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Magnolia Political Report #70
May 18, 2006
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 G.V.
‘Sonny’ Montgomery represented the state of Mississippi in
the U.S. House of Representatives for three decades and was renown as
a supporter of the armed forces and its veterans. Rep. Montgomery
passed away at 85 years of age in Meridian, his hometown. Heartfelt
responses have been given that cross party lines.
Senator Trent Lott said that Montgomery “provided steady leadership,
homespun wisdom and sure statesmanship up to his last day.” He called
him “an inspiration not just to other public servants, but to everyone
he came across.”
Representative Gene Taylor echoed Lott’s sentiments when he called
Montgomery “one of the finest gentlemen ever to serve Mississippi,
a true statesman who never lost sight of the importance of serving one's
Nation” as well as saying that he was “[n]ot only… an
exceptional mentor, he was a very close friend. And I was proud
that he called me a friend.”
Thousands turned out in Meridian for Montgomery’s funeral on May
16th, including a who’s who of Mississippi politics, congressmen,
former generals and former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara. The former first lady spoke at the funeral, noting that President
Bush, 41, didn’t think he could get through a speech of his own
because Montgomery was his “closest friend in Congress and in life.” Bush and Montgomery entered Congress together in 1966 and had remained
close friends since.
Montgomery’s lasting legacy will be the Montgomery GI Bill, landmark
legislation that has had a profound impact on the nation’s military
readiness and veterans. He also leaves a lasting mark on the state
of Mississippi. Among many other things, Columbus Air Force Base
and Meridian Naval Air Station, both situated in Montgomery’s old
Third Congressional District, missed out on two rounds of BRAC thanks
largely to the work of Montgomery.
The veteran congressman was a rare Mississippi political figure who cut
across party lines. He was beloved by Democrats, Republicans and
independents alike. Though Montgomery was a Democrat, Republicans
probably outnumbered Democrats at his funeral. Governor Haley Barbour,
who is no shrinking violet when it comes to partisanship, noted that if
"Sonny ran in his district and only the Republican county chairman
were allowed to vote, Sonny would still win."
On Saturday, April 29, 2006, thousands
of homes were visited by dozens of Democratic activists across Mississippi
who were participating in the Democratic National Committee’s "Vision"
Canvass. This was the first statewide coordinated effort by the
Field Staff of the Mississippi Democratic Party since the inception of
the Precinct Captain Program. The goal for the day was for canvassers
to talk with 25 of their neighbors about the Democratic Party and its
vision.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean has come in for some criticism lately for focusing
on heavily GOP states like Mississippi. The DNC, which has struggled
with fundraising under Dean, is funding several staff positions the Mississippi
Democratic Party, including that of Communications Director Sam Hall and
at least two field reps.
Democratic strategist Paula Begala is one of the bluntest in questioning
Dean’s spending priorities on things like the Vision Canvass in
Mississippi. On May 11th on CNN, Begala stated that candidates and campaign
managers are “really angry” with Dean. He also noted
Dean has only raised $74 million as chairman and has spent $64 million. Begala mused, "What he has spent it on, apparently, is just
hiring a bunch of staff people to wander around Utah and Mississippi and
pick their nose. That's not how you build a party. You win elections.
That's how you build a party."
Ronnie Musgrove or Terry Burton
for lieutenant governor? Amy Tuck for Auditor, Secretary of State,
Speaker via the House District 35 seat or Pro Tem by way of Senate District
20? The political rumor mill is working overtime now that the legislative
session is done. Some of it is good intelligence and some of it is down
right fantasy. Whichever it is, it's all fun.
Former Governor Ronnie Musgrove's name has circulated for a year or so
as a potential candidate for lite guv. In the last few weeks, however,
speculators speculate that Musgrove has gotten hot and heavy in his pursuit
or the penultimate job in state government -- the job he won in 1995 that
catapulted him to the big prize in 1999. The knock on Musgrove among
Dems and Republicans we've talked to is that he'll have a hard time raising
money. Plaintiff attorneys, who are the major financers of statewide
Democratic hopefuls, aren't eager to put their eggs back in that basket. Without their money, he'll have a much steeper hill to climb. Don't
count him out though. Musgrove won a lot of votes in 2003, and he
still has a lot of name ID and pockets of loyalty in the Democratic party.
State Senator Terry Burton's (R-Newton) name has also popped up a lot
in the past few weeks when idle talk turns to the lieutenant governor's
race. Burton would be an interesting entry into a field that so
far includes State Auditor Phil Bryant and State Senator Charlie Ross. Burton is very close to Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck but has also worked well
with Governor Barbour on some of Barbour's biggest initiatives. He's
a former radio personality who has some rural appeal, but we're not sure
where he'd raise the money he needs to be competitive with Ross and Bryant,
both of whom have enjoyed a huge head start on fundraising.
Where to start with Amy Tuck? For some reason more rumors circulate
about her than everyone else in state government combined. A few
weeks ago the hot rumor was that she is running for the House from her
old hometown of Maben. Somebody worked overtime on this one. As
the story went, she could become Speaker if elected to the House and not
have to worry about the dreaded term limits that will keep her from seeking
another term as lieutenant governor. Even several current House
members seemed to bite on the rumor. One big problem. Tuck
is registered to vote in Ridgeland, where she has lived for the past several
years. To run for the House, you've got to live in the district
for the immediate two years prior to the election. We suppose she
could run from Ridgeland, but the rumor mill was so certain she was eyeing
the Maben seat that we'll chalk this one up to over imagination.
A similar rumor has Tuck running for the Senate seat that is being vacated
by Charlie Ross. For months people have speculated about what Tuck
will do when qualifying deadline rolls around next March 1st. Auditor
and Secretary of States are both old standbys. This one is new and
makes more sense than the House rumor -- though not much more. Under
this scenario, Tuck would get herself elected to the Senate where she'd
magically be elevated to Pro Tem. Since the Senators make the rules,
the Pro Tem job could be a great one if she could convince a majority
of Senators to invest most of the chamber's power in the office. It's
still a far-fetched scenario, but we certainly encourage the rumor mill
to keep trying.
Anybody who keeps up with Mississippi
politics has heard of, if not browsed, the Mississippi Official and
Statistical Register, more commonly referred to as the “Blue
Book.” The book, which has been published every four years
since the turn of the 20th century, is the ultimate government fact book
for the state.
To date, the only major revision in the way the Mississippi Official
and Statistical Register is published took place in 1931 when the
Mississippi Department of Archives and History, who had been publishing
the book for the first thirty years of its existence, turned the responsibility
over to the Secretary of State’s office. It was then that
the term “Blue Book” was born. Now, the next major revamp
of the 2004-2008 edition of the Blue Book is in the works.
Nothing in Mississippi was left untouched by Hurricane
Katrina, and the Blue Book is no exception. As a result, the Secretary
of State’s office has decided not only to provide an adhesive page
of revisions that sticks easily onto the Blue Book’s back cover,
but also to post governmental updates on the Secretary of State’s
website as they take place. Also, keep an eye out for an interactive electronic
version of the Blue Book, available on CD-ROM and on the Secretary of
State’s website. This interactive version will include a virtual
tour of the State Capitol and will be the first electronic guide of its
kind in the nation.
Click Here to test your knowledge of Mississippi
politics for a chance to win a Magnolia Report baseball cap. The winner
will be drawn at random from those correctly answering all 8 questions.
Please be sure to fill out the form so we know how to contact you if you
are the lucky winner.
Burns Strider of Washington, D.C. is the winner of a
Magnolia Report baseball cap for this round of questions. If you have
any suggestions for trivia questions e-mail them to scoop@magnoliareport.com.
On September 15 of last year, Mississippi
Attorney General Jim Hood filed a lawsuit against five major insurance
companies because they refused to pay $2 to $4 billion worth of claims
resulting from Katrina damage on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Lately
the lawsuit itself, though, is not what is gathering the most attention. During a speech in Jackson, Hood described insurance companies as
being “in lockstep like Nazis locking arms, coming at those people
down there on the coast." The statement elicited a loud response
from the insurance industry.
Marc Racicot, president of the American Insurance Association, led the
charge against Hood’s comment. “Comparing the insurance
response to this unprecedented natural disaster to the Holocaust is appalling,”
Racicot said. He went on to say that Hood’s remark was “stunningly
careless and inappropriate.”
AG Hood stood by his comments. "I did not equate the insurance
companies with Nazis,” Hood said in his defense, “I said that
they took their marching orders in lockstep like Nazis. I am not
going to get into a war of words. If they are so confident in their
policies, why don't they quit with the delay tactics and meet me in court?”
State Senator Robert “Bunky” Huggins, one
of the most beloved figures in the Senate, lost his battle with cancer
on May 10th at the age of 67. Huggins was best known as a champion of
correctional and health care policies in the state. He was serving as
the chairman of the Senate Corrections Committee at the time of his death
and had previously served as the Chairman of the Appropriations and Public
Health Committees.
Huggins is survived by his wife Gerry and two children.
The bipartisan Senate Homeland
Security and Government Affairs Committee, headed by Susan Collins, R-Maine,
recently published a report entitled “Hurricane Katrina: a Nation
Still Unprepared.” In the report, the committee calls for
abolishing the Federal Emergency Management Agency and replacing it with
a “beefed up” agency. Their advice is being met head
on by the White House and is getting a mixed reaction from lawmakers and
experts.
The new agency, which would be called the National Preparedness and Response
Authority would consist of, among other things, a leader answerable directly
to the President and 5 rapid deployment “strike teams” designed
to handle local and state wide disasters.
Proponents of the report claim that FEMA’s problems, of which 85
were cited specifically in the report itself, show that FEMA is beyond
repair. The only solution, they claim, would be to completely dismantle,
reorganize and rebuild the agency.
Many opponents say such a radical overhaul is impractical. They
contend there is no way the government could pull off such a large restructuring
in time for hurricane season – which starts June 1st. These critics
point to the last major restructuring of the federal bureaucracy which
took place in 2002 when the Department of Homeland Security was created. It took over a year.
More importantly, many believe that even if the change could take place
before the start of the hurricane season, it would make no difference. The reality is the new organization would be filled with the same
people who held positions in FEMA, and the people, not the structure,
make or break an organization. Congressman Kevin Brady, R- TX, whose
district was hit by Hurricane Rita, agrees. "Congress can reorganize
FEMA every month for all I care. But until we fund it right, run it right,
and lead it right, it's going to keep making the same mistakes."
Trent Lott, on the other hand, is still mulling it over.
He says, “I think the idea of starting over is at least worth considering.”
Ironically enough, the most outdated aspect of FEMA may be one of its
newest changes – it was put under the Department of Homeland Security
in 2002. A lot has changed since 2002, and taking FEMA back outside
the Department of Homeland Security would not only free up its budget,
but would also ensure that it was led by someone with disaster experience.
Secretary of State Eric Clark has released the list of
candidates who filed qualifying papers and are eligible to run for the
judicial elections slated for November 7. If no candidate wins a
majority in the regular election, a runoff will take place on November
21. In the State of Mississippi, judicial candidates run without
party affiliation.
The most hotly contested race this year will be for the District 4 Court
of Appeals judgeship being vacated by Judge Leslie Southwick who is retiring. Seven candidates have lined-up to fill Judge Southwick’s seat
on the bench: Chancery Judge Larry Buffington of Collins, Chancery Judge
Edward E. Patten of Hazlehurst, State Rep. Virginia Carlton of Columbia,
Bryant Chaffin, Pat J. McNamara, Jr., Scott Phillips and Richard Grindstaff.
The District 4 Appeals Court is comprised of parts of Hinds and Jones
counties and all of Copiah, Simpson, Adams, Franklin, Lincoln, Lawrence,
Jefferson Davis, Covington, Wilkinson, Amite, Pike, Walthall and Marion
counties.
Click here for a
complete list of all Appeals, Chancery, and Circuit Court races.
After being acquitted on tax evasion charges, Mississippi
Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz has been cleared to return to the bench
after two years of legal battles with federal prosecutors.
In 2003, Diaz was federally indicted in a highly publicized bribery case
in which he allegedly took bribes from several prominent Gulfport lawyers
in return for favorable verdicts. Über-plaintiffs’ attorney
Paul Minor headlined the list. While Diaz was acquitted of all charges,
the lawyers who supposedly bribed Diaz await retrial after their original
juries hung on a verdict. Because of his supposed infraction, a 7 member
tribunal decided to suspend Diaz indefinitely with pay in December of
2003.
Following his acquittal on the original charges, Diaz and his wife Jennifer
were indicted for tax evasion. According to federal prosecutors, the couple
underreported their taxes by more than $25,000 in 1999, and they were
said to have disguised over $42,000 as “loan payments” since
then. After being acquitted of the tax evasion charges, Diaz was cleared
by a special tribunal on May 11th to return to the state’s highest
court.
Jennifer Diaz pled guilty to the tax evasion charges and awaits sentencing.
Sources familiar with the case speculate that Jennifer pled guilty to
take the heat off of her husband. They support their theory by pointing
to the fact that the couple had gotten divorced at the height of the investigation
but had gotten back together by the time Jennifer’s testimony was
needed to convict Diaz. Without her testimony, federal prosecutors had
a weak case at best against Diaz.
Though Diaz has weathered the most serious charges against him, he still
faces possible sanctions from the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance.
Nevertheless, the Commission is very unlikely to remove Diaz from the
bench, which means he’ll be able to through 2009 when his term expires.
South Mississippi voters will decide in November of 2008 if he will remain
on the bench after then.
Senator Joseph Biden, D-Delaware,
paid a visit to Jackson to talk with approximately 100 Mississippi College
Law students at the beginning of this month. While in Jackson, the
Democratic presidential hopeful for 2008 gave an interview to the Jackson
Free Press. All quotes can be attributed to that interview.
Though he has a special history with the state of Mississippi as he was
befriended by Mississippi Senators John Stennis and James O. Eastland,
many consider a visit to Mississippi by an out-of-state Democrat hoping
to win a nation wide election to be an exercise in futility. But
Biden came to Mississippi with high hopes. “I’m out
to prove to myself and to prove to my party that we can come to Mississippi,”
he said, “and we can get 45 to 48 percent of the vote. Maybe even
win it if things are as bad as these guys are doing it now. You follow
me? If you can’t do that, how the hell do you govern?”
His theory that the Democrats can win in the South means more to Biden
than just getting 51% of the vote in Mississippi. According to him,
it is about achieving policy objectives. He told a JFP reporter,
“I can’t govern as president if I win unless I can compete
in a dozen so-called red states. I’m not saying I can win
Mississippi, but I’ve got to be able to do well in Mississippi.
How do you govern when the whole middle of this country’s red, and
you lose it 70-30? Everything I care about from a national energy
policy, energy independence, to making sure that every kid in America
can go to college, to national health care, they all require consensus.
Not one of them lends itself to a 51-percent solution.”
State Supreme Court Justice Mike
Randolph is recovering from triple bypass heart surgery. Randolph
was appointed by Governor Haley Barbour to fill the vacancy of Chief Justice
Ed Pittman when Pittman retired in 2004. He won a full-term on the
court in his own right in November of that year. According to Randolph,
his recovery is going well and he expects to be back on the bench within
a matter of weeks.
Haley Barbour's official
website has been recently revamped. Though no major functional changes
were made, the new site is more user friendly, aesthetically appealing
and includes many new enhanced features.
 Bill
Bowlin, a native of Hickory Flat in north central Mississippi, has filed
to run for the United States Senate in the June Democratic primary against
State Rep. Erik Flemming. The winner has the honor of facing veteran
Senator Trent Lott in November. Bowlin has launched a web site and
is promoting it via banners on the web sites of several papers around
the state. Visit www.billbowlin.com
for more information on how Bowlin plans to dispatch Flemming and Lott.
Which
of the candidates for the top two House Republican caucus positions is
most effective? (3/6)
Danny Guice
25.97%
Herb Frierson
24.24%
Jim Simpson
20.20%
Mark Formby
14.00%
Phillip Gunn
11.54%
John Moore
4.04%
What
do you think is Steve Holland’s motive with his abortion bill?
(3/20)
Sabotage and politics
54.51%
He wants to take
the political issue off the table
19.29%
He’s trying
to sabotage the cause
9.64%
None of the above
9.64%
He’s really trying to end
abortion
6.92%
Where
will Amy Tuck go at the end of her term? (3/27)
Private Sector
32.89%
Other
27.15%
Secretary of State
17.97%
Auditor
15.49%
Teacher
6.50%
Who
is going to win the 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary?
(4/3)
Chuck Espy
72.13%
Bennie Thompson
27.87%
Should
legislative sessions be web cast? (4/10)
Yes
83.49%
No
8.56%
I Don’t Care 7.95%
Will
Billy McCoy be re-elected as speaker? (4/17)
No
58.72%
Yes
32.57%
I Don’t Care
8.72%
Are
you concerned about illegal immigrants in Mississippi? (4/24)
Yes
72.25%
No
23.30%
I Don’t Care 4.25%
Should
Oliver Diaz retake his seat on the state Supreme Court? (5/1)
Yes
54.03%
No
39.22%
I Don’t Care
6.75%
Karen Ray joined
the Bush Administration in February, 2005, and has since been working
in the Office of Secretary Elaine Chao at the Department of Labor. Recently,
she took a new appointment at the Department of Homeland Security as the
Confidential Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Immigration and
Customs Enforcement. She will transition to DHS in the coming months.
Ray is a May, 2004, graduate of Mississippi College and worked on the
Bush/Cheney ’04 campaign as the Central Arkansas Field Director
from May-November, 2004. After the campaign was over, she moved
to D.C. and worked as the Administration Liaison to the Executive Offices
of the 2005 Presidential Inaugural Committee.
Dr. Jason Dean, Educational Policy Advisor to Governor
Haley Barbour, was named as a finalist for a White House Fellowship.
Mark and
Rhonda Keenum welcomed daughter Victoria Newman Keenum into
the world on May 10th at Georgetown University Hospital. She weighed
6lbs. 11oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. Welcoming her home were
her 20-month old triplet siblings: Katie, Rett, and Mary Phillips. Both
mother and baby are doing very well. Mark is Senator Thad Cochran's Chief
of Staff and Rhonda is the Director of the Office of Public Liaison at
The White House.
"I've talked to a large majority
of the House membership about our future, I have the stated support of
the majority and more than that." – Speaker of the House Billy
McCoy
"I don't know what pork is." – Speaker Billy
McCoy
(while pointing at the Civil War Interpretive Center in Corinth)
"There's more discontent in the House than I've ever seen."
– Rep. Jim Simpson, R- Gulfport
"(Democrat National Chairman Howard Dean's) in trouble in that campaign
managers, candidates, are really angry with him. [Dean] has raised $74
million and spent $64 million. [Dean] says it's a long-term strategy.
But what [Dean] has spent it on, apparently, is just hiring a bunch of
staff people to wander around Utah and Mississippi and pick their nose.
That's not how you build a party. You win elections. That's how you build
a party." – Democratic strategist Paul
Begala on DNC Chair Howard Dean's spending
“I guess the only people who can have it both ways are the people
who crafted this bill and the actors in Brokeback Mountain .” –
State Senator Merle Flowers to the Associated Press about
a politically bruising tax battle in Mississippi.
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