Mississippi Senate: Musgrove's Ad

Ronnie Musgrove, the Democrat running for the Senate seat from Mississippi, released this phenomenal ad.



This race is competitive and a win by Musgrove is entirely within the realm of possibilities.

The race is for the seat occupied by former Sen. Trent Lott, who resigned from the Senate to pursue a lobbying career. There was controversy over the way in which Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) interpreted the laws around special elections. Instead of holding a special election 90 days after Lott’s resignation, Barbour appointed Republican Congressman Roger Wicker to the seat as an interim Senator.

The election for the seat would now be held in November of 2008 along with the Presidential elections. Barbour’s move meant that Wicker has time to build name recognition and some of the advantages of incumbency. It also meant that the election would coincide with the Presidential elections, where the reliably red Mississippi voters would vote for Wicker over his Democratic opponent.

Even best laid plans can go awry.

Mississippi laws governing special elections state that the party affiliation of the candidate does not appear on the ballot. So, Musgrove will not be identified as a Democrat on the ballot, a fact that helps avoid some of the straight-ticket voting.

Musgrove, as a former governor, enjoys greater statewide name recognition than Wicker, who represented one of the four Congressional districts in the state.

Barbour also did not anticipate Obama ending up with the Democratic nomination. African Americans form approximately 36% of the population in Mississippi, greater than any other state in the country, and they are expected to show up in record numbers.

Travis Childer’s win in the special election in MS-01 (for the seat vacated by Roger Wicker) is also a good sign for the Democrats. Here's a description of that race from the LA Times.

In Mississippi, the Republican Party sought to link Childers to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The party had tried a similar strategy against the Democrat in Louisiana.

At a rally Monday for Davis in Southaven, Miss., Vice President Dick Cheney also tried to nationalize the race.

“These are decisive times for America,” Cheney said. “And whether the issue is the economy, or energy, or national security, the right answers are coming from Republicans – not from Nancy Pelosi, or [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid, or the rest of the Democratic leadership in Washington.”

Both parties invested more money in this race than in any other special election this year. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent $1.8 million, and the National Republican Congressional Committee spent $1.3 million.

The Mississippi seat had been in GOP hands since 1994.

The latest controversy emerged when Barbour steamrolled through with a plan to place the race at the bottom of the ballot, after all the local races! By hiding the race at the bottom of the ballot, the idea is to discourage people from voting for the race. Read some of the local coverage of this decision here. The plan was challenged by the Democrats and the challenge was upheld by a lower court. The final decision now rests with the State Supreme Court, which is packed with Barbour allies.

Here’s to hoping that Barbour’s best laid plans are foiled by the Mississippi voters.