I'm Roger Wicker, and I Approved This Message

Just got sent this by a reader. Roger Wicker's running ads decrying Ronnie Musgrove's supposed "embarrassing ethical conduct." But when called to account for these charges by a local TV station, Roger Wicker showed that he's an empty suit, whose campaign is being run outside of his own jurisdiction. He didn't even know what his own ad was talking about. If you're going to make allegations like that, you should at least know what in the world it is you're implying. And be prepared to account for it, since the ad carries your statement of approval.

Check it out:

I'd say many more such "truth tests" are in order.

NPR on Neshoba, Musgrove v. Wicker

Interesting Mississippi-focused segment on NPR's Morning Edition today. Reporter Debbie Elliot takes a look at Mississippi politics, and the Musgrove-Wicker senate race particularly, from the historic Neshoba County Fair:

Longtime Republican Senate leader Trent Lott won re-election in landslides, but now that land is sliding. His once comfy seat in Mississippi is up for grabs. Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, appointed after Lott retired last year, faces former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove in what pundits are calling the Deep South contest of the year.

And that has brought the candidates to the summer political tradition of the year — the Neshoba County Fair. It's a 10-day tent revival meeting in the red clay hills near Philadelphia in east Mississippi — except that the tents are two- and three-story cabins, 600 of them, lined up beyond the carnival rides and cow barns.

Elliot finds that Wicker is (shocker, I know) sticking to the same strategy that failed the GOP back in May's MS-01 Special election, trying to tie the local Democratic candidate to the national party, counting on the same liberal bogeyman to rally Mississippi Republicans. Well, it didn't work then, and it's not certain it will work now. But that doesn't mean Roger won't give it the good old college try:

"When you're at the Neshoba County Fair, you know you're in the heart and soul of Mississippi," says Wicker, 57, a lawyer, long-time congressman and former state senator. He's on a stage in the fair's pavilion, where hundreds of people have crowded onto rustic wooden pews.Wicker has a receptive audience in this nearly all-white, rural crowd. A few folks in the front rows have made signs juxtaposing Democrat Ronnie Musgrove with a few national Democrats who are not so popular here: Hillary Clinton, Al Gore and Barack Obama. Wicker also makes the link.

"My opponent is the Democratic national nominee for U.S. senator," Wicker says. "Barack Obama is certainly supporting Ronnie Musgrove. He's raising money for him, working for him and wants Ronnie elected."

Remember that in Sid Salter's dispatch from Neshoba we learned that the "rustic wooden pews" were stacked with bussed in Wicker supporters, to "create an image pervasive widespread support" (which, it should be noted, Wicker does not have). So take his showing at the - admittedly and historically very conservative-friendly Neshoba County Fair - with at least a grain of salt. Likewise with Musgrove's positioning at the Fair:

Musgrove, a 52-year-old lawyer, does benefit from Obama's popularity among African-Americans in Mississippi. And blacks make up more than one-third of the electorate. But that's not something Musgrove touts to the crowd in Neshoba County, where the thing to advertise is conservative credentials.

"Make no mistake about it," Musgrove tells the crowd. "I'm a Mississippi Democrat, pro life and pro gun." It's the same strategy Democrat Travis Childers used to win Wicker's north Mississippi House seat earlier this year. That victory has political observers wondering if the Republican hold on the Deep South is slipping.

Elliot touches on history, too, via Salter, again:

"1980 was the watershed," says Sid Salter, a columnist with the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson. "When Reagan Republican politics came to Mississippi, it had ripples that carried on. I think now the pendulum may be swinging back."

Salter says Mississippi Republicans like Trent Lott found success using Reagan's formula: looking back to better times and emphasizing issues of faith and family values. "The challenge for Roger Wicker right now is that when people go through the checkout line or the gas station, they're not feeling warm and fuzzy."

No, they are most certainly not feeling warm and fuzzy. they're under pressure, and in many cases, rural Mississippians are hurting disproportionately more from the price of gas and other economic burdens.

This thing is a toss-up right now, despite the Mississippi and national GOP coming in strong for Wicker, despite his fundraising advantage, and despite the historically safe-Republican nature of the seat. That ought to tell you something.

In any case, the audio of the segment is longer and more detailed than NPR's print version, and I encourage you to give it a listen. And let me say once again how refreshing it is to see national eyes turned toward Mississippi politics. After years of being ignored by the media, surrendered by the Democrats, and taken for granted by the Republicans it's nice to see our state making political news.

Wicker's in a Dogfight, Pure and Simple

Not sure how I missed this the other day, but Sid Salter of the Clarion-Ledger had a dispatch from the Neshoba County Fair, comparing and contrasting the two candidates for Trent Lott's old Senate seat. It doesn't sound so great for Roger Wicker, despite his seeming advantages:

In Wicker, the Republicans have a candidate who isn't particularly comfortable in the role of candidate.

Even with a packed house under the Founder's Square pavilion with most of the seats taken by people bused in for the purpose of providing a pro-Wicker background, Wicker isn't the most charismatic candidate....

...Wicker had a larger professional and volunteer campaign staff on the grounds at the Neshoba County Fair than did Musgrove and obviously invested more time, more money and more man hours into creating an image of pervasive, widespread support. Wicker signs by far outnumbered Musgrove signs on the cabins and there were more Wicker T-shirts on more Wicker bodies.

But Wicker simply didn't generate the excitement that Republican lead dogs like the late Kirk Fordice or Gov. Haley Barbour generate here.

Even outnumbered and facing hecklers, Musgrove stood in there pitching and stayed on message. He even turned the old Ronald Reagan ("Are you better off than you were four years ago?") question around on Wicker and did so with success.

Musgrove is a better retail politician than is Wicker. That's not a knock on Wicker, it's simply a fact. Musgrove is a people person. Wicker is more reserved.

What Wicker lacks that has benefited Republicans over the last 20 years is the sense of inevitability that he will win.

Wicker is in a dogfight, pure and simple, with Musgrove. Democrats in general in Mississippi and Musgrove's camp in particular, believe that he not only has a chance to win the race but an excellent chance. Republicans, in contrast, for the first time in years have some doubt.

Musgrove Comments on Wicker's Vote Against the Troops

Just received this via email from the Musgrove campaign. Seems that not only was Wicker busy voting against the interests of the military in favor of holding out for the oil companies, but he chickened out of a scheduled debate with Ronnie Musgrove at the Neshoba County Fair in order to do so:

Roger Wicker cancelled a scheduled debate at the Neshoba County Fair in order to hurry back to Washington so he could vote on important issues.

One of the votes he cast last night blocked a bill that included pay raises for troops and improvements for health care for troops and their families.

“Our military has done everything we’ve asked of them. (said Musgrove) Service men and women have put country before family and they have sacrificed to defend our freedom. It is outrageous that Roger Wicker would vote against pay raises and health care for our troops and their families.”

“This is a clear of example of the broken system in Washington that needs to be changed. Rather than looking out for the people’s interests Roger Wicker is knee deep in partisan politics and Washington gridlock.”

The bill Wicker voted to block was the Defense Authorization bill, which sets out Defense Department policy guidance and authorizes weapons systems. This bill includes a pay raise for troops, improvements in health care for troops and their families, including a rejection of a proposed fee increase by President Bush, and an authorization for $3 billion to defeat IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the past month Roger Wicker has voted against Mississippi doctors, seniors and military families when he blocked a bill to prevent cuts to Medicare, he voted against Mississippians struggling to pay at the pump when he protected Wall Street speculators who profit off high gas prices, and now he has voted against the men and women who serve out country in the military.

Musgrove doesn't note this in the release, but it should be remembered that the GOP is blocking the troop's funding as part of its efforts to pass legislation beneficial to the oil industry. It's a matter of priorities, I guess.

Senate Republicans Block Funding for Troops

As part of their pledge to hold their breath until they turn blue on behalf of the oil companies (who have thrown their considerable financial weight, yet again, to the GOP precisely for service like this), Senate Republicans have voted down a troop funding bill which would have helped military personnel in a number of ways:

Democratic leadership, initially furious over the obstructionism, is now calling their bluff. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last night introduced a Department of Defense Authorization bill that would, among other things, include a 3.9 percent across-the-board pay raise for military personnel; major funding increases for research into traumatic brain injury treatment and troop suicide prevention efforts; $26 billion for the Defense Health Program, and $500 million for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.

Harry Reid's statement on the vote:

Washington, DC-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement today after Senate Republicans blocked the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009:

"As has been their hallmark this Congress, Bush-McCain Republicans have once again run away from an important debate, failing to back up their words with action. Despite their strong rhetoric on supporting our troops, they have refused to give them a well-deserved pay raise, denied our troops mine-resistant vehicles to keep them safe and said no to ensuring our servicemen and -women get the health care they need.

"It is this kind of misplaced priorities that is making America less secure. Our military readiness is down, Afghanistan is slipping further into violence, Pakistan remains in crisis, and Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri are still on the loose nearly seven years after 9/11. The Iraq war is not only costly, but President Bush and John McCain have provided no plan for responsibly ending the war and returning to the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban.

"Republicans' rejection of this vital bill is indefensible. It shows a lack of support for our troops and underscores how desperately America needs more Senators committed to change."

It's absolutely reprehensible that the Senate GOP would hold this funding hostage for political reasons, simply to aid their oily benefactors. Reprehensible, but not surprising, unfortunately.

And also falling into the unsurprising column, our own unfortunate voice in the Senate (for the time being) Roger "Lockstep" Wicker, voted with his party and against the interests of the troops while dutifully representing those of the oil companies. So did Thad Cochran. Exactly what we can expect from Senators who place Party über alles.

New MS Poll: Musgrove vs. Wicker Neck and Neck, and Obama Rising

A brand spanking new Research 2000 Poll is out, commissioned by Daily Kos on the state of the Mississippi Senate and Presidential races. And what's it find? Well, there's a statistical tie between Musgrove and Wicker, and Obama's numbers are ticking up (and these numbers include 15% of African-American voters as undecided). Numbers in parenthesis are from a 5/22 poll conducted by the same outfit:

Wicker (R) 45 (46)

Musgrove (D) 44 (42)

Looks like float within the MoE. This one is tight. Note, there was a methodological difference in this poll from the last -- we omitted the party ID of the candidates since the ballot will omit them. Ultimately, it seemed to make little difference.

And check out the presidential:

McCain (R) 51 (54)

Obama (D) 42 (39)

Obama is getting 19 percent of the white vote in this poll, just shy of the 20 percent DavidNYC identified as key for winning the state. The second part of that equation is to boost African American turnout in the state to 40 percent of the total vote. In this poll, African Americans represent 37 percent of the vote. The undecided African American vote -- 15 percent (!) -- will come down for Obama. Now it's a question of turning them out in historic numbers.

Full cross-tabs of the poll are available at the link above if you're interested, and y'know, while you're at it, I'd recommend y'all go ahead read the diary linked in Kos' comments as well. Things are still very much up in the air in the Magnolia state, in terms of both the Senate and Presidential races.

They Keep Popping Up

Ben Ginsberg is the Wicker for Senate lawyer? This Ben Ginsberg? Jeez Louise. Talk about low friends in high places. And talk about hypocrisy. He's launching an attack about coordinated communications? Please.

Musgrove to FEC: Wicker's Breaking Campaign Finance Law

Clarion-Ledger's reporting that Ronnie Musgrove has filed a complaint with the FEC, saying Roger Wicker has been breaking federal campaign financing laws by accepting contributions that are in excess of the federally allowed limits.

Medicare Bill Passes, Wicker Loses

Hopefully the start of a trend for old Rog.

Vote came in at 68-30, a veto-proof majority, with 18 Republicans and two Independents joining 49 Democrats to shoot down the 10.6 percent pay cut for doctors treating Medicare patients.

Given the utter disappointment with the FISA vote earlier in the day, and Senator Kennedy's return to the senate floor for the vote, this was heartening

Wicker, true to form, voted against the doctors and for the insurance companies. We know where his loyalties lay, and now so does every doctor in the state.

Wicker Specific Medicare Radio Ad

Just landed in my inbox from Americans United for Change, and wanted to share:

UPDATE: Well, it doesn't seem to be working on my end. I wonder if their servers are just clogged, or if they or I janked the player code somehow. In any case, I'll try again later, and the main difference between this ad and the one I posted yesterday is that it targets Wicker specifically.

UPDATE II: I've heard from reliable sources that you, dear reader, should be able to play the file just fine. So it's just some issue with the squirrels on my end. Enjoy the ad, visit the link, and send it on to everyone who may be out of earshot of either a radio, or the reach of the ad buy.

More Medicare Blowback on Wicker

From Politico's The Crypt blog:

Leading up to this week’s revote on a cut in reimbursements to Medicare doctors, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) will be feeling some additional heat. A liberal organization, Americans United for Change, is up in their respective states with ads hitting them for their no votes.

“He could have voted to block the slush fund of tax dollars flowing to private insurance companies -- overpayments that will cost taxpayers $150 billion over the next decade,” intones the ad. “Instead, Sen. McConnell sided with President Bush and big insurance companies who want to keep raking in giant subsidies.”

Jeremy Funk of AUC says that the ad will be up on the top four to five radio stations in the four markets that cover their states, at a total cost of just under $20,000 – not much in the grand scheme, but that buys a lot of one-day radio air time.

Once again, having trouble finding the Wicker specific ad (but Mississippians: should you hear it, let me know. If you can capture it, all the better), but again by way of politico, here's the Mitch McConnell version:




Again, let me know if you hear this on the air, and when, and where.

Local Coverage on Neck and Neck Musgrove-Wicker Race

From WLBT Channel 3 in Jackson:

One thing I'd like to mention. When Wicker says that Clinton vetoed drilling in ANWR in 1995, saying it wouldn't have had an effect for ten years, he's right.

But the sad truth then, as now, is that the effect that it would have had, even had we started way back then, would have been minuscule in relation to our oil consumption and done little to nothing to alleviate today's energy crisis. To say nothing of the effect of energy futures traders, which is in no small part a contributing factor to why oil is priced so high today (in addition to the hard work done by the Bush administration).

To which I'll only add, that anyone, in 2008, who is looking to more oil - from any damn where - as any kind of "solution" to our long term energy dilemma is caught irrevocably in the past and simply doesn't understand where the world is today, nor where it's going from here.

LA Times Looks at Mississippi Senate Race

This morning, the LA Times looks at the dire forecast for Republican Senate chances, with an eye toward the Musgrove-Wicker race:

Mississippi, one of the nation's most conservative states, has not elected a Democratic senator in a quarter-century. It has voted for Republican presidential candidates in the last seven elections.

But this year, there is a real chance that the state will send a Democrat to the Senate.....

..."If you have an R in front of your name, you better run scared," said Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who says the party will do well if it holds its losses to three or four seats.

The Mississippi race between Democratic former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and Republican Sen. Roger Wicker distills the wide range of factors that have put congressional Republicans in their weakest position since the Watergate scandal of the 1970s.

The overall political climate, shaped by the sluggish economy and President Bush's low approval ratings, is souring many voters on Republicans. The party has been hobbled by a stampede of retirements by senior Republicans, including Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott. After Lott quit in 2007, Wicker was appointed to replace him.

Barack Obama's presidential campaign has generated a big boost in Democratic voter registration, especially among African Americans, who make up more than a third of Mississippi's population...

...Mississippi has emerged as an unexpected battleground largely because Lott, a powerful and well-established Republican, quit the Senate to become a lobbyist. Wicker, who had been a House member, was appointed to replace him, but he has not established himself firmly enough statewide to assure easy reelection.

Musgrove, his Democratic opponent, is a well-known former governor and is expected to benefit from the Obama campaign's efforts to register new voters, including African Americans.

Could be a very rewarding Fall indeed.

Twisted Loyalties

Seems as though Senators Wicker and Cochran (along with 8 other lockstep Republicans) have found themselves on the wrong side of a Medicare issue, siding (as per usual) with the president and the insurance industry over patients and doctors. Shocking, I know.

The American Medical Association is taking action, running ads, calling out these senators by name. From CQ Politics, a little background:

The American Medical Association, the influential trade association for doctors, began running television ads Tuesday targeting 10 Republican senators who voted last week against a bill that would reverse a scheduled cut in Medicare’s physician payments.

The AMA’s advertisements, which call out the 10 senators by name, are part of a campaign by Democrats, seniors and doctors’ groups to pressure Republicans to change their votes on the bill (HR 6331), which failed in the Senate last week by a single vote.

Democratic Senate candidates in the states where the AMA is running ads are trying to make an issue out of the vote in their campaigns, and Republicans find themselves on the defensive, trying to explain their votes to angry doctors and worried seniors.

The bill would halt a scheduled 10.6 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements to physicians, giving doctors a small increase instead. It was opposed by some Republicans — and President Bush — because the bill would pay for the increase by trimming costs in the Medicare Advantage program, in which private insurers provide benefits for seniors in place of the government...

...In the AMA ads, a narrator charges: “A group of U.S. senators voted to protect the powerful insurance companies at the expense of Medicare patients’ access to doctors.”

The ads name GOP Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas; John E. Sununu of New Hampshire; John Barrasso and Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming; Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee; Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran of Mississippi; and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Alexander, Cornyn, Sununu, Barrasso, Enzi, Cochran and Wicker all face elections this year. Sununu and Wicker are seen by Democrats as particularly vulnerable.

An AMA spokeswoman would not say what the association is paying to run the ads, but called the buy “significant.”

Many of the AMA’s targets are facing heat from their election opponents, as well. In Texas, the Texas Medical Association revoked its endorsement of Cornyn’s re-election because of his vote on the bill. His opponent, state Rep. Rick Noriega, is promising “to make health care accessible and affordable every day as the next U.S. Senator from Texas,” said his spokeswoman, Holly Shulman.

In Mississippi, Wicker’s opponent, former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, “is talking about [the Medicare vote] at all of his stops and all his events,” said his spokesman, Adam Bozzi.

“We have heard tremendous feedback from both doctors and regular people – families and seniors – but especially doctors, who are just outraged at this vote,” Bozzi said.

Can't find either the Wicker or Cochran specific ads online yet (but if it comes across the airwaves this evening, I'll TiVo and upload it for y'all), but here is the stock ad geared toward John Sununu:

This particular version of the ad closes with an appeal for viewers to contact Sununu and tell him to "make patients a priority" and support HR 6331. Great idea, and I'd highly encourage all y'all in the Magnolia state to call our Senators (for the time being anyway) and urge them to do the same.

Thad Cochran:
(202) 224-5054
Web Contact Form

Roger Wicker:
(202) 224-6253
Web Contact Form


Light 'em up, and tell them that the time to be beholden to the insurance companies is passed, and it's about the American people now.

More on Wicker

Further evidencing the fact that so-called "pro-life" conservatives would more accurately be labeled "pro-birth" comes this study in contradiction from soon-to-be former Senator Roger Wicker. It boggles the mind (this one, at least) how his brain - and others like it ­- ­­ doesn't simply explode from the opposing forces of his "convictions." Never mind how his conscience doesn't leave him crumbling and weeping on the bathroom floor.

Spurred on by the CM posts listed earlier, I started poking around at OnTheIssues, a great resource for finding out where politicians stand...well...on the issues, as evidenced by their votes and actions, rather than their campaign rhetoric. Anyway, lo and behold, the first thing about Wicker that jumps out at me was that he "Voted YES on defining unborn child as eligible for SCHIP. (Mar 2008)."

Not all that surprising for a man who just introduced the Life at Conception Act into the Senate, which would effectively repeal Roe v. Wade at the congressional level. Wicker's facing a potential defeat this November, and by introducing this piece of legislation (which has no chance of passage), he's going to the old Republican well, looking for red meat to toss into the pit.

The strategy is a simple one: divide the electorate along something, anything, other than their own best interests. After all, if the people vote on kitchen table, pocketbook and real-world impact issues, the Republicans lose. Hugely. And they know it. So they move to divide and conquer by the slimmest majority. Of course, that won't work this year, but they really have nothing else to run on.

So anyway, after seeing this, I thought well, at least he's voting to expand SCHIP, right? I mean, who could be against providing healthcare to some 6.6 million children who would otherwise not be able to afford it? And surely, if he's looking to expand the program to cover the unborn in addition to the many living, breathing children who need to see doctors in the here and now, he understands the importance of funding that vision. Right?

Wrong. While Wicker is more than happy to expand the program to include some untold number of unborn children (within the same funding), when presented with the opportunity to add an additional 2 to 4 million children to the program - children who need healthcare this very day - he voted no. In lockstep with his party and his president and against the interests of his constituents (see yesterday's post on Mississippi's #1 ranking in underweight babies and impoverished children).

So yes, expand the program to cover the unborn, but no, don't let it cover the living.

Again, that's not pro-life, just pro-birth.

A couple of other choice findings:

• Voted NO on regulating the subprime mortgage industry. (Nov 2007)
  
  
• Voted YES on restricting bankruptcy rules. (Jan 2004)
  
  
• Voted NO on additional $10.2B for federal education & HHS projects. (Nov 2007)
  
  
• Voted NO on investing in homegrown biofuel. (Aug 2007)
  
  
• Voted NO on raising CAFE standards; incentives for alternative fuels. (Aug 2001)
  
  
• Voted NO on increasing AMTRAK funding by adding $214M to $900M. (Jun 2006)
  
  
• Voted YES on allowing electronic surveillance without a warrant. (Sep 2006)
  
  
• Voted NO on restricting employer interference in union organizing. (Mar 2007)
  
  
• Voted NO on increasing minimum wage to $7.25. (Jan 2007)
  
  
• Voted NO on increasing tax rate for people earning over $1 million. (Mar 2008)
  
  
• Voted NO on establishing "network neutrality" (non-tiered Internet). (Jun 2006)
  
  
• Voted YES on declaring Iraq part of War on Terror with no exit date. (Jun 2006)

Get to Know Roger Wicker

The boys over at Cotton Mouth have been doing a really good job compiling the facts about Roger Wicker and his voting record. Suffice it to say that he's hardly been working for the people of Mississippi. In any case, rather than duplicate all the info here, let me provide you with a menu of the posts over at CM.

So, let's see....Roger "Lockstep" Wicker.....

• Opposed Federal Relief Dollars For Levees and Coastal Restoration


• Voted Against Loans To Help Katrina Victims Help Themselves


• Voted Against Providing Shelter To People Left Homeless By Hurricanes


• Reneges on Debate with Ronnie Musgrove


• Only Started Supporting The Multi-Perils Bill Once He Realized He Needed The Coast


• Opposed Accountability After Hurricane Katrina Decimated Mississippi's Gulf Coast


• Voted 'No' On Possible Solutions To Gas And Energy Prices


• Picked Inaction Over Protecting Mississippi Consumers


• and finally, his record on free trade

Good reading and valuable information to have and share. Wicker is wrong for Mississippi, wrong for America and only right for his corporate donors and the GOP who rest assured in the knowledge that he will never vote to benefit his constituents, only according to party line.

Roger Wicker: Pay to Play

By way of the good folks at Cotton Mouth comes word of an article in the Commercial Appeal this weekend, examing the "circular money flow" between Roger Wicker's campaign contributors, Mr. Lockstep, and the ultimate recipients of his pork barrel earmarks:

For Wicker, fostering relationships with companies that benefit from his earmarks has paid off well. From the $159 million in earmarks Wicker delivered for companies, local governments and other organizations this fiscal year, $113,950 in campaign contributions can be directly traced to those earmark recipients, according to a review of federal records by The Commercial Appeal.

Steve Ellis, vice president of the independent watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, describes that circular money flow as "pay-to-play."

"These people are giving money with a purpose in mind," Ellis said. "This is not because, hey, Joe Blow is a nice guy. This is an investment."

Investment, quid pro quo, politics for sale....any number of descriptors come to mind.

And everybody (in Wicker's inner circle) seems to get a piece:

For fiscal year 2008, Wicker sponsored 42 earmarks totaling $159 million, ranking him among the House's top spenders...

...In addition, one of the lobbying firms Radiance hired to represent its interest was Legislative Initiatives, a one-man outfit run by Brad Ayers, Wicker's former legislative aide. Ayers received $180,000 for representing Radiance in 2007....

..."Obviously we don't forget their names in a year," he (Wicker)said. "They're people we've known for a long time, and we've built an acquaintanceship for sure. ... Clearly, when a member is discussing an issue with someone he knows personally, I'm sure it's an advantage."

It's an advantage Wicker granted twice last year.

Among the other beneficiaries of his 2008 earmarks was Aurora Flight Sciences, a Manassas, Va.-based company represented by lobbyist John Keast.

After 11 years of working for the Mississippi congressman, Keast resigned in 2006 and accepted a position with Cornerstone Government Affairs, which Aurora paid $120,000 in 2007 as Keast's one-year ban on lobbying Wicker expired.

While being lobbied by Keast, who did not return calls seeking comment, Wicker sponsored an earmark that awarded Aurora $6 million to produce unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones, at its recently opened facility in Columbus, Miss.

Theirs was a burgeoning relationship, campaign finance records show. From 2005 to 2007, Aurora's employees and members of its lobbying firm contributed $24,150 to Wicker's campaign. In fact, Wicker was even a guest aboard Aurora's private jet on a flight from Virginia to Starkville, Miss., in 2005 -- a gift that would now be improper under House and Senate rules.

Back to Mississippi

Things are looking good for former governor Ronnie Musgrove in his race to take Trent Lott's old seat down here. For the last couple of weeks we've seen a variety of polls; one, an internal poll for the Dems showed Ronnie up 8 points, but a little later a Kos sponsored poll showed him down, but within 4 points.

Today, a new poll out from Rasmussen has the race essentially tied, with Musgrove up by one.

Mississippi’s appointed U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R) finds himself in a very tight election battle to win the job on his own. University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato has noted that this will be a “real political battle” which is “a rarity in a state that’s usually red as red can be.”

The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the race finds a pure toss-up--former Governor Ronnie Musgrove (D) attracts 47% of the vote while Wicker earns 46%.

Musgrove leads by ten points among women but trails by eight among men. The Democratic challenger leads among voters under 50 while the GOP incumbent leads among those who have passed the half-century mark. Musgrove is supported by 81% of Democrats, Wicker by 76% of Republicans, and Wicker holds a very modest 44% to 40% lead among the
state’s unaffiliated voters.

That a Democrat is even running neck and neck with Haley Barbour's handpicked successor to Lott - in Mississippi - is pretty inspiring. That the news comes on the heels of Travis Childers win a few weeks back makes it even more so. If, as we can expect, having Obama at the top of the ticket results in a historically high African-American turnout, Musgrove's advantage increases significantly.

Yes, all the usual caveats apply: Musgrove's lead is well within the margin of error, polls this far out can be misleading, and anything can happen between now and the election, but even so, that we're this close is really wonderful news.

Of course, Ronnie's going to need as much help as he can get, and Wicker is out raising him by a wide margin at this point. So, if you can and want to help us continue the Democratic reclamation of the Great State of Mississippi, head on over to Musgrove's ActBlue page and drop some coin in the bucket. Every little bit helps.

Time for Change

Offered from the NE MS Daily Journal without comment:

Cheney said Davis, who faces Democrat Travis Childers in today's voting, would support President Bush on his policies in Iraq and would vote to maintain Republican tax cuts....

...Politics is a team sport, "and we need a congressman in the 1st District who will vote like Thad and Roger, not against them," Barbour noted. He was referring to Republican Sens. Cochran and Wicker. "We also need him on the same team with John McCain," the presumptive GOP presidential nominee from Arizona.

Um. Yeah. That's what America wants. More Republican policies to laissez le bon temps roulet.

Because, as we all know, the temps have been so doggone bon lately. Four more years of the brilliant bush policies, driven by McCain and supported with unwavering, unquestioning, lockstep precision by people like Davis.



Yeah.

Okay. So I lied. The preceding was offered with just a tiny comment....

New Column

For those of y'all who might be interested, I've got a column in the newest Jackson Free Press. I'll also be posting it to my archive site sometime in the next day or so. It deals with some disconcerting thoughts that came to mind while I was at the Mississippi Rising hurricane Katrina benefit concert at the beginning of this month.

Celebrities stood at the microphone, pouring accolades like anointing oil over the heads of the politicians in attendance. All but one of the Republicans representing the state in Washington sat front row beside and behind Griffith’s old buddy and business partner.

Democratic Reps. Bennie Thompson and Gene Taylor (both somewhat critical of the federal response to Katrina, it should be noted) were nowhere to be found. Odd, that. Amidst standing ovations, a gigantic Mississippi outline filled with a waving American flag, photo montages, star-power, and tales of Barbour’s strength and surety, a sickening feeling set in. Something distinctly manufactured was occurring, something to which I’d unwittingly become party.

It was even more acutely clear watching the rebroadcast than it had been in person. At a certain point in the evening, the mammoth screens that had been in synch with the broadcast for the first part of the show stopped showing the “TV view.” We would no longer see what America saw.

Frequent camera cutaway close-ups of Barbour, Trent Lott, Roger Wicker and Chip Pickering inter-cut with audience members’ glowing adoration cemented the effect. This was a massive GOP photo-op, something only slightly short of a rally. There was a reason it was held in Oxford; Republicans were all but guaranteed a friendly, receptive audience there. An enthusiastic crowd was crucial for success. We were coaxed thusly before airtime.

Rogers has been regularly seeding reporters with speculation of a Barbour presidential run for the last year or so. In recent weeks, Griffith crowed over Haley’s power and influence in Washington equaling Mississippi’s good fortune in Katrina’s wake. Peggy Noonan showers him with praise. All around, the familiar grind of the myth-making machine.