837 million in federal funds for state projects.

Erik Fleming
Democrat Erik Fleming favors repealing George W. Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, instead eliminating the income tax on overtime pay. He proposed eliminating the tax on overtime pay as a state legislator. The measure ultimately failed on a technicality, Fleming says, but it still proved fairly popular.

“I never bought into trickle-down theory that the Republicans always espoused,” Fleming said. “I think that people that work for a living should always be considered first, before the investing class. Instead of bailing out people that made bad decisions, why not guarantee loans for small businesses to expand?”

“Putting all the emphasis on the business class without putting any regulations on them, I just think we’re doomed to repeat that cycle again,” he said.

He also stresses the importance of reviving an ethic of saving in American culture. Fleming would like to add an option to the federal tax return for taxpayers to invest some of their refund in U.S. Treasury bills. He encourages the expansion of innovations like Individual Development Accounts, which help people with low incomes build assets.

When voting always have ALL tghe facts on the candidates or you are not making an informed decision with your vote.

MS: Senatorial Candidates Visit Coast

In the battle for U.S. Senate between Republican Roger Wicker and Democrat Ronnie Musgrove, populous South Mississippi is fertile ground for votes, but also has myriad challenges as it recovers from Hurricane Katrina.

The victor will have to contend with those issues, which include the lack of affordable insurance and housing and also a vital tourism industry that appears to be feeling the effects of the U.S. economic downturn.

What do the candidates have to say about those issues?

Both Wicker and Musgrove support a plan touted by Democratic U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor to expand the National Flood Insurance Program to offer wind coverage for homeowners. The plan, often referred to as the multi-perils insurance bill, has passed the House of Representatives but has been stymied by powerful senators.

Both campaigns say affordable insurance, including the multi-perils plan, is key to getting more affordable housing.

Wicker said he also introduced legislation with Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Cochran, that authorizes $200 million for senior and disabled citizen housing aid.

Musgrove said getting the U.S. economy back on track and also creating jobs would greatly benefit the tourism industry.

The Musgrove camp contents fixing the economy would mean getting spending under control in Washington and also reducing the amount of money the federal government borrows from China. They also say ending trade deals that “send jobs over seas” and lowering gas prices would help.

Wicker said more promotion of Mississippi would help. Although the U.S. economy is suffering, Wicker said plenty of international tourists are coming to the United States. Wicker said he is promoting the bipartisan “Travel Promotion Act,” which would establish an office in the Department of Commerce to increase travel promotion. Wicker is a member of the Commerce Committee, which he said would have jurisdiction over such a bill.

MS: Misinformation Sticks

Supporters of former Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and interim Republican Sen. Roger Wicker have unleashed a barrage of negative commercials in the past several months, hoping to gain an advantage in the neck-and-neck U.S. Senate race.

Often, political attack ads don’t tell the whole story, rather just a portion of it, using certain facts that benefit one candidate and make the other look bad. Usually, the ads tackle a complicated topic that’s not as simple as presented and in many cases, the other campaign counters the ad using their own facts that may be equally incomplete.

Voters, who often don’t have the time or resources to get the whole story, are left to decide which candidate they trust more.

MS: Can Obama Save The Senate Race?

After all, Mississippi is still Mississippi – mostly conservative and leaning Republican, they say.

But the Illinois senator will likely still help Democratic senatorial candidate Ronnie Musgrove against Republican Roger Wicker in the race for Trent Lott’s old Senate seat, if Musgrove plays his cards right, said Marty Wiseman, executive director of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University.

The trick for Musgrove, who is narrowly behind Wicker in what some are calling one of the most competitive congressional races in the nation, is to draw on the popularity of Obama with young voters and black voters. But Musgrove must also inspire the working class white Mississippi voters, who might not be quite as willing to support a black presidential candidate considered liberal by Mississippi political standards.

MS: Supreme Court To Decide Ballot

Gov. Haley Barbour is asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to take his side in a dispute over the ballot placement for a special election to fill Trent Lott’s former U.S. Senate seat.

Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Tomie Green on Friday ordered Barbour and Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann to move the special election close to the top of the ballot, with the regular federal elections, instead of the bottom.

Green said “the principles of fairness and justice” demand that the special election be listed among the other federal races.

Barbour took his case to the Supreme Court, and justices are likely to consider the matter next week. They gave Democrats until Monday to respond to arguments made by Barbour and Hosemann, both of whom are Republicans.

MS: Senate Race Too Close To Call

Mississippi’s special election is one of the closest U.S. Senate races in the nation, with the Coast poised to play a decisive role.

But the two candidates, appointed GOP Sen. Roger Wicker and former Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, aren’t all that different – fiscal and social conservatives, they were once roommates when they were in the state Senate. They even look alike.

Musgrove is finding that, in a way, he’s still running against Barbour, who is using his visibility and position to promote Wicker. Notably, Barbour is leading the effort to place the race to finish former Sen. Trent Lott’s term at the bottom of the ballot on Nov. 4, something a New York Times editorial called a “dirty trick.”

MS: Election Dirty Trick

Mississippi’s governor, Haley Barbour, and its secretary of state have come up with a particularly cynical dirty trick for the November election. Let’s call it: “Where’s the Senate race?”

Defying state law, they have decided to hide a hard-fought race for the United States Senate at the bottom of the ballot, where they clearly are hoping some voters will overlook it. Their proposed design is not only illegal. It shows a deep contempt for Mississippi’s voters.

Mississippi election law clearly states that federal elections must go at the top of ballots. And the secretary of state, Delbert Hosemann, plans to list the state’s other Senate race — incumbent Thad Cochran is running far ahead of his Democratic challenger, Erik Fleming — where it belongs, right below the presidential contest.

Some voters, including the elderly, the least educated and first-time voters, have more trouble than others navigating complicated ballots. Many of these voters are more likely to vote for Democrats than Republicans. And, yes, Governor Barbour and Mr. Hosemann are both Republicans.

A local election official is suing to put the Wicker-Musgrove race back where it belongs. The state court judge who is hearing the case on Thursday should order that the Senate race be placed at the top of the ballot. Even if she does the right thing, we fear, that will not end the matter.

If the state courts do not provide relief, supporters of fair elections should take the case to federal court. They will need to move quickly since time to prepare ballots is fast running out. Mississippi’s voters have a right to a ballot that conforms with the law — and that is not designed to win a Senate seat by trickery.

MS: Obama Could Help Mississippi Contest

Few Senate races could have greater impact than the matchup between appointed Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker (R) and former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D). If Musgrove wins, Democrats will add yet another seat to their majority. But more importantly, his victory would tell us something about Barack Obama’s effect on black-white politics and Democrats’ ability to win in the South.

The state does have vestiges of its conservative Democratic past; Democrats still control the state legislature, and both parties have held the governorship in recent years. But in most other respects, Mississippi has become a reliably Republican state. President Bush won the state by 20 percentage points in 2004, and Trent Lott and Thad Cochran easily defended their Senate seats in recent elections. Few expected that Lott’s retirement and the subsequent appointment of well-regarded Wicker, a House member for 13 years, would give Democrats much of an opening. But a combination of a good Democratic year, the recruitment of Musgrove and the wild card of Obama’s effect on black turnout have made the race too close to call.

Mississippi is 36 percent African-American, the highest percentage of any state. It also displays some of the country’s most racially polarized voting patterns. In 2004, according to exit polls, Bush won 85 percent of the white vote, while Democrat John F. Kerry took 90 percent of the black vote.

It is possible for a Mississippi Democrat to win in a statewide election, but it would likely require 30 percent of the white vote along with nearly the entire black vote. In 2003, Musgrove lost his reelection bid for governor to current Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican. Musgrave took about 22 percent of the white vote, and lost the election 53 percent to 46 percent. In 1999, when Musgrove beat Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Parker in one of the closest races in Mississippi history, he performed even better among white voters, running well ahead of typical Democratic performance in Northeast Mississippi, a Republican stronghold.

The formula that has sometimes worked for Mississippi Democrats is directly at odds with Obama’s strategy for putting Southern states in play. Obama and his aides have made the case that Obama could increase black turnout so substantially — by 30 percent or more — that Southern states with large African-American populations would become competitive even without much of a change in the white turnout. But the math here is much harder than the Obama campaign asserts. If you take the 2004 presidential election results, increase the black vote by 30 percent and assume that the white vote stays the same, Obama would still lose Mississippi by more than 100,000 votes. And most analysts think that a 30 percent increase in the black vote is extremely optimistic. Obama will surely draw African-Americans to the polls in record numbers, but even a 10 percent to 15 percent increase in African-American votes would be historic. Add to that Obama’s problems in attracting white Mississippi voters even in the Democratic primary, where he attracted only a quarter of white Democrats.