Mississippi For McCain

Message from Senator McCain

2008-11-07T09:23:00.001-08:00

Here is a message from Senator John McCain:

Cindy and I would like to take a moment to thank you for your loyal and steadfast support during the course of this campaign. Governor Palin, her husband Todd, our families, friends and campaign staff extend our deep appreciation for your tireless dedication, support and friendship.

It is the end of a long journey and your support through the ups and downs has meant more to us than you may ever know.

Although we were disappointed with the results, we must move beyond this campaign and work together to get our country moving again.

It is our sincere hope that you will join us in putting our country first and continue to work to keep our nation safe, free and prosperous.

We urge you to join us in not just congratulating Senator Obama, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together as a nation. Whatever our differences may be, we are all fellow Americans.

We are truly blessed to live in this great country and call ourselves Americans, and we will forever be her loyal servants.

Today, let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.

With warm gratitude,
Cindy and John McCain

You can read Senator McCain's election night remarks here.

Mississippi For McCain

2008-11-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

Mississippi went for McCain, but unfortunately, not enough of the rest of the country did.

Unofficial Mississippi Popular Vote
684,475 - McCain (57%)
517,899 - Obama (43%)

Unofficial National Popular Vote
63,507,799 - Obama (52%)
56,151,858 - McCain (46%)

Thank you Mississippi for doing your part!

I Am Joe

2008-11-04T05:26:00.000-08:00

The Choice Is Clear

2008-11-03T17:28:00.000-08:00

The Mac is Back!

2008-11-03T14:18:00.000-08:00

Freedom

2008-11-02T14:19:00.000-08:00

Obama Praising McCain

2008-11-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

Campaign Manager Update

2008-10-31T13:55:00.000-07:00

To: Interested Parties
From: Rick Davis, Campaign Manager
Date: October 31, 2008
RE: The Final Push

The State of the Campaign

If your television is tuned to cable news as frequently as ours are here at campaign headquarters, you have seen the pundits say John McCain and his campaign are done. And, if you've followed this race since the beginning, this is clearly a song you've heard before. I wanted to take some time today to give you some insight on the state of the race as we see it.

An AP poll released this morning revealed a very telling fact: ONE out of every SEVEN voters is undecided. That means, if 130 million voters turn out on Tuesday, 18.5 million of them have yet to make up their mind. With that many votes on the table and the tremendous movement we've seen in this race, I believe we are in a very competitive campaign.

Here's why:

All the major polls have shown a tightening in the race and a significant narrowing of the numbers. In John McCain's typical pattern, he is closing strong and surprising the pundits. We believe this race is winnable, and if the trajectory continues, we will surpass the 270 Electoral votes needed on Election Night.

National Polls: Major polls last week showed John McCain trailing by double-digit margins - but by the middle of this week, we were within the margin of error on four national tracking surveys. In fact, the Gallup national tracking survey showed the race in a virtual tie 2 days this week.

State Polls:

Iowa - Our numbers in Iowa have seen a tremendous surge in the past 10 days. We took Obama's lead from the double digits to a very close race. That is why you see Barack Obama visiting the state in the final days, trying to stem his losses. It is too little, too late. Like many other Midwestern states, Iowa is moving swiftly into McCain's column.

The Southwest - It is no secret that Republican candidates in the Southwest have to focus on winning over enough Latino and Hispanic voters in Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado to carry them to victory. John McCain has overcome challenges Republicans face, and has made up tremendous ground in these states with these voters. For these voters, the choice has become clear, and you have seen a big change in the numbers. John McCain is now winning enough voters to perform within the margin of error - putting these states within reach.

Colorado - Barack Obama tried to outspend our campaign in Colorado during the early weeks of October and finish off our candidate in Colorado. However, after our visit early this week, we saw a tremendous rebound in our poll position, and Colorado is back on the map.

Ohio and Pennsylvania - Everyone knows that vote rich Ohio and Pennsylvania will be key battlegrounds for this election. Between the two: 41 electoral votes and no candidate has gotten to the White House without Ohio. Senator McCain and Governor Palin have been campaigning non-stop in these key battleground states and tonight Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has pumped up our campaign at a rally in Columbus. Our position in these states is strong and undecided voters continue to have a very favorable impression of our candidate.
Obama campaign faces tremendous structural challenges in the final days of this campaign

Obama has a challenge hitting 50%: Barack Obama has not reached the 50% threshold in almost any the battleground state. He consistently is performing in the 45-48% range. When we look closely at the primary votes, we see a history of a candidate whose Election Day performance is often at or behind his final polling numbers. If this is true, our surge will leave Obama with even or under 50% of the vote on Election Day.

Early Vote:

The Obama campaign has promised that their early vote and absentee efforts will change the composition of the electorate. They have sold the press on a story that first time voters will turn out in droves this election cycle. Again, the facts undermine their argument. In our analysis of early voting and absentee votes to date: The composition of the electorate has not changed significantly and most folks who have voted early are high propensity voters who would have voted regardless of the high interest in this campaign.

Expanding the Field:

Obama is running out of states if you follow out a traditional model. Today, he expanded his buy into North Dakota, Georgia and Arizona in an attempt to widen the playing field and find his 270 Electoral Votes. This is a very tall order and trying to expand into new states in the final hours shows he doesn't have the votes to win.
The Final Barnstorm

On Monday, we will have a 14 state rally with our candidates crisscrossing the country trying to turn out our voters and sway the final undecided voters. Governor Palin will hit Ohio, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada and Alaska in the final day of campaigning, while Senator McCain will travel from Tampa, Florida, to Virginia, then Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Mexico, Nevada and finish the night in Prescott, Arizona. The enthusiasm and excitement we generate on Monday will be the electricity that powers our "Get Out the Vote" efforts on Tuesday.
On the Ground

Our field organization has tremendous energy and is out-performing the Bush campaign at the same time in 2004. This week our field organization crossed a huge threshold and began reaching more than one million voters per day, and by week's end will have contacted more than 5 million voters. Our phone centers are full and our rate of voter contact is significantly out-pacing the Bush campaign in 2004. We have the resources to do the voter contact necessary to support the surge we are seeing in our polling with old fashioned grassroots outreach.

On the Airwaves:

In the final days of the campaign, our television presence will be bigger and broader than the Obama campaign's presence. The full Republican effort - the RNC's Independent Expenditure and the McCain campaign will out-buy Barack Obama and the Democrats by just about 10 million dollars.

In short:

The McCain campaign is surging in the final 72 hours. Our grassroots campaign is vibrant and communicating to voters in a very powerful way. Our television presence is strong. And, we have a secret ingredient - A candidate who will never quit and who will never stop fighting for you and for your families.

Joe The Plumber

2008-10-31T07:21:00.000-07:00

Volunteer & Palin Conference Call

2008-10-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

**Make Phone Calls To Battleground States From Home**

If you have twenty minutes to make twenty calls from home, you can make a difference. Go to this link www.johnmccain.com/PhoneBank and you can get the names, numbers, and script necessary to volunteer from home.

**Volunteers Needed for 72 Hour Operations**

The race for the White House is coming down to the wire. With less than a week until Election Day, the McCain-Palin ticket needs your immediate help to ensure victory. We are urging Mississippi supporters to come to the battleground states of Florida and North Carolina to volunteer. We need an army of grassroots volunteers in Florida and North Carolina during the final 72 hour Get Out the Vote effort.

Signup Today:

John McCain has fought for America his entire life; join his campaign in fighting for the future of our country over these final six days. If you have interest in going to Florida or North Carolina to volunteer, please send an email to either fldeployment@johnmccain.com or ncdeployment@johnmccain.com. We ask that you provide the following information in your email: Name, Town and County of Residence, Phone Number (Home, Work, Cell), Email Address, Dates You Are Interested in Volunteering.

**Join Super Saturday and Sarah Palin Conference Call**

Last week's McCain Nation Super Saturday house parties were a great success. Our supporters across the country made calls and knocked on doors to get-out-the-vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. The mainstream media's polls are getting tight and we're encouraged at our momentum.

This Saturday, November 1st, join Governor Sarah Palin on the kick-off conference call at noon Central Time. Governor Palin will join us from the campaign trail and give us a quick update on the state of the campaign and take caller questions.

You can sign up to host or attend a Super Saturday event at www.johnmccain.com/mccainnation. Super Saturday participants will be able to jump on an exclusive conference call with Governor Sarah Palin.

The polls show our team gaining ground across the country and in critical swing states. Now is not the time to sit on the sidelines, now is the time to re-double our efforts to win on Election Day.

McCain Leads Obama; Wicker Leads Musgrove

2008-10-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

The Mobile Press Register reported a poll on Sunday that puts John McCain leading Barack Obama in Mississippi 46% to 33%; and Roger Wicker leading Ronnie Musgrove 45% to 32%. Now Rasmussen Reports, which encourages undecided respondents to make a choice, has released a poll showing McCain leading Obama 53% to 45% and Wicker leading Musgrove 54% to 43%.

Barbour Campaigns for McCain in Virginia

2008-10-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is campaigning in Virginia for John McCain. Former Governor Ray Mabus is doing the same for Barack Obama. Can there be any better illustration?

Barbour connects with the gun shooting, pickup driving, whiskey drinking, church going, Southern voter. Mabus is the Mississippi Obama: elitist. He connects with the cheese eating, Lexus cruising, wine tasting, Ivy League, liberal types.

Please, Savus from Mabus again!

Former Sen. George Allen, R-Va., and Todd Palin, husband of McCain running mate Sarah Palin, have stumped along Virginia’s North Carolina and Tennessee state lines, including Sunday’s NASCAR race in Martinsville.

Mississippi’s Republican governor, Haley Barbour, joined Allen on Monday, and Barbour campaigned Tuesday in coal country with former Virginia Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore.

“My impression is there aren’t a whole lot of undecideds out here,” Barbour said in a telephone interview.

After weeks of bad news about the economy that had hurt McCain, Barbour said he didn’t expect crowds at McCain events in Virginia to be as large or loud as they were — “stronger than an acre of garlic,” as he put it in his deep drawl.

The area where Barbour campaigned, Virginia’s 9th Congressional District, blends pro-gun, Bible Belt social conservatism with defiant, United Mine Workers labor activism.

Phone Bank From Home

2008-10-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

You want to do something that makes a difference in this race from Mississippi? You can phone bank from home into battleground states using campaign provided materials and targeted names and phone numbers. You can make a difference in this campaign, an hour a night, from your house.

Last month, our campaign launched a grassroots effort to put you in touch with voters all across the country through our online phone bank. As Senator Barack Obama spends millions of dollars bombarding voters with negative and misleading information about John McCain, we need your help to fight back and expose Barack Obama's tax and spend liberal record. Can you set aside a couple of hours each week to make calls for John McCain and Sarah Palin? You are the most effective surrogate we have in this campaign. By reaching out to undecided voters, one by one, you are taking a crucial step towards victory.

Follow this link today to make calls: www.JohnMcCain.com/PhoneBank

Volunteer for Florida, North Carolina

2008-10-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

The McCain-Palin Campaign is looking for volunteers from Mississippi to deploy to Florida or North Carolina for the final days of the campaign.

Can you come to Florida or North Carolina for a day, a weekend, a week, or the final 72 hours of the campaign?

If you are interested in deploying to Florida or North Carolina at your own expense, please e-mail sedeployment@johnmccain.com and provide the following information in your email:

Name
Town and County of Residence
Phone Number (Home, Work, Cell)
Email Address
Dates You are Interested in Volunteering
Preferred Location in FL or NC

I deployed for Bush 2004 to south Florida and let me tell you, in addition to the excitement of working on a campaign, the day after the election it is still warm enough to get in the ocean. I imagine that the mountains of North Carolina would also be a beautiful place to go work.

From Neo-Con to Cruncy-Con

2008-09-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

My column in the Madison County Journal this week discusses whether John McCain could be the second "crunchy-con" president. Here are some excerpts.

On the second day of the Republican National Convention in Minnesota, delegates watched a video tribute to Republican President Theodore Roosevelt. From charging with the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War, to hunting with Holt Collier in the Mississippi Delta, to his iconic graving onto Mount Rushmore, Roosevelt is one of America's more storied leaders. His biography speaks well to Republicans promoting John McCain and Sarah Palin: a war hero who fought against special interests; a former police commissioner who fired bad cops, he was elected governor before joining the Republican ticket as vice-president.

The Roosevelt video reminded me of conversations with Republican friends in canoes floating down rivers: fishing, swimming, and enjoying our country's natural resources. Roosevelt is considered by some the father of national park system because of his conservation vision. I consider him the first Crunchy Con President.

Dreher released the book, "Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party)."

Dreher writes this thumbnail of the Crunchy Con Manifesto: "We are conservatives who stand outside the conservative mainstream; therefore, we can see things that matter more clearly. Modern conservatism has become too focused on money, power, and the accumulation of stuff, and insufficiently concerned with the content of our individual and social character. Big business deserves as much skepticism as big government. Culture is more important than politics and economics. A conservatism that does not practice restraint, humility, and good stewardship - especially of the natural world - is not fundamentally conservative. Small, Local, Old, and Particular are almost always better than Big, Global, New, and Abstract. Beauty is more important than efficiency. The relentlessness of media-driven pop culture deadens our senses to authentic truth, beauty, and wisdom. We share Russell Kirk's conviction that 'the institution most essential to conserve is the family.'"

McCain often references Theodore Roosevelt as his favorite President and carries his campaign and ideology with a similar maverick sentiment and environmental commitment. But, many Crunchy Cons see themselves more at home with someone like Ron Paul (for whatever reason) or in third parties like the Constitution Party.

McCain's similarities to Roosevelt are not merely symbolic. It will be interesting to see if those Republican delegates from Minnesota and counter-culture conservatives will unite to elect a second Crunchy Con president.

Read the full column here: PERRY/A 'crunchy con' president?

Mississippi McCains

2008-09-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

Luke Fowler wrote in Sunday's Clarion Ledger about Senator John McCain's family connections to Mississippi. Here are some excerpts.

Mother's Side:

His mother's side of the family first settled in northeast Mississippi in the late 18th century. Sometime around the year 1800, James Howard (Sen. McCain's maternal great-great-great-great grandfather) moved from South Carolina to Pontotoc County.

In 1851, Nancy Adeline Atkins (Sen. McCain's great grandmother) was born; she remained in Alcorn County her entire life, starting a family with her husband, Franklin Alexander Wright of Muscle Shoals, Ala. In 1875, Nancy Wright gave birth to Archibald (Sen. McCain's maternal grandfather) in the village of Kossuth.

Archibald was the first member of Sen. McCain's maternal family to leave Mississippi. In about 1900, Archibald made his way to Indian Territory near present day Oklahoma where he made a fortune in oil. While in Muskogee, Okla., Archibald's wife gave birth to twins in 1912, one of whom was Roberta (Sen. McCain's mother). Roberta later married John Sidney McCain Jr., the senator's future father who also had strong ties to Mississippi.

Father's Side:

On his father's side, the first generation of McCain's family to move to Mississippi arrived in the mid 1800s. Mary Scales of Rockingham County, N.C., married Joseph McCain of Scotland in 1807 (Sen. McCain's great-great-great grandparents). After 33 years of marriage, Joseph died in 1840; Mary moved with her children to Tallahatchie County.

Her son, William Alexander McCain (Sen. McCain's great-great grandfather), died fighting for the Confederate States of America in the 5th regiment of the Mississippi Cavalry in the Civil War in 1863.

In 1851, the first John Sidney McCain (Sen. McCain's great grandfather), known as J.S., was born on Teoc. He served as sheriff of Carroll County and later as president of the county's board of supervisors.

John Sidney McCain's brother, Henry Pickney McCain (Sen. McCain's great-great uncle), attended the U.S. Military Academy, retiring as a major general in the U. S. Army. Major General McCain is actually the "McCain" for whom Camp McCain, the Mississippi National Guard training site in Grenada County is named.

In 1884, in rural Carroll County, John Sidney McCain Sr. (Sen. McCain's grandfather) was born. McCain Sr., the first McCain to leave Mississippi, attended the University of Mississippi before transferring to the U.S. Naval Academy.

Camp McCain:

Camp McCain is a Mississippi National Guard training site. Covering more than 13,000 acres in Grenada County, it was named in honor of the "fighting" McCains of Carroll County, and principally Major Gen. Henry P. McCain. Opening in 1942 as a 42,000-acre site, the 87th and 94th Army Divisions trained there before being sent to combat in Europe. At its peak, Camp McCain trained as many as 50,000 men simultaneously.

In addition to training, Camp McCain served as a prisoner of war camp for German soldiers during World War II, one of four in Mississippi. At the height of its POW camp status, it held more than 7,500 German prisoners and administered the POW camp in addition to its training function.

After being deactivated in 1947, Camp McCain has found new life in the 1960s as an Army National Guard training site. By the 1970s, facilities for the housing of 1,200 troops were completed.

In 1984, an additional 4,500 acres were added to the existing perimeter, a road network was expanded and improved; in the late 1980s, 10 modern weapons ranges were constructed.

Camp McCain is not what Mississippians think about when they consider significant military installations in the state. But the state benefits significantly from appropriations directed specifically for the improvement of Camp McCain - more than $10 million in the 21st century alone.

Read the full article here: McCain in Mississippi: GOP nominee a descendent of Carroll County's 'Fighting McCains'

Volunteer Phone Calls from Home

2008-09-21T21:41:00.000-07:00

You can make volunteer phone calls on behalf of the McCain-Palin Campaign from your own home. Reaching out to undecided voters is vital to spreading the word that John McCain and Governor Palin are the right choice for voters all across America. That's why the campaign is asking you to take a few minutes or even a free evening to make calls for John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin. Visit www.JohnMcCain.com/PhoneBank to get started today.

Volunteer Deployment for McCain-Palin

2008-09-20T21:39:00.000-07:00

For those who are ready, willing and able to pack a suitcase and hit the road for voter turnout in a target state, Volunteer Deployment is for you. The McCain-Palin Campaign is recruiting McCain Marshals and McCain Mavericks to deploy to states all over the country to assist existing McCain-Palin 2008 operations in their final days/weeks of voter contact.

Who should apply?

McCain Marshals

This program is for those who are comfortable working independently, managing a local office and recruiting new volunteers. Additionally, our McCain Marshals must be familiar with the new political technologies we are using in the field. Ideally, they will have campaign experience, or have participated in Deployment in recent years and be familiar with our turnout operations. The requirements are a minimum two-week commitment (October 22nd through November 5th).

McCain Mavericks

This program is for all of you that are able to give the last week or two before Election Day to make turnout phone calls and go door-to-door in one of our top battleground states. You'll work all day (and night) long with a group of friends (some new, some old) to turn out voters on Election Day. The departure day is anytime before November 1st, and you'll be able to return home on Wednesday, November 5.

Please apply online at www.johnmccain.com/deployment.

Seven Weeks To Go

2008-09-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

DailyKos Mississippi Poll: McCain 52 - Obama 39

2008-09-12T15:41:00.000-07:00

A poll conducted by Research 2000 for the liberal web site DailyKos has the McCain-Palin ticket thumping the Obama-Biden ticket in Mississippi. Likewise it has Roger Wicker beating Ronnie Musgrove.

GOP Unites Behind McCain-Palin; Dems still unsure

2008-09-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

Original Mavericks

Remote Control

McCain: Gulf Coast over Convention Politics

2008-09-04T17:22:00.000-07:00

I've been in St. Paul at the Republican National Convention this week and filed my column on how John McCain changed the convention as Gustav approached Mississippi and Louisiana. Here are some excerpts.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Sen. John McCain chose "Country First" as the theme for the Republican National Convention. As Hurricane Gustav crept toward the Gulf Coast, disrupting commemoration activities of the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, McCain showed his theme was more than just words.

As the convention opened, the invocation asked for God's protection for the people on the Gulf Coast. The opening address, by Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan, urged convention goers and those watching to pull out their cell phones and text the word "GIVE" to 24357 to donate $5 to the American Red Cross through a partnership with the Wireless Foundation.

Meanwhile an army of convention workers handed out printed cards that had the McCain "Country First" logo on one side and on the flip side a web address and phone number for relief and recovery agencies in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Delegates planned to assemble "country first" packages with emergency supplies to be sent to Americans needing basic necessities.

Later in the evening, Cindy McCain and First Lady Laura Bush addressed the convention and urged folks to visit www.causegreater.com to find ways to help those affected by Hurricane Gustav. The "cause greater" plays off a McCain campaign theme that Americans should seek to serve a cause greater than ourselves. McCain has written, "Love of country is another way of saying love of your fellow countrymen - a truth I learned a long time ago in a country very different from ours. Patriotism is another way of saying service to a cause greater than self-interest. "

Changing his vice-president announcement campaign swing through battle-ground states, McCain and Palin instead accepted an invitation by Gov. Barbour to attend a briefing at the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Rankin County. McCain saw a state ready and prepared and spoke of reforms needed in the federal response.

It reminded me of a column U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering wrote for ABC News in February 2007 when he endorsed McCain during the Republican Primary. Pickering wrote, "McCain is a reformer. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the federal emergency response frustrated Mississippians. From debris removal contracts, to reimbursing our local towns and counties and providing the funding necessary to recover, federal bureaucracies were slow and often more concerned with procedure than people; more focused on corporate storm chasers than rebuilding our schools and hospitals and even bridges and roads. We need a leader in the White House who will fight the bureaucracies, take on the status quo and demand results and reforms. Americans know McCain is ready for that fight and won't back down despite entrenched interests who benefit from the current, broken system."

After the Iraq intelligence failures, early mission execution failures in Iraq, and the government's failed response to Hurricane Katrina, voters want a competent adult in the White House. This week McCain demonstrated he possesses the will to make big decisions of a serious nature. McCain might not have the iconic presence to be celebrity in chief, but he has experience and judgment to be commander in chief.

Read the full column here: Gustav alters GOP agenda

McCain & Palin at MEMA

2008-08-31T13:46:00.000-07:00

Conventions are fun partisan parties, but when it somes to serious business, McCain puts country first. ClarionLedger.com is reporting: McCain, Palin briefed on Gustav preparations

The GOP’s likely presidential nominee John McCain and running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spent just shy of two hours in Rankin County today.

Gov. Haley Barbour invited McCain, McCain’s wife, Cindy, and Palin to tour Mississippi Emergency Management’s Emergency Operations Center. The three were briefed on the preparations for Hurricane Gustav.

At the EOC, the group participated in a conference call with the National Weather Service and President Bush.

During a press conference after the briefing, McCain said some of the programs for the Republican National Convention would be changed because of the approaching storm.

The Republican Party plans to announce the schedule changes this afternoon.

McCain Chooses Palin

2008-08-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

Senator John McCain has chosen Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate. She has a track record of challenging the establishment and bringing reform to government. A young mother of five, she is a former mayor and a supporter of expanded domestic drilling for our energy security.

Biden's role in Pickering ordeal

2008-08-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

There have been stories and columns sharing connections of Senator Joe Biden (D-Del) to Mississippi. Now that he has been selected to run for Vice-President on the Democratic ticket, it is a good time to revisit his role in the confirmation battles over Mississippi Judge Charles Pickering. My column this week in the Neshoba Democrat discusses Biden's role as recounted in Pickering's two books. Here are some excerpts of the column:

Pickering needed a Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote to send his nomination (with a positive, neutral, or even negative recommendation) to the full Senate. Later, Pickering needed Democrats to stand against unprecedented filibusters, even if they ultimately voted against him. Both times, Biden made overtures he would help Pickering; both times, Biden folded under political pressure.

A number of Mississippians were close to Biden, his staff, and his brother Jim. Former Governor William Winter and other supporters planned a trip to visit Biden in Washington DC to discuss the Pickering nomination. Biden sent word the trip was unnecessary. Pickering thought this a positive development, until the next shoe dropped: the Democratic offer of an unacceptable deal.

Judge Pickering's son, Congressman Chip Pickering, was in a redistricting fight which combined his district with that of Congressman Ronnie Shows. How the district was drawn would determine advantage in the election between the incumbents. Word came that Biden's vote could come more easily, if Chip would not oppose the Democrats' redistricting plan, and would guarantee Pickering's replacement on the federal district bench would be black.

Judge Pickering scoffed at the deal, "We quit child sacrifice a long time ago." He wrote, "There was no consideration of Chip caving on redistricting. There was no opposition to an African American as my replacement. I believe the Mississippi federal bench needs more diversity....There was a willingness for this to happen, but unwillingness to do a 'quid pro quo'."

Publically and privately, Biden did not believe Pickering a bad nomination. He rejected racial criticisms of Pickering as well as denying accusations of inequitable sentencing. In private, he told supporters he thought Pickering a good judge who deserved a vote. Biden even approached Senator Trent Lott and told him while he could not vote to confirm Pickering, he would vote to end a filibuster. Biden later confirmed this with the press.

When Republicans regained control of the Senate, Bush re-nominated Pickering, and his nomination went to the full Senate. Biden crawfished again.

Biden bent to political pressure rather than doing what he thought was right. He chose party over principle. In the grand scheme, Pickering's nomination was a minor battle. But in the character of Joe Biden, we see a failure to exhibit the courage necessary to honor a commitment to do the right thing.

You can read the full column here: Biden's role in Pickering ordeal

PUMA

2008-08-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of Democrats in Denver who believe it is more important to have a good president than it is to have a Democratic President. We put America first; party second. And so there is an organization, Party Unity My Ass.In this time of global uncertainity, we need someone with experience and competence. I am voting for McCain. Other Democrats, might not vote rather than vote for someone with little experience into the most important elected job in the country.

Consider what Ann Price Mills has to say.

"I was elected to come here as a delegate for Clinton. I will vote for Clinton. But you ask me about my personal vote in November? Obama has two months. I won't for McCain. But he has to get me there. Experience speaks to me. I ask people all the time. Would you take someone straight out of Harvard, even if they had the education, and put them as the CEO of the company?...But for the first time since I was 18, I may be faced with something I don't want to have to deal with. I have never not voted...but for the first time...Experience counts, I don't care what anybody tells you. And his resume is just (sigh)." - Ann Price Mills, Clinton Delegate to the DNC

Hillary Clinton is doing what she should as a leader in the Democratic Party. But I'm going to have to go with Bill on this one.

Bill Clinton appeared to undermine Sen. Barack Obama again Tuesday.

The former president, speaking in Denver, posed a hypothetical question in which he seemed to suggest that that the Democratic Party was making a mistake in choosing Obama as its presidential nominee.

He said: "Suppose for example you're a voter. And you've got candidate X and candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything, but you don't think that person can deliver on anything. Candidate Y disagrees with you on half the issues, but you believe that on the other half, the candidate will be able to deliver. For whom would you vote?"

Then, perhaps mindful of how his off-the-cuff remarks might be taken, Clinton added after a pause: "This has nothing to do with what's going on now."

The comments are unlikely to be taken as an innocent mistake by those Democrats who continue to be angry with the former president for, they say, not supporting the Illinois senator wholeheartedly, if not implicitly undercutting him.

The controversial comments came just hours before Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), the former first lady and principal rival to Obama, was due to speak from the convention podium.

I believe Mississippi Democrats have a lot in common with our West Virginia cousins.

West Virginia's registered Democrats, like their cousins in western Pennsylvania and eastern and southern Ohio, are having a hard time fitting anywhere within Barack Obama's vision of the Democratic party. "Obama and his message just do not gel with me," said Mark Lamp as he climbed into his utility truck. Lamp, 47, from neighboring Weirton, is a registered Democrat who voted for Clinton in the May primary. "My first problem with him is taxes, the second is experience," he explained.

"I vote leadership. That is why I voted for Hillary and why I will vote McCain."

Once thought to be a battleground state, all indications are that West Virginia is off Obama's campaign map. Turn on the television today and you won't find any Obama ads running, and he has no trips to the state planned in the immediate future. (Sources within the campaign say they are keeping their eye on the state.)

West Virginia is still home to the Jacksonian Democrats, those descendants of Scots-Irish immigrants who vote God, country, and guns, and have a stronger than average distrust of government. They are white, lower middle-class union members who work hard, play by the rules, have faith in God and a hefty dose of patriotism.

But from the southern coalfields to the northern panhandle (which is really southwestern Pennsylvania, and Catholic Democrat country) you are entering the land that the national Democratic party forgot.

Clinton on McCain, Obama

2008-08-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

Clinton Supporters: Its OK to vote for McCain

2008-08-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

Obama Passes on Clinton

Former Clinton Delegate Chooses McCain

Citizens for McCain

2008-08-24T15:53:00.000-07:00

Mississippi Democrats who put principle before party, and who know John McCain will be a better, more experienced President than Senator Obama, click here to join Citizens for McCain.

Rasmussen Poll - Mississippi: McCain 54% to Obama 41%

2008-08-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

McCain has increased his lead over Obama in Mississippi, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports poll of voters.

McCain now leads his Democratic opponent by 13 points 54% to 41%. That’s a couple of points more for McCain than he enjoyed in July. Counting “leaners,” McCain leads 56% to 43%, also a bit better than last month for the Republican hopeful. McCain is now viewed favorably by 63%, Obama by 44%. The Republican leads 84% to 13% among white voters, while African-Americans favor the Democrat by a 97% to 2% margin. McCain is viewed favorably by 88% of white voters and 18% of black voters. For Obama, the numbers are reversed. He gets favorable reviews from 92% of black voters and only 18% of white voters.

Biden on Obama

2008-08-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

Biden on Obama's Experience

“Right now I don’t believe he is (ready). The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the- job training. I stand by the statement.” - Joe Biden on Barack Obama

Biden on Obama's...hygiene?

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." - Joe Biden on Barack Obama

Obama's pay grade

2008-08-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

In Reasonably Right this week I wrote about Obama and McCain at Rev. Rick Warren's Saddleback Church forum. Here are some excerpts:

Warren asked Obama, "At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?"

Obama responded, "Well, I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade."

Obama tried to be cute; he tried to say those decisions are best left to God. But Warren was not asking Obama to proclaim, as God's representative on earth, the point at which babies get human rights. He was just asking Obama his view, his opinion.

All of God's decisions are above Obama's pay grade: murder is wrong; rape is wrong; helping your neighbor is good; feeding the hungry is good. Those are God's decisions, based on His perfect nature. Still, Obama can have an opinion about those actions.

Maybe Obama hasn't made up his mind. Obama is young man, lacking the experience to develop a consistent record of achievement.

Warren asked McCain the same question and McCain responded without hesitation, "At the moment of conception. I have a 25-year pro-life record in the Congress, in the Senate. And as President of the United States, I will be a pro-life president and this presidency will have pro-life policies. That's my commitment, that's my commitment to you."

When you choose someone for President of the United States, you are voting for leadership. Leaders are not always right and they don't always have all the information. But leaders have a quality in their character that empowers them with the courage to make a decision. Obama demonstrated that leadership is above his pay grade.

You can read the full column in the Neshoba Democrat here: PERRY/Obama's pay grade

A Call for National Volunteers

2008-08-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

The John McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign is looking for full-time volunteers for positions available immediately in its regional offices located throughout the nation. These positions provide an opportunity to participate in the McCain for President Campaign. Positions are unpaid and participants are responsible for arranging their own transportation and housing.

Participants will work with staff on various projects essential to the campaign and play a significant role in Senator McCain's campaign. Interested candidates should send a resume and cover letter (with availability) to John Gossett, Deputy Director of Volunteers at Volunteer3@JohnMcCain.com.

McCain in 5-point national lead over Obama

2008-08-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

A Reuters/Zogby poll released today shows a 5 point lead by John McCain over Barack Obama: Mccain 46 to Obama 41. Read the story here.

McCain at the Fair

2008-08-06T07:14:00.000-07:00

In two commentaries for the Fair Times, the newspaper of the Neshoba County Fair, I wrote about John McCain's enthusiastic support there.

First in this piece about the speeches by Senator Roger Wicker and Ronnie Musgrove. (Read the full article here: Wednesday's main event: Wicker v. Musgrove)

The most energetic and authentic cheers of Wicker's speech came when he said he was supporting John McCain for President. Wicker said Obama was supporting and helping to elect Musgrove and that John Kerry supports Musgrove. Wicker said that people may wonder where Musgrove stands but "you won't have to wonder with Roger Wicker."

Next in this piece on Governor Haley Barbour's speech. (Read the full article here: Barbour speaks on Musgrove, McCain, Medicaid)

Barbour moved from Musgrove to other national politics. "I wish John McCain were here" he said to thunderous applause. McCain must be the most popular politician not at the Neshoba County Fair. Every speaker who invoked his name received a louder and more energetic response than to anything else. A new Rasmussen Reports poll released yesterday says McCain "has nearly doubled his lead over Barack Obama in Mississippi" and "now leads his Democratic opponent by 11 points 52% to 41%, after maintaining a 6-point lead for the previous two months."

Barbour continued, "Frankly I wish Senator Obama were here, too, because I believe the more people learn about Obama's record, the better McCain is going to do." Barbour praised Obama as a great performer saying, "He could sell Chevrolets to a Ford dealer." Barbour said Obama and his liberal Democrat colleagues have said no to drilling off-shore; no to drilling in ANWR; no to drilling on federal land in the Rockies; no to more refineries; no to more nuclear plants; no to increased domestic oil production and "out of that series of No's, Obama created the slogan, 'Yes, we can.'" Barbour later referred to the presumptive Democratic nominee as "Nobama."

The only name to rival the applause of John McCain at the Fair was when State Auditor Stacey Pickering invoked the name of his uncle Judge Charles Pickering, Sr. as an example of the type of good judges Roger Wicker would fight for in the Senate.

Mississippi: McCain 52%, Obama 41%

2008-07-31T10:59:00.000-07:00

A new Rasmussen Reports poll says McCain has opened an 11-point lead over Obama in Mississippi.

McCain now leads his Democratic opponent by 11 points 52% to 41%, after maintaining a 6-point lead for the previous two months in a row. Counting “leaners,” McCain leads 54% to 42%.

The Republican candidate has gained slightly in terms of favorables. He is now viewed favorably by 64% of voters here, up from 58% in June. Obama has held roughly steady from last month, with 47% viewing him favorably and 51% unfavorably.

Rasmussen Markets data shows that McCain is given a 85.0% chance of carrying Mississippi in November. The state is classified as “Likely Republican” by the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator.

Half of Mississippi voters rate economic issues as their number one concern this election cycle, followed by 26% who rank national security at the top. Seventy percent (70%) of Mississippi voters say lowering the price of gas and oil is more important than protecting the environment, but 20% disagree. This is significantly higher than the national averages on this question.

There is a growing feeling among voters throughout the country that the U.S. and its allies are winning the war on terror, 59% of voters in Mississippi feel that way, while 19% say the terrorists are winning and 16% say it’s a draw.

Forty-one percent (41%) say President Bush is doing a good or an excellent job, while the identical number (41%) rate his performance as poor.

McCain Signs at Neshoba Fair

2008-07-30T15:33:00.000-07:00

Volunteers made sure that John McCain's campaign was represented at this year's Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Signs dress the light poles inside the Fair and yard signs line the interstates coming into this, the annual epicenter of Mississippi politics.
Dozens of McCain signs; zero Obama signs.

Executed Criminal's Last Wish: Vote Obama

2008-07-24T08:07:00.001-07:00

It seems here was a Mississippian who supported Barack Obama.

Before he died Wednesday evening, death row inmate Dale Leo Bishop apologized to his victim's family, thanked America and urged people to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. "For those who oppose the death penalty and want to see it end, our best bet is to vote for Barack Obama because his supporters have been working behind the scenes to end this practice," Bishop said.

(Read the full story at the Clarion Ledger: Bishop put to death: Apology precedes execution)

Media Hearts Obama

2008-07-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

You saw John McCain's ad "Love" below, but now you can see another kind of love, the love that the media has for Barack Obama. Don't expect them to be fair or objective in covering this race. Take a look at these clips (and vote for your favorite love music to go along) at JohnMcCain.com of the media swooning for Obama.

Mississippi Democratic Party spins Obama

2008-07-21T09:03:00.001-07:00

The Mississippi Democratic Party continues to spin that Barack Obama has a shot at winning Mississippi. They like to cite the historic turnout in the Democratic Primary earlier this year as evidence. 434,110 voters picked a candidate in the Democratic Primary; most of them (61.2%) picked Obama. But that leaves 168,608 Democrats who chose someone else. Now many of them will come around a tow the party line and back Obama. But a lot of them just couldn't wait until November to vote against Obama. And those Democrats - call them Clinton Democrats, call them Reagan Democrats, call them Fordice Democrats - will join with Republicans and independents to vote for John McCain. Does Obama have a shot at Mississippi? Sure. There are only two ways to run: scared or unopposed. If we run scared, work hard, contribute, and turn out our voters, then Mississippi will be well within John McCain's winning column.

Southeast Campaign HQ

2008-07-16T17:55:00.000-07:00

To contact McCain's Southeast Campaign HQ - the region including Mississippi - see below:

Southeast Regional Headquarters
420 East Jefferson Street
3rd Floor
Tallahassee, FL 32302
Office number is 850-391-4219
Office fax is 850-681-2063
Email Mississippi staff at mississippi@johnmccain.com

John McCain Ad: Love

2008-07-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

Meet the new Democrat, same as the old Democrat

2008-07-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

Back in the Spring, I told people the best scenario for Republicans would be for the Clinton-Obama contest to continue all the way to the Democratic Convention with the Clintons using the super delegates to win and disenchanting all the young and progressive energy in the Democratic Party two months before the election.

I was wrong. That would have created a liberal martyr and made Obama that much more powerful in four years.

The best scenario now is playing out: Obama is discrediting himself with his base.

The hope for a new transformational politician has faded. The hope of an elevated debate on the issues became this threat by Obama regarding an ugly general election campaign, "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun." It is hard to be an idealist and a pragmatist at the same time.

Then came policy flip-flops.

Progressives love public financing to take "big money" out of politics. Obama pledged to run with public financing. Then he discovered the free market (as he calls it a "parallel public financing system" one in which the public decides...aka private financing) provides more resources and bailed on public financing. The left forgave him, after all, they want to win and it’s only the most wonkish intellectual liberals who want public financing anyway.

Then came the other shoes to drop. Moderating his position on abortion and guns; moving conservative on the issue of the death penalty; execution for bin Laden; he once opposed cracking down on businesses that hire illegal immigrants and now he is for it.

Liberals see all these as troubling, but they are pragmatic, they want to win.

The defining issue first distinguishing Obama and Clinton: the Iraq War. Obama was for full and immediate withdrawal within 16 months of taking office. MoveOn.org was dancing in the streets. Now Obama says he will listen to the military commanders, like President Bush is doing, and may "refine" his position.

Say it ain't so, O.

Obama was going to filibuster the FISA bill and stand up for all the liberal bloggers who didn't want the government spying on Americans and who were impassioned that big telecom companies not get immunity from lawsuits.

Instead he voted for the measure. Nobama, please, Nobama.

Markos Moulitsas, Grand High Pooba of liberal bloggers said before the vote, "He (Obama) spent the last two years telling us how he's going to be the leader of the free world ... not to mention the Democratic party and this nation.... I think there are people like us that are hoping to see some of that leadership.... I don't want to hear talk about leadership... I want to see him do it... If he does not, I think we may worry that he's just one of these spineless Democrats who are more afraid of controversy.. than doing the right thing."

Now Art Levine who has written for every major left wing publication since the Port Huron Statement (The New Republic, Mother Jones, Slate, Salon) posts "Will Netroots 'Hold their Noses' in Backing Obama?" He posted his comments at The Huffington Post. Et Tu Netrootae?

Some bloggers are willing to give Obama another shot and let his pick for vice president shore up his base. Let me get this straight, the nonpartisan National Journal rankings place Obama as the most liberal U.S. Senator and he needs a running mate to shore up his left wing? Who is he going to pick? Ralph Nader? Hugo Chavez?

The mainstream media is comparing Obama to McCain. The left wing is comparing Obama to Bush. If this keeps up, we'll all be comparing Obama to John Kerry when this is done with.

The New York Times: Obama supporters on the far left cry foul
The New Yorker: Obama's flip-flop flap
Midwest Voices: Obama's FISA flip-flop angers liberal bloggers

Polls: Mississippi Likes John McCain

2008-07-01T05:56:00.000-07:00

Associated Content contends Mississippi will go for McCain.

Although the Mississippi primary showed Barack Obama ahead of Hillary Clinton 61 to 31 percent, recent research polls show John McCain has a strong lead over Obama in a state that is 39 percent African-American. Mississippi is the only state with this large an African-American percentage, according to the 2000 census.

Mississippi is considered a Republican state, as no Democrat has won the state since 1976 when Jimmy Carter ran for President.

Rasmussen shows McCain with an 80 percent chance of winning Mississippi's six votes in November.

Pollsters Rasmussen Reports (5/29/08) McCain over Obama 50 over 44.
Research 2000 (5/23/08) Research 2000 shows McCain is the favorite 54% to Obamas 39%.
Survey USA (3/6/08) gave McCain the lead over Obama 54% to 41%.

Read the full story here: Polls: Mississippi Likes John McCain (Hat Tip Y'all Politics)

Lott advising McCain on VP

2008-06-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

The National Journal reports (It's Vetting Time!) that former Senator Trent Lott is one of the closest confidants of John McCain's search for his Vice President.

McCain's process is so secretive that his campaign won't even confirm Culvahouse's role. "We don't comment on the vice presidential search," said Steve Schmidt, a McCain campaign adviser. Another aide asked for "no comment" to be off the record. Internally, fewer than 10 senior staffers are permitted to advise McCain on the selection. Conversations about the process are limited to a circle of five key staff advisers and a few others, including former Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Campaign staffers who interact with the press are kept in the dark so that they have plausible deniability.

It is nice to know that a Mississippian is at the table for such an important selection.

Obama's Mississippi Challenge

2008-06-05T06:08:00.000-07:00

This week in the Madison County Journal (Reasonably Right: The Obama challenge) I write about two anecdotes, that if a trend in other states, spells trouble in November for Barack Obama. First, while there has been a lot of talk about the Obama effect in voter turn out, it won't simply be a matter of Obama voters turning out in record numbers and anti-Obama voters responding. There are men and women across the country who believe in the person John McCain, like Jack McMillan in Leake County.

In that sliver of land between Edinburg and the Neshoba County line in East Mississippi sits an old country store with "Vote John McCain President" stencilled in black lettering inside a crudely painted American flag that adorns the west side of the simple, block structure.

There's a portable flashing sign out front off Mississippi 16 with "Vote McCain President" as well.

A grassy, gravel drive leads to two wooden Uncle Sam figures on the columns by the door.

Jack McMillan, the owner and proprietor, envisions the store as the McCain volunteer headquarters for Leake County. He plans a youth involvement program, volunteer phone banks, a get-out-the-vote rally, and campaign signs, hats and CDs of McCain speeches.

He has never done this before.

Now retired, McMillan worked for the state for many years and speaks of his service with Govs. Cliff Finch and William Winter (he compliments both) while explaining he has never been personally involved in "politics."

He is no Republican Party activist and his words reflect no passion for Republicans or partisanship. He speaks about America - about duty, honor, country - a reflection of McCain's image.

I never heard an ill word toward Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton (or any mention of them for that matter) and for McMillan, it seems, this election isn't about them. For him, John McCain is the man that can best lead this country. McCain is the reason McMillan is out of retirement and into politics for the first time in his life.

Older, rural, blue-collar voters in the South, Appalachia, and the Midwest, relate to McCain's image as a respected and seasoned servant of his country. They hear McCain speak of service to America with humility - almost as if he were courting the person America - cognizant of his own failures but honest to his promise that just as he has in the past, he will give every measure of service and sacrifice to her.

These voters are not looking for Obama's change for the future. They have had enough of the future and want to trade in their risky aggressive high-yield stocks for the security and comfort of a trusty treasury CD. They may not be on blogs or YouTube, and they may be unable to leave their responsibilities to attend rock-star rallies; but like the fabled tortoise, they are steady, persistent, and unshakeable: to borrow from Richard Nixon, a silent majority. Besides the South, they put states like West Virginia and Indiana into McCain's column. Obama lost both states to Clinton in their primaries.

Here are a couple of pictures from McMillan's future Leake County McCain HQ.

Second, while a lot was made of McCain's challenges early on with maintaining and exciting his conservative base, Obama could face problems with moderates in the Democratic Party who supported Clinton.

Eighty miles southwest of McMillan is my home in the Belhaven neighborhood of Jackson. I didn't poll everyone at my street's recent block party, but if I was not the lone Republican, I was at least in a silent minority. Talk turned to the presidential race and the excitement about Barack Obama. No one cared that I plan to vote for John McCain. They've seen my yard signs. I'm a Republican. Republicans vote for McCain. But what turned up the temperature on the late May day in Mississippi was the discovery that several Clinton supporters were also voting for McCain.

I was intrigued to hear the discussion first-hand. A couple of the neighbors raised questions of competence and experience: they believe Clinton possesses those qualities, Obama does not. Regardless of ideology, they want an adult in the White House. These Democrats feel George W. Bush is an example of immature leadership and Barack Obama would be the Democratic version of him.

One neighbor is from Illinois. She notes just four years ago Obama was a state senator from Chicago dominated by ward-bosses, divisive men like Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and indicted influence peddlers like Tony Rezko. She describes Obama as an old-style street politician cloaked in the illusion of transformative rhetoric. She would never vote for Obama, my Democrat neighbor said.

A Gallup Poll in March reported that 28 percent of Clinton supporters would vote for McCain rather than Obama: this includes a large number of Democrat leaning independents, conservative Democrats, moderate Democrats and Hispanic Democrats. Those numbers put states like Pennsylvania and Ohio closer to McCain (Clinton beat Obama in both primaries) and shores up McCain leaning but contested states like Florida and Virginia.

The Jackson Clarion Ledger wrote yesterday that "Some hope Obama turns Miss. 'blue". These anecdotes don't spell victory in Mississippi (which most expect anyway) but might suggest broader national challenges for Obama.

Mississippi voters have chosen the Democrat nominee once since 1960: the born-again Baptist governor of Georgia Jimmy Carter against the unelected Nixon-pardoning Gerald Ford in 1976. Ford barely lost.

Democrats don't look to improve their record this year.

A recent Rasmussen poll puts Obama six points behind McCain, 50 to 44 percent; and a Research 2000 poll puts the race at 54 percent McCain to 39 percent Obama.

No one is surprised that Mississippi is John McCain country, but if these examples indicate a broader national trend, then Barack Obama faces a cultural and electoral challenge in November.

You can read the full uninterrupted column at the Madison County Journal: The Obama challenge.

The General Election Begins

2008-06-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

Don't Be Bamboozled

Rasmussen: McCain 50% Obama 44%

2008-05-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

Another poll shows McCain leading Obama in the Magnolia State.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Mississippi shows John McCain leading Barack Obama 50% to 44%.

The strong racial divide is highlighted by the fact that Obama earns 44% of the vote in a sample where 36% of the voters are African-American. Obama overwhelmingly wins the African-American vote. Obama also leads among voters under 40 while McCain wins most votes from those 40 and older. Women are essentially evenly divided between the two candidates, while McCain leads by eleven percentage points among men.

George Bush won the state by twenty points four years ago and sixteen points in Election 2000. The current poll results are similar to Bob Dole's margin of victory in 1996. No Democrat has won the state since Jimmy Carter in 1976. In 1968, George Wallace won 63% of the vote while running as an Independent. Mississippi is currently rated as "Safely Republican" in the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator .

Fifty-three percent (53%) say that if John McCain is elected in November, it is at least somewhat likely the U.S. will win the War. Twenty-six percent (26%) say victory is likely with an Obama victory. On the other hand, 52% believe a President Obama would get his troops home within a year while 42% say the same would happen with McCain as President.

DailyKos: McCain 54% Obama 39%

2008-05-27T06:20:00.001-07:00

DailyKos released the results of poll conducted May 19 - May 21 of Mississippians (+/-4) that puts John McCain over Barack Obama 54% to 39%.

California Dreaming?

2008-05-21T15:36:00.001-07:00

National pundits claim the Republican brand is damaged. Mississippi's First Congressional District seat was won by a Democrat. Voters, weary of war in a weakened economy, want some kind of change. In this kind of atmosphere, could California be in play for John McCain? Brian Perry discusses the opportunity this week in the Neshoba County Democrat: McCain California dreaming?.

When George W. Bush won Florida in 2000, he won the presidency. Four years later, the White House came down to Ohio. Ohio 2004 seemed a rerun of Florida 2000: small margins, voting machine questions, a high profile Republican secretary of state, and whoever prevailed in Ohio would be President of the United State: the Electoral College majority hung in the balance. Any challenge in the Buckeye State whimpered out as Bush had a small but clear majority with 50.8 percent of the vote.

The seeds of Bush's Ohio victory were sewn a year prior in Massachusetts.

In November 2003, four judges on the seven-person Massachusetts Supreme Court, overturned a state law to establish America's only state permitting gay marriage. In response, 11 states placed defense of marriage measures on their ballots the following year. They all passed by wide margins.

In Ohio, Bush beat Senator John Kerry by fewer than 150,000 votes in an election where 5.7 million voters went to the polls and 3.3 million voted to uphold traditional marriage.

If four judges in Massachusetts could provide the boost needed by Bush to win a second term in 2004, could four judges in California do the same for John McCain in 2008?

In 2000, 61 percent of California voters approved a traditional marriage ballot initiative: Proposition 22. Now the California Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision, with the equivalent of a judicial super veto, declared that marriage in the state must be allowed for same-sex couples.

Already, conservatives have filed a provision with more than a million signatures to amend the California Constitution to make marriage only between one man and one woman for the California November ballot. Polls show a majority of Californians support the amendment.

For McCain to win California this year, Republicans would need a conservative surge in turn out, some independent and Democratic crossover, and a strong showing among Hispanic voters.

A traditional marriage amendment could produce the conservative surge. McCain's maverick style and perceived moderation could provide the cross-party appeal that some Western voters need to support the Arizona Senator. Finally, McCain's polling shows him in reach of surpassing the record 44 percent of the Hispanic vote that Bush carried in 2004. Catholic Hispanics trend against gay marriage and may make the difference for McCain in California.

Republicans haven't carried California in a Presidential election since George H.W. Bush whipped Michael Dukakis 20 years ago. McCain's Western base and Hispanic appeal alone can't deliver California, especially facing Obama's rock-star appeal and fundraising prowess. But throw a conservative mobilizing issue like the defense of marriage into the mix, and McCain might be able to squeak out a win.

Will Obama be another Dukakis or is McCain just California dreaming? If McCain does carry California, his campaign should send thank you cards to four judges in California and four judges in Massachusetts.

Read the full column here: McCain California dreaming?

McCain and the Judiciary

2008-05-15T07:24:00.000-07:00

When Mississippi jurists like Charles W. Pickering, Sr.; Mike Wallace; and Leslie Southwick were attacked by national Democrats and opposed by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, men like John McCain stood by Trent Lott and Thad Cochran in pushing their nominations. A column in the Madison County Journal this week highlights the differences in a McCain court and an Obama court.

November's election for President of the United States also determines the future of the federal judiciary. Mississippians know the type of jurist they want on our federal courts. We also know what national Democrats think of such nominees.

President George W. Bush nominated Charles W. Pickering, Sr. to a post on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. National Democrats and special interest groups attacked, slandered, maligned, obstructed, and ultimately blocked his confirmation with a filibuster without ever giving him an up-or-down vote (on which he would have prevailed). Next President Bush nominated Mike Wallace to the Fifth Circuit and Democrats, without skipping a beat, re-launched their assault and obstruction machine. They continued against the next nominee as well, Leslie Southwick, but were unable to defeat him.

Pickering, Wallace, and Southwick believe in the Constitution; they believe we are a nation of laws and not of men; they believe role of a judge is to interpret the laws and Constitution as written, and not to legislate from the bench or impose their own beliefs and values onto others through their rulings.

Senator John McCain shares that perspective.

Last week in a speech on his judicial philosophy delivered at Wake Forest University, McCain promised if elected President: "I will look for accomplished men and women with a proven record of excellence in the law, and a proven commitment to judicial restraint. I will look for people in the cast of John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and my friend the late William Rehnquist - jurists of the highest caliber who know their own minds, and know the law, and know the difference. My nominees will understand that there are clear limits to the scope of judicial power, and clear limits to the scope of federal power. They will be men and women of experience and wisdom, and the humility that comes with both. They will do their work with impartiality, honor, and humanity, with an alert conscience, immune to flattery and fashionable theory, and faithful in all things to the Constitution of the United States."

Sen. Barack Obama, who appears to be inching toward the Democratic nomination, told a very different philosophy to CNN in a recent interview: "What you're looking for is somebody who is going to apply the law where it's clear. Now there's gonna be those five percent of cases or one percent of cases where the law isn't clear. And the judge has to then bring in his or her own perspectives, his ethics, his or her moral bearings. And in those circumstance what I do want is a judge who is sympathetic enough to those who are on the outside, those who are vulnerable, those who are powerless, those who can't have access to political power and as a consequence can't protect themselves from being being dealt with sometimes unfairly, that the courts become a refuge for justice. That's been its historic role. That was its role in Brown v. Board of Education."

Judges appealing to their own perspectives, ethics, and morals ruled in Dredd Scott v Sandford that blacks were not citizens; and judges seeking the law in themselves - as Obama advocates - ruled in Plessy v Ferguson to create separate but equal policies.

Some may say it is absurd to put Obama on the same side as these horrendous Supreme Court rulings. However, if activist judges had not ignored originalism in the former, nor disregarded the Fourteenth Amendment in the latter, America's journey to equality would have been achieved earlier.

McCain on Judges

2008-05-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

Today at Wake Forest, John McCain spoke of his desire to appoint judges who will not legislate from the bench and will not bring judicial activism to the federal bench. He wants to see more judges like John Roberts and Sam Alito. The Associated Press reports:

"My nominees will understand that there are clear limits to the scope of judicial power, and clear limits to the scope of federal power," McCain said Tuesday in a speech at Wake Forest University.

McCain, the eventual GOP nominee, promised to appoint judges in the mold of Roberts and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, saying they would interpret the law strictly to curb the scope of their rulings. While McCain didn't mention abortion, the far right understands that such nominees would be likely to limit or perhaps overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

Obama, on the other hand, voted against Roberts and Alito. So did Obama's rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, but McCain focused on Obama.

"Senator Obama in particular likes to talk up his background as a lecturer on law, and also as someone who can work across the aisle to get things done," McCain said. "But ... he went right along with the partisan crowd, and was among the 22 senators to vote against this highly qualified nominee."

In response, Obama's campaign said McCain would pick judges who would threaten abortion rights as well as McCain's own campaign finance reform bill.

"What's truly elitist is to appoint judges who will protect the powerful and leave ordinary Americans to fend for themselves," Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

The Arizona senator said his role models interpret the law strictly, paying attention to what lawmakers intended, as opposed to "activist" judges who, by striking down statutes or court decisions, make laws rather than interpret them. "Activist" is a term conservatives use pejoratively to criticize liberal justices.

The Republican National Lawyers Association notes that Mississippi's Judge Charles Pickering has weighed in on McCain's leadership in the Gang of 14. The post writes:

Judge Pickering's backing of the agreement is further sign that it was good for conservatives, nominees, Republicans and everyone interested in the confirmation of "capable and conservative jurists."

And links to a letter from Pickering to McCain that says in part:

There is no way you can look at that agreement as a Democratic victory. Two days after the Deal was announced, Owen was confirmed by the Senate. Two weeks later, Brown was confirmed, and the next day the Senate confirmed Pryor. These confirmations were exactly what President Bush and the Republicans had tried to accomplish for five long years and the Democrats had blocked.

The confirmation of Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justice Sam Alito --two exceptionally capable and conservative jurists-- were made relatively easy because of the "Gang of Fourteen Agreement."

Barbour touts McCain to Washington Times

2008-04-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour recently discussed Senator John McCain's prospects with the Washington Times editorial board. (Read The Full Story Here)

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour yesterday said that he is too conservative to be John McCain's running mate but that the Arizona senator's maverick reputation will help him in an election in which moderates and independents will be more important than in recent years.

Mr. Barbour also urged Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, not to name his pick for vice president until after the Democrats' convention, when he can draw the sharpest distinction between the parties.

Mr. McCain will depend on "persuasion" to snare independents and disgruntled Democrats on Nov. 4, unlike George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections when victory depended on maximizing the turnout of each party's hard-core partisans, said Mr. Barbour, a former Republican National Committee chairman.

"I am a lot more conservative than John McCain," Mr. Barbour told The Washington Times at a luncheon meeting with the newspaper's editors and reporters. "It may help him that he is not as conservative as I am."

More Democrats than before are going to be unhappy with their party's nominee, whether it's current Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton loyalists. Such Democrats may be ripe for the picking by Mr. McCain, a maverick Republican admired by many Democrats and independents for his own occasional and unpredictable independence. But Republicans are also poised for defections.

The Washington Times also provides four videos of the interview:

TWT Video: Barbour on being a potential running mate for McCain

TWT Video: Barbour: Why McCain is a strong candidate

TWT Video: Barbour on race in the 2008 presidential campaign

TWT Video: Barbour compares Bush to Truman

Proud Caroll County

2008-04-24T15:03:00.001-07:00

Another response to the George Lambus race card.

Criticisms of McCain, Carroll County unfounded
The Clarion-Ledger • April 24, 2008

I was born and reared in Carroll County. When I read George O. Lambus' comments about Carroll County and Sen. John McCain's family ("Should McCain be proud of heritage in Carroll County?" April 9), I was appalled. That statement was the first time that I had ever heard about any Klan activity anywhere other than on the TV news. Maybe there has been an individual or so that was involved in the Klan from Carroll County, I do not know. I have neither known anyone involved myself nor did I ever hear my parents or granddad speak of such and they, too, were born and reared in Carroll County.

As far as Sen. McCain is concerned, he can be proud of heritage in Carroll County, because as far as I've ever heard, the McCain family were well respected, law abiding, and honorable people.

I looked up information about the Klan from World Book Encyclopedia, which says the KKK had four major periods: 1) mid-1860s to early 1870s; 2) 1915 to 1944; 3) late 1940s to early 1970s; 4) since the mid-1970s. Sen. McCain's great grandfather, J.S. McCain, became sheriff of Carroll County in January 1891 and served through 1895. In January 1896, J.S. McCain took over as Carroll County Beat 2 supervisor. The last two years, he served as board of supervisors president. J.S. McCain was not sheriff during the active period of the Klan.

I have never judged a person by who their relatives are. People need to be judged on their own merit. Sen. McCain has merit of his own. He has served his country well, with honor and integrity. People of Carroll County are proud of Sen. McCain and proud to be from Carroll County. Maybe Mr. Lambus has been around too many crooked law enforcement officers and dishonest people lately to be making such unfounded statements.

Linda Grantham Lehman, West

Speaking of family tradition, the Daily Mississippian discusses McCain's roots in Mississippi: McCain's family lineage traces back to Mississippi

While presidential nominee John McCain may be a senator from Arizona, his roots are grounded deeply in Mississippi. Marvin King, assistant professor of political science, said McCain's heritage will certainly help him win votes in Mississippi. "Having roots in a state is usually seen as a plus by campaign teams," he said.

Unlike King, John Winburn, assistant professor of political science, said he does not think McCain's Mississippi heritage will affect the amount of votes he receives in the state. While having a family connection in Mississippi will not hurt McCain, it will probably not provide a lot of votes either, Winburn said. "He personally does not have a real close tie with the state," Winburn said. "In any event, the state's conservative and Republican leanings are much more important than his family background for picking up support throughout Mississippi."

McCain paid tribute to his southern ancestors when he began his "Service to America" tour in Meridian a few weeks ago. "The family I was born into, the family I am blessed with now, made me the man I am," McCain said. "By all accounts, the McCains of Carroll County were devoted to one another and their traditions; a lively, proud and happy family on the Mississippi Delta."

In his book "Faith of our Fathers," McCain tells of his ancestor William McCain who moved to Carroll County in 1848 from North Carolina. William, the senator's great-great grandfather, became the sheriff in Carroll County. He was a plantation owner who died in the Civil War fighting for the Confederacy.

McCain's grandfather, John Sidney McCain, Sr., was born in 1884 in Teoc, Miss. He attended the University of Mississippi for one year in 1901 and left the South in 1902 to enter the U.S. Naval Academy, according to the Arlington National Cemetery Web site. He was an admiral in the U.S. Navy and a notable commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in World War II, according to the Web site.

McCains have been great military leaders

2008-04-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

Herman Smith responds in Friday's Clarion Ledger to the George Lambus letter-to-the-editor.

3 McCains have served as great U.S. military leaders
The Clarion-Ledger • April 18, 2008

George Lambus should join the present century and quit living in the past ("Should McCain be proud of heritage in Carroll County," April 9 letter). How dare he slam three of the great military leaders of our country - the McCains. He can have Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Herman Smith, Houston

Mississippi Dr. heads national McCain group

2008-04-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

Dr Sampat Shivangi of Jackson, Mississippi helps create and leads "Indian American Physicians for Senator McCain."

Indian physicians panel to support McCain

NEW YORK: A national committee named "Indian American Physicians for Sen. McCain" has been formed to bring a united front of like minded Indian physicians under one umbrella to work towards electing Republican Presidential candidate Sen.

John McCain as President in the coming elections.

Dr Sampat Shivangi of Jackson, MS, Co Chair of Indian American Republican Council and past delegate at the National Republican convention had an opportunity to have a luncheon meeting with Sen. McCain last week in Jackson, which was attended by prominent Republican party leaders in the state that included Gov. Haley Barbour, his wife, US Senator Thad Cochran, US Senator Roger Wicker, Senator Trent Lott (Ret), Congressman Chip Pickering and Mrs. Cindy McCain and Mrs. McCain Senator McCain's mother).According to Dr Shivangi, Sen. McCain appreciated the contributions of Indian American Community especially the Indian American Physician community.

The discussion included the formation of a Committee to support the Senator for his Presidential bid. "Sen. McCain has stood by India as a friend and has supported the majority of bills in the US Senate including US-India Civil Nuclear treaty," Dr Shivangi says.

"He is a national hero and a strong supporter against terrorism and fundamentalists needs our support in the forthcoming elections."The National Committee would work along the lines of a similar committee that was formed to elect President George Bush in the past, according to Dr Shivangi.

Tolerance

2008-04-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

While some who oppose McCain (Matt Stoller or George Lambus) bring in race or hate to this debate and want to make it personal about black or woman or old, Senator McCain urges us to remember we can disagree and argue - in fact, we should disagree about matters so important to our future - but we should do it on the issues.

Another lefty throws race at McCain

2008-04-09T07:50:00.000-07:00

The left knows Senator McCain can defeat either Obama or Clinton and they will throw anything they can at him. In today's Clarion Ledger, they try to make a race issue again.

Should McCain be proud of heritage in Carroll County?
The Clarion-Ledger • April 9, 2008

Carroll County in Mississippi has been from its inception a hotbed of Klan activity, now if Sen. John McCain's great-grandfather was once a sheriff there, what does that say? Apples don't fall far from the tree!

George O. Lambus
Jackson

It's true that apples don't fall far from the tree, which is the point of Senator McCain's "Service to America Tour." His father and grandfather (both distinguished admirals), his teachers and coaches, the Annapolis Naval Academy, these people and institutions shaped John McCain. His headstrong, stubborn, maverick nature pursues not glory for himself, but something greater than self, service to his country.

Mr. Lambus is a Jackson activist. Here are tastes of his other letters-to-the-editor.

Al Gore wouldn't take terrorist bait
The Clarion-Ledger • Nov 30, 2003

Real presidents of the United States of America wouldn't have taken the bait the terrorists dangled on Sept. 11, 2001. Bill Clinton or Al Gore would have assessed the impact on the American economy and the cost in lives. One can't fight terrorism conventionally; it has to be covert. Al Gore is the real president. One can now see what a usurper can cause!

George Lambus
Jackson

And to the Jackson Free Press (includes graphic language):

Strange Fruit
Jackson Free Press • July 5, 2006

Frank Melton isn’t making Jackson look bad. Jackson is looking bad because of the actions of a bunch of worthless, young black males committing crimes. You and your Jackson Free Press need to stop wasting ink on a damn n----r who wants to sue Melton. Why waste thousands of dollars worth of ink on a damn n----r who ain’t worth 50 cents?

Attorney General Jim Hood knows he needs the black vote to attain his political aspirations so he had better lay off Frank. I don’t understand how you could be against a man trying to clean up and rescue a city from the grips of a bunch of worthless, no good, drain-on-society black males.

If I were mayor, I’d have their asses hanging from every tree limb on the lawn at City Hall. I am 59 years old, and like the majority of older black citizens of Jackson and across this country, I hate young black males because they do not appreciate what has been done (the civil rights struggle) for them. All black people should exhibit dignity because God has truly been on our side.

They (young blacks) look like fools cursing and creeping across concert stages performing that damn rap music, and the kids cannot read but can recall the stupid lyrics of the so-called music or song(s).

Jackson needs Frank Melton. We can do without Faye Peterson, Kamikaze, David Banner, the majority of City Council, and you, if you persist in criticizing a good man.

George Lambus, Jackson

It’s good to be home again

2008-04-08T08:11:00.001-07:00

Greg Snowden writes about Senator McCain's visit at his Clarion Ledger blog.

"It’s good to be home again." Those are the words Senator John McCain spoke to me as he deplaned at the Meridian Regional Airport last Sunday afternoon.

I understand, of course, that John McCain is an Arizonan, not a Mississippian, and that as he has often observed, no military man himself born into a military family has ever had any permanent address for very long during his formative years or through the active service career which follows. Furthermore, the man IS running for President, and the one address which most holds his interest and attention these days is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. That’s "DC," not "MS."

Still, there was a palpable warmth, a subtle sincerity, if you will, which I detected in McCain’s characterization of Mississippi as "home." I witnessed McCain repeatedly and, very comfortably, I must say, gratefully embrace the entire gamut of his Mississippi roots, ranging from his rural Carroll County forebears to his early flying career at the Meridian naval airfield named for his grandfather.

I believe John McCain when he says he is at "home" in Mississippi. No doubt he feels that way about several other places too, but the Magnolia State is on his radar screen, we clearly claim a special piece of his heart, and Mississippians definitely will not be strangers when McCain sits in the Oval Office.

Mrs. Roberta McCain, the mother of the man all the McCain ladies believe (as do I) is destined to be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States at high noon next January 20. It was my great honor, along with my wife, Renee, to serve as this very special lady’s driver, escort, and dinner companion. Although supposedly 96 years of age (it must be true, through I still can’t believe it!), Roberta McCain has the classic looks of a beautiful 70-year old, and the mind of a bright, engaging and articulate 50-year old. She is a true joy to behold and to converse with.

As I opened the door to the vehicle when we arrived back at her Meridian hotel Sunday night, a still energetic, passionate and ever thoughtful Mrs. McCain thanked me for driving her and for helping her son, and then took my hand in hers, looked deeply into my eyes, and said to me in the most touching, earnest and heartfelt manner imaginable: "You know, I just believe America needs this man now . . . ."

Mississippi believes that too, Mrs. Roberta.

(Read the Full Story Here)

Service to America Tour Videos

2008-04-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Inspirational videos about how America shaped John McCain's commitment to public service, and his response.

Character Forged by Family

Heroes

Service

Sacrifice

Wicker touts McCain's conservative creds

2008-04-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

OneNewsNow.com is reporting Senator Roger Wicker's support of McCain.

GOP senator touts McCain's credentials to conservatives
Jim Brown - OneNewsNow - 4/4/2008 9:30:00 AM

Senator Roger Wicker is urging fellow conservatives to put aside their differences with John McCain on issues such as embryonic stem-cell research, the federal marriage amendment, and immigration, and stop questioning their support for the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

Senator McCain (R-Arizona) kicked off his biography bus tour earlier this week in Mississippi, where he was accompanied for two days by Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi). McCain's campaign has dubbed the week a "Service to America Tour." Wicker says as a practical matter, McCain is trying to stay in the news headlines while the Democratic contest rages on between Senators Barack Obama (D-Illinois) and Hillary Clinton (D-New York).

Some high-profile conservatives such as Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family and commentator Ann Coulter have vowed they will not vote for McCain in the general election. But Wicker, a former member of the House and now one of the newest members of the U.S. Senate, is encouraging social conservatives who are wary of McCain to take into consideration that he has staked out a "strong" position on judicial nominees.

Wicker says the Arizona senator reaffirmed to him and others in Mississippi Monday that a major part of his platform is confirming federal judges who strictly interpret the Constitution.

"Senator McCain went out of his way to point out how unjustly Judge [Charles] Pickering [of Mississippi] was treated in his confirmation for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals," Wicker shares, "and [he] made it clear that he would appoint people much like Judge Pickering to the appellate courts and to the Supreme Court."

The new Senate member predicts there could be as many as two or three Supreme Court vacancies during the next presidential term. "I think John McCain will pick the right kind of people, much in the mold of Justice [John] Roberts and Justice [Samuel] Alito," he says.

Wicker says McCain should also be appealing to conservatives because he would keep the Bush tax cuts in place, unlike the two Democratic presidential hopefuls, who he argues would increase the tax burden on families. In addition, Wicker contends McCain will keep the country on the right side of the political spectrum -- and more importantly, keep the nation safe and secure.

Liberals Respond to McCain's Meridian Visit

2008-04-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

This is hard to believe, but look at this from the left of the blogosphere. Their prejudice against Mississippi is clear, as is their desperation against McCain...also for more on the Reagan speech in Philadelphia, go here.

John McCain's Racist Dogwhistle in Meridian, Mississippi
by: Matt Stoller
Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 17:07

Oh, this is some dogwhistling. John McCain is kicking off his 'Service to America Tour' in Meridian, Mississippi on Monday, the tour designed to introduce America to his biography.

Meridian, MS, is 40 miles from Philadelphia, MS, the place where three civil rights workers were murdered in 1964 and the city where Ronald Reagan kicked off his Presidential campaign in 1980 with a speech on states' rights largely seen as the political springboard for the emerging civil rights backlash. Meridian itself is significant because one of the civil rights workers was actually from the town. McCain also has some military history in the town, but there's a reason this is the first stop on the tour, and I don't think it's just because he was stationed there.

Now, McCain of course won't distance himself from Reagan's famous racist kick-off speech, and this clearly looks like a dogwhistle to racists within the Republican Party. I'm just wondering whether the press is going to cover the fact that McCain is kicking off his bio tour in the town where a famous civil right martyr was born and the place where the racist civil rights backlash kicked into high gear.

Michael Scherer, I'm waiting.

UPDATE: McCain's speech is here. I was probably wrong on this incident, it doesn't look like a dogwhistle.

Thanks to James Taranto for pointing this out and discussing over at WSJ. As usual, he dispatches the left's ravings with logic and wit.

BEST OF THE WEB TODAY
The Wall Street Journal Online
Dog-Whistling Dixie
By JAMES TARANTO
April 3, 2008

Stoller suggests that it is invidious for a politician to give a speech within a 40-mile radius of Philadelphia, where the three civil rights workers were murdered; and that it is also invidious for a politician to give a speech in Meridian, because one of the murdered activists, James Chaney, was born there. By this logic, it would also be invidious for a politician to give a speech in any of the following places:

• New York City, where the other two murdered civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were born. (In fact, as David Brooks noted in November, that racist devil Reagan followed up his 1980 Philadelphia speech by flying to New York, where he addressed the Urban League.)

• Within 40 miles of Memphis, Tenn., where Martin Luther King was assassinated 40 years ago tomorrow.

• Atlanta, where Dr. King was born.

Actually, a politician would probably be well advised to steer clear of Mississippi altogether, since Memphis is right on the state line and Medgar Evers, another civil rights activist, was both born and assassinated in the Magnolia State.

Once McCain gave the speech, Stoller sheepishly updated his post: "I was probably wrong on this incident, it doesn't look like a dogwhistle." (Presumably he means it doesn't sound like one.)

Some commentators have given Stoller credit for his honesty, but we'd like to dwell on the metaphor instead. A dog whistle is also known as a silent whistle, because it emits a tone at a frequency too high for humans to hear, although it is within the audible range for canines. A racist dog whistle, then, is a speech that sounds innocuous to the normal human ear but that racist "dogs" are able to recognize as an appeal to them.

What does it tell us about Matt Stoller that he is able to detect whether the "racist dog whistle" has been blown?

Sometimes you just have to laugh at the liberals. They would rather concoct conspiracy theories about race than recognize the real truth of John McCain's public service. What is the reason? They are afraid of McCain (see below).

Video from McCain's Speech in Meridian

2008-04-03T08:51:00.001-07:00

The Meridina Star has some great video excerpts from Senator McCain's speech in Meridian.

Behind the Scenes in Meridian

2008-04-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

The McCain Campaign has posted this behind the scenes look at John McCain in Meridian. Senator Roger Wicker and Governor Haley Barbour join McCain in some of the shots.

Audio of McCain's Speech

2008-04-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

Mississippi Public Broadcasting has the audio of Senator John McCain's speech in Meridian.
MPB News also did a segment on the McCain Tour (audio clip).

Hope is Alive in Meridian

2008-04-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

Meghan McCain blogs more about Meridian and the Hope Village, and has pictures of the tour as well as some shots of the trip back which included Trent Lott and Roger Wicker, and Trent and Tricia Lott.

McCain Visit Slideshow

2008-04-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

The Clarion Ledger has a slideshow of pictures from the McCain visit.

McCain on Purpose, Welfare, Education while in Mississippi

2008-04-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of Mississippians and elected officials joined John McCain on his visit to Meridian and Jackson. The Meridian Star reported that the Democrats were not as successful: Few turned out in Meridian for the Democratic rally. Party spokesman Terry Cassreino blamed the low turn-out the weather of overcast skies and occasional light rain. In Meridian, McCain received a positive response from the 600 hundred plus in attendance, drawing copious applause. In his speech, McCain tied the parenting theme in with the recession and the welfare and unemployment insurance programs, calling those programs "antiquated" in their current state. "The mother or father who has lost hope along with their job can unintentionally impart that hopelessness to their children," he said. "A welfare check can't give a parent a sense of purpose." McCain concluded his speech by talking of the lessons he'd learned from his family, including the "sense of purpose" that he spoke of earlier. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, sens. Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran, Rep. Chip Pickering, local officials, and members of the Mississippi Legislature, attended McCain's speech. After leaving the MSU Riley Center, McCain visited Hope Village for Children in Meridian, a home for abused and neglected children. He spoke with the board of directors and key staff and took a tour of the facility, according to Hope Village staff. (Read the Full Story Here)

WLBT asked John McCain about education issues: Arizona Senator John McCain made a brief stop though the capital city for a fundraising luncheon. McCain was greeted by supporters as he left the plane and again as he entered the Regions Bank building in downtown Jackson. He was joined by Governor Haley Barbour, Senator Roger Wicker, Representative Chip Pickering and former Senator Trent Lott. All touted McCain's record on national defense and the war on terror.

But we asked the senator his plans for reducing the drop out rate here in Mississippi. To which McCain responded, "In my state of Arizona, we have a lot more charter schools. They provided competition. We're going to have to fully fund special education programs. I understand the challenge here in the state and it's a lot of help that's needed, but I do think the governor and the legislature are working hard on that issue." He also wants to fix the federal "No Child Left Behind" program and to help fund autism programs. (Read the Full Story Here, With Video)

Meghan McCain on Meridian

2008-03-31T13:30:00.000-07:00

Meghan McCain, Senator McCain's daughter, is author of the blog McCainBlogette.com where she posts a number of pictures from the Meridian visit including this one of Senator McCain, Senator Roger Wicker and Congressman Chip Pickering.

McCain in Meridian

2008-03-31T08:55:00.000-07:00

The Meridian Star writes: The national spotlight will once again be on Meridian today as Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain speaks in Meridian at the MSU-Riley Center. The speech will begin at 8:45 a.m., with doors opening an hour earlier. The event, which is open to the public, will take place in the historic theater, and "spill over" seating will be made available in the exhibit hall, where the speech will be broadcast live on two large screens. McCain arrived in Meridian Sunday to take in the "Wings Over Meridian" air show, appearing at Naval Air Station Meridian's McCain Field, which is named after the Senator's grandfather. CNN and other networks began broadcasting from downtown Meridian on Sunday in anticipation of McCain's visit. The CBS Early Show anchor is scheduled to be at the Riley Center between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. to cover the event, which is part of a 6 city "biographical" tour for McCain, who lived in Lauderdale County for about 3 years in the 1960 when he was a flight instructor at NAS-Meridian. (Read the Full Story Here)

Sunday night, McCain joined thousands at the air show in Meridian. (Video at WTOK; Video at WLBT)

The Star also shared recollections from Morele Rosenfeld of Meridian who knew Senator McCain when he was stationed at NAS Meridian.

"The John McCain that you know on television is not the John McCain that I knew," said Rosenfeld. "In his earlier life he was quite a party boy." The term party boy can bring up some rather un-dignified imagery, but McCain was a party boy in the sense that he was fun-loving and outgoing, Rosenfeld said, "He was handsome. He was fun. He was, he never met a stranger in his whole life ... He can be extremely dignified, but he's fun loving."

McCain has deep roots in Mississippi with several generations born in Carroll County on land that had been in his family since 1848. The last McCain to live on the property was John McCain's grandfather's brother, Joe McCain. "As a young boy I spent a couple summers in Mississippi visiting my Uncle Joe," McCain said. "My father’s naval career required us to move frequently, but here I could imagine what it must have been like for the McCains who came before me to be so connected to one place.”

Meridian Naval Air Station named McCain Air Field for John McCain's grandfather, John Sidney "Slew" McCain. John McCain's great-grandfather was Carroll County Sheriff and his brother, Henry Pinkney McCain, was a major general in the U.S. Army. He organized the draft for World War I. Camp McCain in Grenada is named for him.

One of Rosenfeld's favorite memories of McCain when he was in Meridian is when he commentated for fashion shows put on by wive's clubs at the Navy base. "He didn't know much about style and fashion, but he could sell more merchandise than I could if I stood on my head. And I'm a pretty good salesperson." Rosenfeld and her husband, Lewis, were the only civilians in a military supper club that included McCain and his then wife, Carol. She says that McCain's visit to Meridian "brings back the very good times all of us had together." At the time, Rosenfeld had a young daughter, Karen, who, being excited to know a person who had some celebrity status because of his time as a Prisoner of War, collected newspaper clippings and other memorabilia of McCain.

Rosenfeld said many of McCain's friends thought he would never get married, so much so that his wife kept their wedding pictures in the guest bathroom. "She knew that they would eventually wind up in the bathroom, and that was her way of making sure their guests knew that they were married." It was a surprise to many, Rosenfeld said, that McCain became a politician, "everybody thought that he was going to continue in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather, who were both admirals," she said.

But after McCain sustained permanent injuries as a POW in Vietnam, Rosenfeld said, "I think he realized there was no way he was going to make admiral ... But it looks like he's going to do them one better," she cheerfully added, "He's going to be commander in chief." Although Rosenfeld wouldn't have predicted that McCain's career would include anything but military service, she said she wasn't surprised to hear that he had become a U.S. Senator. "John could do anything he set his mind to do, which is evidenced by the fact that he survived what he survived." Rosenfeld said she would not have expected McCain to make a campaign stop in Meridian, but can understand why he would. "His first daughter was born here," she said, and, "Well, let's face it, he had an awfully good time." She also said she doesn't believe McCain has changed as much over the years as he appears to have done on television. "He's military through and through in his training," she said, "He says the right thing at the right time. But I can't imagine that with his close friends he doesn't let his hair down like he used to." (Read the Full Story Here)

After Mississippi, the bio tour heads to Alexandria, Va., in suburban Washington, where McCain will visit his high school. On Wednesday, he heads to Annapolis, Md., where four generations of McCain men attended the Naval Academy: his grandfather, father and son, as well as McCain himself. Then it’s off to Florida, where McCain did his flight training. The tour wraps up in Prescott, Ariz., where one of his heroes, Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, kicked off his 1964 presidential campaign. Along the way, McCain plans to work in plenty of time for fund-raisers — and a side trip to New York to appear on the “Late Show with David Letterman” Tuesday night (WSJ Blog).

McCain's Prepared Remarks In Meridian

2008-03-31T08:54:00.001-07:00

Here are the prepared remarks John McCain made at the MSU Riley Center in Meridian earlier today:

Thank you. It's good to be back in Meridian. As you might know, I was once a flight instructor here at the air field named for my grandfather during my long past and misspent youth. And it's always good to be in Mississippi, which you could call my ancestral home. Generations of McCains were born and raised in Carroll County, on land that had been in our family since 1848. The last McCain to live on the property, which the family called Teoc, was my grandfather's brother, Joe McCain. I spent a couple summers here as a young boy, and enjoyed it immensely. I had never had a permanent address because my father's naval career required us to move frequently. But here, in the care of my very likable Uncle Joe, I could imagine, with a little envy, what it must have been like for the McCains who came before me to be so connected to one place; to be part of a community and a landscape as well as a family.

By all accounts, the McCains of Carroll County were devoted to one another and their traditions; a lively, proud and happy family on the Mississippi Delta. Yet, many McCains left here as young men to pursue careers in what has long been our family's chosen profession -- the United States Armed Forces. My great-grandfather was the sheriff and never left. But his brother, Henry Pinkney McCain, was a major general in the Army, and organized the draft in World War One. Camp McCain in Grenada, Mississippi is named for him. My great uncle, William McCain, was known as "Wild Bill" for his "dynamic" personality -- he was reputed to have ridden his horse onto his future father-in-law's porch to ask him for his daughter's hand. He chased Pancho Villa with General Pershing, was an artillery officer in World War One, and retired a Brigadier General. Both men are buried at Arlington National Cemetery, as are my father and grandfather. We trace my family's martial heritage back to the Revolution. A distant ancestor served on General Washington's staff, and it seems my ancestors fought in most wars in our nation's history. All were soldiers -- both Henry and Bill McCain were West Pointers -- until my grandfather broke family tradition and entered the Naval Academy in 1902. He was succeeded there by my father, then me, and then my son.

As I noted, the naval air field here is named for my grandfather, who had an illustrious career in the Navy, and who remained proud of his Mississippi roots until the end of his life. I have only very early memories of him. I was just nine when he died. But he was an unforgettable man, a lively, colorful, though infrequent, presence in our lives. To spend time in his company was as much fun as a young boy could imagine. He loved his family, and we were spellbound by him. He was a slight man and gaunt, but he filled any room with his deep voice and high spirits. He was devoted to the Navy, but in personal comportment, he was anything but regulation. He was a rumpled, informal man, who wore a crushed cap with the crown removed that the wife of one of his aviators had given him; kept his shoes off when he worked in an office; tobacco leavings were always scattered about him, as he rolled his own with one hand; possessed a mischievous sense of humor, and was unusually close to sailors and junior officers who served under him, and revered him. They called him, "Popeye;" his family called him, "Sid;" and his fellow officers, "Slew," for reasons I never learned

After graduating from the Naval Academy, he sailed around the Philippine Islands on a gunboat captured from the Spanish, the executive officer to the great Chester Nimitz. He returned to the United States on the U.S.S. Connecticut, the flagship of Teddy Roosevelt's Great White Fleet. He served on an armored cruiser in the First World War, escorting wartime convoys across the U-boat infested Atlantic. In 1935, after the Navy ordered that all aircraft carrier skippers must themselves have earned their wings, he trained as a pilot. He was 52 years old at the time, and a Navy Captain. By his own admission, he never learned to fly well. A subordinate recalled later, "the base prayed for his safe return each time he flew." But he managed to earn his wings, and left Pensacola to command the naval air station in the Panama Canal Zone, where I was born.

My father, Jack McCain, was an officer at a submarine base there, one of the few occasions in his adult life when he lived in close proximity to the man he admired above all others. Though they lived far apart for decades, no father and son could have been closer. My father described his father as "a very great leader and people loved him. ... the blood of life flowed through his veins ... a man of great moral and physical courage." He had learned everything about leadership from his father, he said. Both were highly individualistic men with outsize personalities, but were completely dedicated to the United States Navy. Neither ever wanted any other life, and while both were guilty of more than a few regulation infractions, and shared a few vices, they adhered strictly to the code father had taught son: never lie, steal or cheat. Both took a great interest in the views and well-being of the men who served under them. They believed military leaders learned as much from the people they commanded as they taught them. They were demanding, but fair and compassionate commanders. "We are responsible for our men," my father once said, "not the other way around. That's what forges trust and loyalty." They shirked no duty, braved extraordinary dangers, and were exceptional leaders. They were the first father and son to become four star admirals.

My grandfather commanded the fast carrier task force in the Pacific under Admiral Halsey, and devised many of the tactics that were employed by carriers for many years after. He was instrumental in Japan's defeat, and was given a privileged place on the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri to witness the signing of the unconditional surrender that ended the war. My father commanded a submarine in the Pacific during the war, survived several harrowing experiences, and had brought a Japanese submarine into Tokyo Harbor at the time of the surrender ceremony. Both were exhausted at war's end, but happy to have the opportunity for a brief reunion. They met on board a submarine tender, and spent a couple of hours together. My grandfather was worn out and obviously ill. Years later, my father recalled the last words my grandfather had ever spoken to him. "Son, there is no greater thing than to die ... for the country and principles that you believe in." After father and son parted that afternoon, my grandfather began the long trip home to Coronado. Not long after he arrived, at a homecoming party, he turned to my grandmother, and announced he did not feel well. He died a moment later of a heart attack. He had fought his war and died in service to the country he believed in.

My father could not return to the States in time for the funeral. My mother found him waiting for her to return to California from the funeral in Washington, weeping on the airport tarmac. In time, my father, the son of a legendary naval leader, would rise to an even greater command than his father had. During the Vietnam War, he commanded all U.S. forces in the Pacific, at the top of a chain of command that included, near the bottom, his son, a naval aviator on Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf, and later a prisoner of war in Hanoi. My father seldom spoke of my captivity to anyone outside the family, and never in public. He prayed on his knees every night for my safe return. He would spend holidays with the troops in Vietnam, near the DMZ. At the end of his visit, he would walk alone to the base perimeter, and look north toward the city where I was held. Yet, when duty required it, he gave the order for B-52s to bomb Hanoi, in close proximity to my prison.

I have lived a blessed life, and the first of my blessings was the family I was born into. I had not only the example of my distinguished male relations, and their long tradition of military service. I was fortunate to grow up under the influence of strong, capable, accomplished women; first among them, my mother, the formidable Roberta McCain; her identical twin, Rowena; my strict and imposing paternal grandmother, Catherine; and equally impressive maternal grandmother, Myrtle. For much of my childhood, my mother was the parent who raised me, my sister and brother. My father was often at sea, and she bore all the responsibilities of both parents. She moved us from base to base, often driving us across country on her own; managed our household; paid the bills; saw to our education and religious upbringing; and made of our itinerant childhood, an interesting, exciting time, rich with fascinating experiences. She was and is a resilient woman, extroverted, uncomplaining, forthright and determined, who greets every challenge as an opportunity to measure one's strength of character and learn about the wider world beyond our immediate environment.

The family I was born to, and the family I am blessed with now, made me the man I am, and instilled in me a deep and abiding respect for the social institution that wields the greatest influence in the formation of our individual character and the character of our society. I may have been raised in a time when government did not dare to assume the responsibilities of parents. But I am a father in a time when parents worry that threats to their children's well-being are proliferating and undermining the values they have worked to impart to them. That is not to say that government should dictate to parents how to raise their children or assume from parents any part of that most personal and important responsibility. No government is capable of caring for children as attentively and wisely as the mother and father who love them. But government must be attentive to the impact of its policies on families so that it does not through inattention or arrogance make it harder for parents to have the resources to succeed in the greatest work of their lives -- raising their children. And where government has a role to play, in education, in combating the threats to the security and happiness of children from online predators, in helping to make health care affordable and accessible to the least fortunate among us, it must do so urgently, effectively and wisely.

Tax policy must not rob parents of the means to care for their children and provide them the opportunities their parents provided them. Government spending must not be squandered on things we do not need and can't afford, and which don't address a single American's concern for their family's security. Government can't just throw money at public education while reinforcing the failures of many of our schools, but should, through choice and competition, by rewarding good teachers and holding bad teachers accountable, help parents prepare their children for the challenges and opportunities of the global economy. Government must be attentive to the impact on families of parents who have lost jobs in our changing economy that won't come back. Our programs for displaced workers are antiquated, repetitive and ineffective. Many were designed for a time when unemployment was seasonal or a temporary consequence of an economic downturn, not for a time when systemic changes wrought by the growing global economy have, while promising undreamt of opportunities for ourselves and many historically poor societies, have cost too many parents the jobs they had assumed would be theirs for life.

With the loss of work and the resources it provides families, come just as injurious losses to the emotional health of families. Work provides more than an income. It is a source of self-worth, pride and sense of purpose. Children learn as much from observation as instruction. The mother or father who has lost hope along with their job can unintentionally impart that hopelessness to their children. A welfare check can't give a parent a sense of purpose. And among the most important things children can inherit from their parents is a sense of purpose, and an aspiration to be part of something bigger than themselves.

My parents taught me that, and I will always be indebted to them. But like many young people, I didn't understand the lesson very well until later in life when I needed it most. As a boy, my family legacy, as fascinating as it was to me, often felt like an imposition. I knew from a very early age that I was destined for Annapolis and a career in the Navy. In reaction, I often rebelled in small and petty ways to what I perceived as an encroachment on my free will.

I concede that I remember with affection the unruly passions of youth, and how they governed my immature sense of honor and self-respect. As I grew older, and the challenges to my self-respect grew more varied and serious, I was surprised to discover that while my sense of honor had matured, its defense mattered even more to me than it did when it was such a vulnerable thing that any empty challenge threatened it.

Like most people, when I reflect on the adventures and joys of youth, I feel a longing for what is lost and cannot be restored. But though the happy pursuits of the young prove ephemeral, something better can endure, and endure until our last moment of life. And that is the honor we earn and the love we give when we work and sacrifice with others for a cause greater than our self-interest. For me that cause has long been our country. I am a lucky, lucky man to have found it, and am forever grateful to those who showed me the way. What they gave me was much more valuable and lasting than the tribute I once paid to vanity.

I am the son and grandson of admirals. My grandfather was an aviator; my father a submariner. They were my first heroes, and their respect for me has been one of the most lasting ambitions of my life. They gave their lives to their country, and taught me lessons about honor, courage, duty, perseverance and leadership that I didn't fully grasp until later in life, but remembered when I needed them most. I have been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. But I am their son, and they showed me how to love my country, and that has made all the difference for me, my friends, all the difference in the world.

McCain in Jackson

2008-03-31T08:46:00.000-07:00

Senator John McCain is in Jackson today at the University Club downtown raising money for his presidential campaign a $1,000 a plate fundraiser. (Read more about it at WJTV and WAPT)

Character Forged by Family

2008-03-31T08:29:00.000-07:00

The Associated Press in Meridian writes about Senator McCain's stop here in Mississippi.

Republican Sen. John McCain is opening a new chapter in his presidential campaign, casting himself as an "imperfect servant of my country" who was born into a family of American warriors devoted to honor, courage and duty.

"I am the son and grandson of admirals," McCain said in excerpts of a speech prepared for delivery Monday. "They were my first heroes, and their respect for me has been one of the most lasting ambitions of my life. ... They showed me how to love my country, and that has made all the difference for me."

The Arizona senator arranged to speak at Mississippi State University, the first stop on a weeklong tour designed to present him to the public as his party's candidate for the fall campaign.

"No government is capable of caring for children as attentively and wisely as the mother and father who love them. But government must be attentive to the impact of its policies on families so that it does not through inattention or arrogance make it harder for parents to have the resources to succeed in the greatest work of their lives raising their children," he said in the prepared remarks.

"And where government has a role to play, in education, in combating the threats to the security and happiness of children from online predators, in helping to make health care affordable and accessible to the least fortunate among us, it must do so urgently, effectively and wisely." (Read the Full Story Here)

As McCain tours Mississippi (for generations the home of the McCains) to kick-off his "Service to America Tour" he has released this new ad: Character Forged by Family.

McCain in Meridian on Monday

2008-03-25T06:47:00.000-07:00

Senator John McCain will be in Meridian on Monday, March 31. He will speak at the MSU Riley Center at 8:45 a.m. You can RSVP at this page at JohnMcCain.com.

Read the story here from WTOK. An excerpt: Insurance agent Lamar McDonald is assisting with planning for the visit. McDonald said McCain indicated he's looking for some of his roots. He said with McCain's connection to NAS Meridian, there's a strong possibility he will be at the Blue Angels show this weekend. "And I think the people really need to have an opportunity to to see him up close, to see him, to hear him, and shake his hand and see that he's real," said McDonald. "I think it's very important." McCain is a former flight instructor at NAS Meridian and spent several months here in the early 1960s; McCain Field is named for his grandfather, the late Adm. John S. McCain.

McCain - Mississippi's (almost) Native Son

2008-03-13T14:23:00.001-07:00

Vicksburg Post editor Charlie Mitchell writes this week about John McCain's family and professional connection to Mississippi:

What is interesting for Mississippians, however, is that if McCain is somehow elected, he may be the closest thing this state ever has to a native son in the White House.

His grandfather, John Sidney McCain Sr., was born and grew up on a plantation in Carroll County that had been in the McCain family since 1848. The senator's ancestor went by his middle name and was called "Sid." Later generations settled in Arizona, but past and present had military orientations. John Sr. was an admiral in the Pacific Navy, commander of the fast-attack force and one of the faces in that famous photo taken when the Japanese surrendered aboard the USS Missouri. Days later he died at 61. John Jr. was a submariner, also in World War II.

The senator, whose own military history is well-known, arrived when his father was stationed in Panama. (They were officially in the Canal Zone which allows him to pass muster, as the Constitution requires for presidents, of being native born.) In his family memoir, Faith of my Fathers, published in 1999, McCain remembers visiting his grandparents' home, formally dubbed Waverly by his great-grandmother, but known locally as "Teoc," the Choctaw word for tall pines.

It was in defense of that plantation that William Alexander McCain, grandson of the first McCain in America, died while a member of a Mississippi cavalry unit in the Civil War. William Alexander had three sons. The oldest, Joseph Watt McCain, also fought for the Confederacy. The youngest, Henry Pinckney McCain, served in the U.S. Army after the Civil War. The middle son, also a John McCain, was too young for Confederate service, but later became sheriff of Carroll County.

The senator's maternal ancestors also included a bevy of warriors, including brothers John and Thomas Young, Indian fighters in North Carolina. Thomas was scalped and killed. John tracked down the raiding party, killed a bunch of them and returned the scalp to be buried with his brother's body. John Young, as a militia captain, was later tapped to be a staff officer for Gen. George Washington.

Past events aside, it's clear enough that today's incarnation of the McCain-Young genes faces a heck of a battle. The right wing of his own party doesn't even like him.

If he were to prevail, however, this state could claim a connection. From 12 years before the Civil War until 1952 when his last uncle died, McCains were Mississippians. (Read the Full Story Here)

Churchill, T.R., McCain: Man In The Arena

2008-03-07T13:26:00.001-08:00

Man In The Arena

Mississippi lobbyist to run McCain's Hill effort

2008-03-04T06:54:00.000-08:00

Politico writes that Senator McCain is bringing in a native Mississippian to coordinate his congressional team:

John McCain has engaged a leading GOP lobbyist to coordinate his message and travel schedule with congressional Republicans.

John Green, a founding partner of what is now Ogilvy Government Relations, will soon take a leave of absence from that firm to work as a full-time liaison between McCain’s presidential campaign and Republicans in the House and the Senate, according to GOP aides on Capitol Hill and McCain surrogates downtown. Green, a Mississippi native, has strong ties in the Senate after his years of work for former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), a vocal McCain supporter who left Congress late last year to set up his own lobbying shop.

Green is part of a small cadre of lobbyists who have met regularly to help build support for McCain on Capitol Hill. The group, which includes fellow Ogilvy partner Wayne Berman, has been helping the senator secure congressional endorsements in recent weeks to ensure he solidifies his status as the GOP front-runner.

Barbour Endorses McCain

2008-03-04T06:51:00.000-08:00

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has endorsed Senator John McCain for President. Barbour told the Associated Press, "I said at the beginning I wasn't going to endorse anybody, that I could enthusiastically support any of the five. Now, Sen. McCain's won the nomination, and I'm going to support him, do everything I can do to help him. I'm going to encourage Mississippians to vote for him in the Republican primary on March 11."

Minor on McCains

2008-02-14T07:53:00.000-08:00

Bill Minor writes about the McCain family this week.

The possibility now of a John McCain presidency causes me to recall that three generations of John S. McCains, starting with the
grandfather back in World War II, have in different ways crossed my personal life track.

The oldest, Vice-Admiral John S. McCain, was commander of Task Force 38 that my destroyer was part of during the Pacific war. Memorably, in January, 1945, we provided the wizened little admiral "taxi service" at sea from his flagship to meet with Admiral Bull Halsey, the Third Fleet commander, on his flagship.

That meant hauling the admiral aboard by a canvas bag breeches buoy as the two ships rolled and pitched in the angry seas. I recall that when McCain arrived on our forecastle deck, he was swathed in a bulky kapok life jacket that he refused to remove. "Not while I'm on board a destroyer," he growled, remembering that three of our fellow tincans a month earlier went down in a massive typhoon.

To us 20-somethings on the Potter he seemed a tired old man not long for this world. Actually, two days after Japan surrendered, McCain died of a heart attack. Only years later did I learn he was a native of Carrollton, Miss.

The next John S. McCain - John S. II, father of Senator McCain - also had become an admiral, rising to commander of Pacific forces (CINCPac) during the Vietnam War. At the time, his son, Navy Lt. John S. McCain III, was a prisoner-of-war in North Vietnam after being captured when his fighter plane was shot down over Hanoi. Refusing release without his comrades, after 5-1/2 years McCain was freed in late 1973.

In the latter 1970s, Admiral McCain II had an occasion to visit Mississippi and called on Gov. Cliff Finch. Eagerly, Cliff called in the Capitol press corps, giving me a chance to have a pleasant chat with the admiral and share my recollections of having his Dad on board the Potter. (Read the Full Story Here)

Cochran Endorses McCain

2008-02-08T12:14:00.000-08:00

Mississippi's senior Senator, Thad Cochran, has endorsed John McCain for President.

Barbour for VP?

2008-02-08T07:03:00.000-08:00

Chicago Sun Times runs the rumor that leading conservatives will tell McCain that the man to help him become President is Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour:

Sneed hears GOP presidential front-runner John McCain will be advised by senior conservative party leaders this week to choose Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour as his veepmate -- if he wants to win.

• • To wit: Word is the ultraconservative gathering at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) will hit McCain with the ultimatum in Washington, D.C., where the meeting takes place.

• • The reasons: Barbour is more conservative than GOP opponents Mike Huckabee or Mitt Romney, a former RNC national chairman, has strong ties to all national committeemen, governors and Republican leaders, a popular stump speaker, and a big fund-raiser needed for campaign coffers McCain needs filled fast.

Also, here is a campaign to draft Haley Barbour for VP: www.drafthaley.com

McCain claims most money from Miss.

2008-02-06T07:49:00.000-08:00

The Clarion Ledger reports that John McCain has received the most money from Mississippi Republicans:

If campaign donations are any indication of support, Sen. John McCain and former Sen. Fred Thompson are Mississippi's favorite presidential candidates. Mississippians donated nearly $1.2 million to all presidential candidates as of the last filing period, which ended Dec. 31, Federal Election Commission records show. That's a fraction of the $582 million raised nationwide. McCain, an Arizona Republican who was helped by former Sen. Trent Lott, raised the most money in the state, $266,103. Michael Harrell, president of Jackson-based Harrell Contracting, gave the Arizona senator $2,300. "He's just my kind of guy," Harrell said. "I've seen him be strong when he has to be strong and compassionate when he has to be compassionate." Mississippi Republicans changed their rules this year so their 39 delegates will be distributed in a proportional method - unless a candidate wins 51 percent or more of the vote. Then the candidate can claim all of them.

McCain Courts Barbour?

2008-02-01T08:02:00.000-08:00

McCain's Southern Region Co-chairman Senator Lindsey Graham (his other Southern Co-chair is Mississippi's Chip Pickering) is working endorsements for the frontrunner. According to a Washington Post blog, Graham "said he had already called Georgia Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson to see if they were willing to endorse McCain before their state's Feb. 5 primary. 'They'll come as a package,' Graham said, adding he had told Chambliss -- who is up for reelection this year -- that backing McCain would prove to be an asset in the general election even if it would spark some criticism in the primary. Other Republicans on Graham's wish list? Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour."

Pickering: The Watchwords of John McCain

2008-02-01T05:55:00.000-08:00

Chip Pickering writes at The Hill Blog today, "Experience. Competence. Independence. These are the requirements for President. These are the watchwords of John McCain." Pickering makes the case that McCain is the best experienced candidate to lead our nation in matters of foreign policy and homeland security, that he has the proven leadership to make government work effectively, and that McCain has earned the mantle of reform and will bring real change to Washington DC. Read it here.

MS Rep Greg Snowden on McCain

2008-01-30T09:19:00.000-08:00

John McCain. Warrior. Patriot. Senator. President?
(From Greg Snowden's Clarion Ledger Blog)

One biographer quotes a brash John McCain, then a very young Naval flight instructor, as saying that Meridian (my hometown, where McCain was stationed at the time) was "the crummiest place in America." A Bama buddy of mine has observed that McCain must have never seen Auburn.

Meridianites have forgiven McCain this youthful putdown because, really, it had nothing to do with the Queen City, but all to do with McCain himself. Hotshot pilot McCain didn’t like the drudgery of shore duty; he preferred carrier tours, such as those he had then recently completed in the Carribean and in the Mediterranean. Besides, always the impolitic maverick, even then, it is so like McCain to have dissed the very place (McCain Field, NAS Meridian) named in honor of his own grandfather, a Mississippi admiral and World War II hero. The young John S. McCain, III was a man determined to make his own mark in the world.

That he certainly has done. Shot down over North Vietnam in 1967, McCain spent the next five and a half years as a P.O.W. No doubt the "Hanoi Hilton" gave McCain an entirely new perspective on "crummy." The grandson and son of American admirals, McCain was offered an early release, which he refused, insisting instead upon being treated the same as other American prisoners, and disdaining being used as part of any enemy public relations stunt. He finally got home in 1973.

I don’t know John McCain personally, though I have met him twice, once in Meridian campaigning for Trent Lott, and once in New Orleans at the 1988 Republican National Convention. At the Superdome we literally were crushed together for five minutes or so in the close confines of the delegate crowd exiting the arena after an evening session. McCain was warm and engaging, particularly given the uncomfortable physical circumstances, and he took a genuine interest when I mentioned I hailed from Meridian, one of his old "stomping grounds" as it were. I liked him then, and I have liked him ever since.

I haven’t always agreed with Senator McCain’s politics, and have often become chagrined when McCain got crossed on some issue or the other with President Bush, whom I have generally admired and supported. Last summer McCain was a forceful and courageous proponent of the military "surge" strategy in Iraq even when all of the political pundits were saying his support of the war would kill his chances for the Presidency. The evident success of the "surge" has vindicated McCain, and has solidified his bona fides as a statesman who puts principle over politics. I believe Republican primary voters recognize this quality in John McCain and are now rewarding his courage and his sound judgment on the war and matters military.

I am a Fred Thompson man, and I wish Fred were still in the race. But we could certainly do worse than John McCain. As things stand now, in the wake of his Florida primary victory, I believe McCain has an excellent chance of securing the Republican nomination, and a better than even chance of becoming our next President. Only time will tell.

One final thing. McCain will be 72 years old this August. Some people think that is too old for a person to be elected President. I would simply remind the free Americans who hold that opinion that 5 ½ years of McCain’s life were spent on their behalf in a Hanoi prison. As far as I am concerned, McCain deserves at least double-credit for that high sacrifice. So, as I calculate it, McCain is just now turning 61, and has plenty of time yet to serve his country.

Lott to South Carolina for McCain

2007-12-31T06:53:00.000-08:00

Now that Trent Lott has retired from the Senate, he looks to help his friend John McCain out in South Carolina.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Lott said he'll campaign in South Carolina next month for fellow Republican John McCain. Lott has been supporting the Arizona senator's presidential bid for more than a year.

"When I called him to tell him I was going to retire from the Senate, he was not real happy about that," Lott said by phone from his Washington office. "I said, 'Well, John, look at it this way: Now I'm free to campaign for you in South Carolina, where I speak the language."'

The South Carolina Republican primary, on Jan. 19, is among the first in the nation.

The McCain Comeback

2007-09-06T08:59:00.000-07:00

Matthew Continetti writes for the Weekly Standard that after last night's debate, the GOP08 campaign is a new race - the McCain comeback and the Thompson entry: Wednesday night's Fox News Channel debate saw McCain reassert his place in the top tier of Republican contenders. And it was his answers on critical foreign policy questions involving Gen. David Petraeus's "surge" strategy in Iraq, the interrogation techniques deployed on enemy detainees, and the use of military force against Iran that established his strong position. It increasingly seems clear that illegal immigration, the issue which dominated the Republican race throughout the spring and summer, and an issue on which McCain stands directly opposed to many in his party, will not be the issue on which the nomination is decided. To put it another way: Foreign policy has come home to roost.

Fred Barnes, also with the Weekly Standard, agrees: No Presidential nomination or election has ever been won on the basis of a performance in a debate. But candidates can help or hurt themselves. Last night in New Hampshire, John McCain helped himself and Mitt Romney hurt himself. And while Rudy Giuliani was no slouch, he became tedious by droning on about his accomplishments as mayor of New York. The five other Republican presidential candidates didn't matter much. Fred Thompson, who announced his candidacy last night on TV, was a no-show.

McCain was ready and eager to stress his muscular position in favor of the "surge" in Iraq, and he had plenty of opportunity to do so. The key moment came after Romney said the surge was "apparently working," and McCain challenged him. "No, not apparently, it's working," McCain responded sharply....The alacrity with which McCain went after Romney on Iraq reflected the Arizona senator's view that Romney shades or modifies his position on the war, depending on his audience. After the debate, McCain aides accused Romney of having three different positions on Iraq in four days....That Romney may be vulnerable on Iraq--at least McCain thinks so--is new. And McCain is now certain to prolong his quarrel with Romney as he embarks on what his campaign has dubbed the "No Surrender" tour....By the way, a focus group of 29 New Hampshire Republicans conducted during the debate by pollster Frank Luntz found McCain to be the winner. He exceeded the expectations of the group, while Giuliani disappointed them.

For what more people are saying about McCain's debate performance, read here.

John McCain: Courageous Service

2007-08-31T08:10:00.000-07:00

The Comeback Campaign Plan

2007-07-19T13:14:00.001-07:00

Politico.com's Jonathan Martin describes the McCain campaign's comeback plan to win the nomination. The story also provides links to the campaign's talking points on the matter as well as a one-pager comparing this to Reagan's 1980 campaign.

Coburn on McCain's Courage

2007-07-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

Senator Tom Coburn writes this piece in National Review: McCain’s Courage - A rare American politician

As the American people, elected officials, and commentators reflect on the heated immigration debate that came to a temporary close in the Senate this week many will ask, and have asked, why U.S. Senator John McCain (R., Ariz.) staked out a position that may, in retrospect, be seen as devastating to his presidential ambitions. I hope the American people, at least, step back from the obsessive play-by-play pre-season election analysis and reflect on Senator McCain’s actions for what I believe they were: One of the purest examples of political courage seen in Washington in a very, very long time....

I opposed Senator McCain in this immigration debate. I believed the policies he advocated were wrong for America and I used every tool at my disposal to defeat his position. However, the way Senator McCain conducted himself represented the essential qualities of leadership the American people deserve.

Senator McCain didn’t speak in generalities. He spoke in specific terms. He didn’t take a position and change his position when he came under withering fire. He didn’t pander. He didn’t equivocate. He didn’t demean his opponents in the Senate or insinuate we harbored base motives or secret prejudices. He was motivated by principle. He believed he was serving his country. He was not inspired by political strategists who foolishly believed they could use this bill to grow the Republican party, and did not lecture his colleagues about why those strategists were smarter and wiser than 80 percent of Americans....

Whether you agree with him or not, Senator McCain’s actions demonstrated the qualities we rarely see in Washington — courage, character, honor, and dignity.

It saddens me that so many commentators will judge Senator McCain’s actions by how his role in this debate will impact the next poll or fundraising report. Survival is not the highest virtue in politics. Sacrifice is the highest virtue. In battle we don’t ask which soldier was a success — the one who charged the hill and lives a long life or his friend beside him who falls and leaves a widow and children behind. Whether this week helps or hurts Senator McCain politically is not the point. What matters is that without courage, we all lose.

Most politicians possess, in abundance, the skill of making promises that will appeal to a majority of voters. Very few politicians, however, ever demonstrate the kind of political courage Senator McCain demonstrated in this debate. Many qualities, of course, matter when selecting our elected leaders — political philosophy, judgment, specific plans, etc. — but the most important quality upon which all others depend is courage. On that count, Senator McCain has given all of us in the Senate an example to be followed.

Read the full article here.

Primary

2007-06-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

Bobby Harrison writes about McCain's recent visit but laments that Mississippi is "likely to play only minor role in nominations"

Thursday Fundraiser

2007-06-01T07:53:00.001-07:00

The Associated Press and WLBT covered McCain's fundraiser in Jackson last night.

McCain in Jackson

2007-05-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

Senator John McCain will be in Jackson today for a pair of fundraisers. At 5PM he will be a the Country Club of Jackson for a $500 a person event, to be followed by an event at 6PM at the home of Jim and Donna Barksdale at $2300 a person. Jim Barksdale is McCain's Mississippi Finance Chairman and between the events and donor commitments the campaign expects to raise over $200,000. McCain 08's Mississippi Chairman and Southern Regional Co-Chairman Congressman Chip Pickering will accompany Senator McCain.

Tonight's Debate

2007-05-15T06:12:00.000-07:00

During tonight's GOP Presidential debate in South Carolina, Senator JOhn McCain will be the only top-tier candidate with a strong and consistent record as an anti-pork barrel spending, pro-gun, pro-life Republican. McCain is the only Republican candidate with the experience to lead and the conservative record to trust.

Chip Pickering shared the qualifications of Senator McCain with folks in South Carolina this morning on WLMA 1350-AM, Greenwood S.C. He will be in S.C. during and after the debate meeting with voters and those in the press in support of McCain08.

McCain Up In Early Polls

2007-05-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

New poll numbers from the American Research Group have John McCain leading in the three early primary states. Senator McCain is up by 7% over Giuliani in Iowa, 5% over Romney in New Hampshire, and 13% over Giuliani in South Carolina.

Boston Herald: GOP hopeful McCain surges in early-primary states

Pickering on MSNBC

2007-04-24T06:27:00.000-07:00

Congressman Chip Pickering will appear on MSNBC's Tucker with Tucker Carlson tomorrow (Wed 4/25) at 3:11pm (central time) to discuss John McCain's Presidential announcement.

Fundraising and Jim Barksdale

2007-04-24T06:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday's (4/22) Clarion Ledger reported that John McCain had raised more money from Mississippi than any other Republican candidate for President, although he trailed Democratic candidate John Edwards. McCain raised $43,625 from Mississippi during the first three months of this year.

Congressman Chip Pickering and Senator Trent Lott will be hosting a fundraiser for McCain in May, along with McCain's Mississippi Finance Chairman Jim Barksdale. They hope to raise $200,000.

Pickering: McCain and the Enduring Judiciary

2007-04-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

Congressman Chip Pickering writes in "McCain and the Enduring Judiciary" at Townhall.com that as President, John McCain has both the conservative ideology to pick solid judicial nominees and the politics of results to see those nominees confirmed by the Senate. Pickering frames the column in context of the Supreme Court's ruling upholding the national federal ban on partial birth abortion. Read it here.

Partial Birth Abortion Ban

2007-04-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

"Cherish The Sanctity Of Life:"
Statement By Senator McCain

ARLINGTON, VA - U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today released the following statement: "Today's Supreme Court ruling is a victory for those who cherish the sanctity of life and integrity of the judiciary. The ruling ensures that an unacceptable and unjustifiable practice will not be carried out on our innocent children. It also clearly speaks to the importance of nominating and confirming strict constructionist judges who interpret the law as it is written, and do not usurp the authority of Congress and state legislatures. As we move forward, it is critically important that our party continues to stand on the side of life."

04.25.07 - Coming Soon

2007-04-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

Watch the new McCain announcement teaser video here.