Mississippi Political News
State of the State
Gov. Phil Bryant`s first State of the State message contained some good points and gave us more of an idea of where the administration might be headed policywise. Of significance is his emphasis on health care, in terms of economic development as well as improving Mississippi`s dismal health statistics. Also his attention to the teenage pregnancy problem is on target. However, mostly it wa ...
Wednesday January 25, 2012 7:57PM | clarionledger.com
Voting
Mississippi voters just approved a constitutional amendment to require voters to show a government-issued picture ID to vote. Voter ID has been a longtime controversial issue in Mississippi with racial overtones due to the state`s history of efforts to disenfranchise minority voters. While there is no real evidence of any widespread voter fraud that showing ID would prevent, the issue was po ...
Tuesday December 13, 2011 11:17PM | clarionledger.com
PERS study report
Gov. Haley Barbour`s commission studying the Public Employees Retirement System is scheduled to issue its report Wednesday. Barbour and Gulf Coast businessman George Schloegel, who heads the commission, will release the report at 2:15 p.m. The press conference will be webcast at www.governorbarbour.com.The work of the commission became an issue during the recent statewide elections with stat ...
Tuesday December 13, 2011 11:02PM | clarionledger.com
'Personhood'
The failure of Initiative 26, the so-called "personhood" amendment really shot some holes in conventional wisdom of Mississippi politics. Mississippi is clearly an anti-abortion state. But the extremist approach to the personhood amendment scared voters, including conservative Republican voters, who saw this as intrusive to families, an attack on individual rights and truly dangerous to ...
Wednesday November 9, 2011 5:01AM | clarionledger.com
And, no excuse for not voting
I have no tolerance for those who don’t vote, cynicallly dismissing it as not important or thinking that they are above it. The old saying “Don’t vote; don’t complain” comes to mind. Or better yet, “Don’t vote; just shut up.”
Wednesday November 9, 2011 1:22AM | clarionledger.com
Voting problems
Throughout Election Day, the secretary of state’s office issued updates on voting problems across the state. Once again, there were problems in Hinds and Madison counties, which have been notorious for mistakes in recent elections.In Madison County, election commissioners apparently didn’t provide correct encoding card directions to poll workers at one precinct and at another the coding cards ...
Wednesday November 9, 2011 1:05AM | clarionledger.com
More predictions
More predictions:In the Central District Transportation Commission race, incumbent Republican Dick Hall over Democrat Marshand Crisler. This district has changed demographically and has more African-American residents than in the past election. Crisler, who is black, will do well. However, Hall in his lengthy career has always been able to attract cross-party and black voters votes. I would pred ...
Wednesday November 9, 2011 12:48AM | clarionledger.com
Predictions
The polls close in a couple of hours so I will throw out my predictions. Most of them are pretty safe this year, but you never know. These are just my guesses. Governor – Phil Bryant over Johnny DuPree (D). DuPree will do better than expected, but expect Bryant by 55 percent.Lt. Governor — Tate Reeves (R) (no contest here)Attorney General — Jim Hood (D) over Steve Simpson (R) Hood will ...
Tuesday November 8, 2011 11:34PM | clarionledger.com
Initiative 26
The public interest in Initiative 26, the so-called “personhood” amendment, is really heating up. It is the only item that has appeared to catch voter interest. The opposition from the medical community and some religious leaders is having some impact. This may not be the slam dunk for approval I initially thought it would be.
Monday October 31, 2011 11:35PM | clarionledger.com
Strange election year
This is the strangest election year. With all of the economic problems that usually increase interest in politics and all of the ways candidates can interact with voters, there seems to be little more than nominal interest in this year`s elections. Even the race for governor between Democrat Johnny DuPree and Republican Phil Bryant hasn`t grabbed a whole lot of attention. They are both n ...
Monday October 24, 2011 9:52PM | clarionledger.com
Initiatives
It is disappointing that the state Supreme Court is allowing the referendums on eminent domain and the so-called "personhood" amendments to proceed on the Nov. 8 ballot. There clearly are legal issues with both, but the court basically punted and said the election should be held before any further consideration. The court said it was not known if the amendments would be rejected, so it w ...
Friday September 9, 2011 5:23PM | clarionledger.com
James L. "Buddy" Bynum
Buddy Bynum, my longtime friend and former colleague, was laid to rest Thursday in Meridian. He died Saturday from pancreatic cancer. Buddy had a long, successful career in journalism and journalism-related political positions for the past 35 years. He was probably most seen by the public in recent years as communications director for Gov. Haley Barbour. He also had worked with former Sen. Tre ...
Friday September 9, 2011 5:01PM | clarionledger.com
Voters just want results
Leaders in Congress should take note of the recent Associated Press-Gfk poll that shows approval of Congress is at its lowest —12 percent. Republican House Speaker John Boehner is increasingly unpopular and the tea party is losing support. There was no statistical difference in whether voters trust Democrats or Republicans more in dealing with the budget deficit. Over at the White House, voter a ...
Tuesday September 6, 2011 10:10PM | clarionledger.com
Need Molly Ivins' take on Perry
I miss the late, great columnist Molly Ivins, but I especially miss her now that Texas Gov. Rick Perry is in the Republican presidential contest. After one gubernatorial debate, she declared that all she learned was that Perry had good hair. In fact, that is how she referred to Perry — “Goodhair.” We will be hearing a lot about the miracles Perry has done in Texas. If Molly were still with ...
Wednesday August 17, 2011 12:50AM | clarionledger.com
Hinds elections leave questions
All voters should be very concerned about the manner in which the Hinds County elections were conducted. The casual attitude of some election officials, and especially party officials who were in charge of the elections, has been incredible. “Mistakes happen” isn’t good enough. In elections, mistakes shouldn’t happen, especially these easily avoidable snafus. On Tuesday, Democratic offic ...
Thursday August 11, 2011 12:57AM | clarionledger.com
Strange election season
What a strange election year. The lack of engagement by voters has been perplexing. It must certainly have been frustrating for the candidates, especially those running against well-known candidates or incumbents. Republican Phil Bryant had a walk from the start because of his high name recognition. He didn`t have to say or do much and he didn`t. Even the aggressive, combative campaigns ...
Wednesday August 3, 2011 1:42AM | clarionledger.com
Debt ceiling vote
Congress finally did what it had to do and raised the debt limit. Despite the political claims of victory by both sides, there are no victories. Republicans making the debt ceiling issue the vehicle to promote a political platform was a dangerous game. Democrats, including President Obama, miscalculating the seriousness of the debt issue overall was a mistake. Thankfully, GOP leaders were able t ...
Tuesday August 2, 2011 11:08PM | clarionledger.com
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