Clarion-Ledger Poll Echoes Zata 3 Data: The "Anyone But Melton" Choices are Crisler and Harvey Johnson

There has been no small controversy about the "ZataPulse" polls on the Jackson mayoral race. Various blog posts (from mostly anonymous sources) claimed that the methodology employed by Zata 3 President Brad Chism rendered the results inaccurate and misleading.

Today, Chism's critics may be silenced. The Clarion-Ledger published the results of a poll conducted by the Southern Research Group. According to today's C-L story, the results are:

Crisler was the favorite of 15.5 percent of voters, while Johnson was the choice of 14.4 percent. Incumbent Mayor Frank Melton checked in with 11 percent and state Sen. John Horhn followed with 7 percent.

Former Jackson Police Chief Robert Johnson and Hinds County Tax Collector Eddie Fair rounded out the measurable end of the poll, with 3.4 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively. All other candidates came in with less than 1 percent.

As my post of April 28 disclosed, the ZataPulse results for April 24 were: Harvey Johnson 27%, Crisler 26%, Melton 19%, Horhn 11%, Fair 3%, Other Candidates 7%, Undecided 7%

The numbers are different, but the basic gist is the same: Former Mayor Johnson and Councilman Crisler have a decided edge in keeping incumbent Mayor Melton out of the second promary. Horhn and Robert Johnson sympathizers need to re-think their position -- taking votes away from Crisler or Harvey Johnson may have the result of allowing Melton to catch up with one of them. And in a second primary, anything can happen.

No Excuse for This Nonsense, Rep. Evans

In a post today on Y'all Politics, Alan Lange calls our attention to, and condemns, this print screed by Rep. Jim Evans regarding the upcoming Mayor's race:

Crisler and Horhn too costly for mayor

By Representative Jim Evans
April 30, 2009
Jackson Advocate

The Capitol Street Gang has decided who their new slaves will be for the May 5th Democratic primary. This gang, consisting of control-minded thugs like Leland Speed and Billy Mounger, as well as Dixie-rats (sic) like Kane Ditto and William Winter, have lined up behind the Minstrel Man, John Horhn, and that cartoon cop, better known as Marshand Crisler. The Capitol Street gang has invested over $600,000 in these two slaves to carry out the mission of turning the city over to them. . . . .

This low-down bunch of robber barrons [sic] and white supremacists cannot be given the keys to City Hall ever again. . . . .

The only thing standing in their way is a strong black person in the mayor’s office. A free person, a person that doesn’t act like a cuffe or a coon in front of the self-proclaimed elite. In order for Jackson to move ahead, we have to be in charge, not black folks that act as gatekeepers or yes-men to this evil power structure.

My two cents: I'm not sure which is worse: the racist diatribe against Sen. Horhn and Councilman Crisler, or the delusional notion that Kane Ditto or William Winter were or are "Dixie-rats" or "white supremacists." Note that this is a written, published piece that took time, effort and thought (if one can call it that), not a slip of the tongue at some heated campaign event or at a bar. Malice aforethought is presumed.

Make no mistake about it: this hit piece is part of a concerted strategy by the incumbent Mayor (Rep. Evans' wife is City Attorney) to blame Mayor Melton's problems on "The Man" and to suggest that the leading new faces for the job are "The Man's men." I have argued before that the Department of Justice's push to re-try Melton is fodder for this plan.

There is one way to repudiate this trash, and that's to throw the incumbent out.

May Day Immigration Rallies in the South

From Facing South, the blog of the Institute of Southern Studies, a post by Desiree Evans on the burgeoning immigrant rights movement:

This year's May Day immigration demonstrations come with a renewed sense of hope. In April the Obama administration announced plans to tackle comprehensive immigration reform this year. Obama plans to speak publicly on the issue this month.

Spirited by Obama's pledge, labor and immigrant rights advocates are gathering in cities across the South and throughout the country this May 1 to urge President Barack Obama to stay true to his promises of immigration and labor rights reform this year.

May Day, a day historically used to celebrate the the contributions of working people around the globe, has become an important movement-building day for immigrant rights activists over the past couple of years in the United States. Over 1.5 million people took to the streets throughout the country (and across the South) on May Day 2006, culminating in the largest immigrant rights protest in U.S. history.

Since then the May Day immigration rallies have become an annual event for groups seeking a fairer U.S. immigration policy. This year's May Day marches will echo Obama's call for a humane immigration reform this year, underscore the importance of immigrants to the economy, and challenge the failure of Bush-era enforcement-only policies that have led to violations of civil, labor, and human rights.

A New Day for Immigration?

The Obama administration favors legislation that would legalize immigrants but recognize that they previously violated the law, imposing fines and other penalties to fit the offense. . . . This policy is also expected to shift the focus from isolated sweeps targeting illegal immigrants to punishing the business owners who employ them.

Although White House aides have said that Obama wants to concentrate on the economic crisis first, they point out that immigration reform is a vital part of economic recovery.

"Our top priority in Congress is to get this economy back on track. We are working hard to make progress there, and more will be done," a Democratic leadership aide told the Christian Science Monitor last month. "A key component of economic recovery is restoring fairness in our labor markets, and immigration reform is part of that effort."

Immigrant groups plan to hold Obama accountable. Of all ethnic groups, Latinos represented the greatest shift in favor of Obama during the 2008 elections, supporting him in record numbers. Nationally, 9 percent of the electorate identified as Hispanic in exit polls, and 67% of those voters chose Obama.

While some immigrant rights advocates had hoped to see reform legislation introduced within the first 100 days of the new administration, many are pleased that Obama plans to address the issue later this year.

More than anything, immigrant rights advocates see this as a crucial moment for their movement. Advocacy groups argue that immigration reform is a necessary component of any plan to lift wages, increase revenue, and create a level playing field for workers during this time of economic recession. Immigrant groups are also hoping that the administration will prioritize a moratorium on mass raids and detentions, two issues that have gotten much attention in the media in the past few years due to egregious human rights violations.

Nationally, the activism of immigrants has given bite to this oft-forgotten May Day holiday in the United States.

As David Bacon writes at Huffington Post:

[Immigrant] marches have already rescued from obscurity our own holiday, which began in the struggle for the eight-hour day in Chicago over a century ago. Today they are giving May Day a new meaning, putting forward ideas that will not only benefit immigrant communities, but all working families.

So from Miami to Immokalee to Atlanta to Louisville to San Antonio, Southern labor rights and immigrant rights activists will gather to celebrate International Worker's Day with a nation-wide called for immigration reform today. Where will you be?

For more information or to find a march and rally near you visit:

http://www.southernstudies.org/mt-static/html/www.anewdayforimmigration.org

You Crossed The Line, Kingfish

Ok, I know conservatives hate "political correctness" and all that, but it's over the line to refer to Italians as "dagos" as was done in today's Jackson Jambalaya post (which you can find here )

And it doesn't help that you claimed in a later post that "Some of my best friends are Italians. In fact, some of the best sex I've had has been with female Italians."

It just makes you sound like an ignorant cracker. Or a peckerwood. Take your pick.

Senator Cochran Lauds Nomination of Gov. Mabus for Navy Secretary

The on-line version of the Mississippi Business Journal (which you can find here ) reports this morning that, in hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Thad Cochran has given a ringing endorsement for former Governor Ray Mabus to serve as Secretary of the Navy:

Cochran: Mabus 'excellent choice'
April 29, 2009

WASHINGTON — The Senate Armed Services Committee has begun the confirmation hearings of former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus as secretary of the navy. Mabus was introduced by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.)

Cochran said, "This distinguished nominee has had a career of public service in our state that is quite impressive. After graduating summa cum laude from Ole Miss in 1969 and completing a Woodrow Wilson fellowship at The Johns Hopkins University in 1970, he served two years as a naval surface warfare officer onboard the USS Little Rock.

"After completing his active duty naval service, he attended Harvard Law School and graduated magna cum laude in 1976. He served as a law clerk to Judge J.P. Coleman on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and he also worked as legal counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee.

"He returned to Mississippi to work in Gov. Winter's office and was elected Mississippi state auditor in 1983, where he served with distinction. Four years later he was elected governor of our state. He led a period of record economic development, streamlined the state government and improved Mississippi's public schools.

"Ambassador Mabus was appointed by President Clinton to be United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia in 1994. He served there for two years before returning to the private sector, where he served on several corporate boards of international businesses and is a member of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy and the Council on Foreign Relations.

"I know that Ambassador Mabus will bring to this job the same high level of energy and skill that has been the hallmark of his career throughout the many responsibilities of public service that he has held. His academic credentials, his record of distinguished service to the State of Mississippi and to our country has been exemplary. His integrity and judgment will also serve him well and he will certainly prove to be, in my opinion, an excellent choice to be secretary of the United States Navy. I commend President Obama for nominating him, and I look forward to working with him in this new capacity."

Specter Defection Refects Seismic Shift in US Politics

AP, CNN and the Washington Post are all reporting the head-spinning news that Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter will switch from the Republican to the Democratic Party.

Conservatives, of course, will note that the pro-choice Specter has voted for years with the Democrats on social issues. I would agree.

But what strikes me as most important about this news is what it portends for the 2010 elections and the future of American politics. Quite obviously, Senator Specter does not want to run for re-election in the swing state of Pennsylvania as a Republican -- even though in an off-year election, the President's party usually loses Congressional seats.

In 1968, the election of Richard Nixon started a forty-year era of Republican dominance in American politics. Could it be that the 2008 election of Barack Obama has done the same for the Democrats?

Resurrection of the Tobacco Tax?

Clarion-Ledger reporter Natalie Chandler (you can find her blog here) reports that the Mississippi House and Senate conferees are close to a deal to raise the State tobacco tax:

Posted 4/28/2009 10:14 AM CDT on clarionledger.com

House and Senate negotiators will meet at 1:30 p.m. to solidify an apparent agreement on the amount of the increase. Speculation is that the agreement will raise the current 18-cent per pack tax to 68 cents per pack. That would be a compromise between the 75 cents the House has proposed and the Senate's 64-cent proposal.

More later.

Now's the time to contact your legislator to express support for an increase in the tax -- to fund Medicaid and to impose an additional economic barrier to the purchase of this disease-causing product. It's not enough, but it's a start.

You can find your State Representative here

And your State Senator here

So what are you waiting for?