2011 Rumor Mill

Here's what I'm hearing is happening out there:

• Sen. Billy Hewes has ordered signs that read "Lt. Gov. Hewes."  Folks think that's a bit presumptuous.
• Stacy Pickering and Tate Reeves will round out the Lt. Gov. field on the GOP side
• Most elected Democrats are staying put and running for reelection, in contrast to the fratricide about to occur on the GOP side
• Tate Reeves should raise a ton of money at an upcoming Jackson fundraiser, to be held at Bravo! tomorrow night
• The turnout at Phil Bryant's Thursday night fundraiser at the Jackson Country Club was sparse, and there could be a surprising reason for that...
• That surprising reason is Delbert Hosemann's announcing he'll run for Governor this coming Thursday.

Kay Cobb on her ties to CCC

In a post below, I pondered the connection, if any, between former Justice Kay Cobb and the racist organization Council of Conservative Citizens.  A comment from "Reasonably Prudent Person" encouraged me to call her and ask her about her ties to CCC, so I did. 

She said that she did, in fact, attend a CCC rally in north Mississippi back in 2000 as part of her campaign.  She stated that she had a policy of speaking to any group that invited her, regardless of what views the group itself may hold.  That, she says, is the extent of her dealings with the CCC.

As I expressed to her in the phone conversation, she certainly was not alone in attending CCC events in the past.  It has been standard operating procedure for many white Mississippi politicians, both Republican and Democrat, to attend Blackhawk and other CCC rallies.  (Although, to be fair, it's been mostly Republicans since the 80's.)  The uniform response of these politicians is what former Justice Cobb maintained: I don't agree with them, but I'm not going to shun them. 

Well, Mississippi politicos, it's 2010, not 1864.  Appealing to the racist vote was a damned good way to win office in Mississippi in the past.  That's no longer the case, and it's time we moved on.  It is perfectly permissible to decline an invitation to attend a rally being held by the civic arm of the Ku Klux Klan.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that most Mississippians would be grateful if you refused to go.  The vast majority of us Mississippians aren't racist.  Yet every time we turn around, one of our elected leaders is hanging out with some group that embarrasses the hell out of 99% of us.  (I'm looking at you, Gov.)

Despite what Mike Chaney says, David Baria's not running for Insurance Commissioner

In Molly Parker's article today, she briefly covers the 2011 Insurance Commissioner race.  She writes:

Republican Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said he recently heard a rumor that Democratic state Sen. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, was planning to challenge him.
Baria is most known for his role as president of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association during tort reform discussions in the Capitol several years ago.
"I talked to him Monday night and said, 'Are you running for commissioner?' And he said, 'If anybody asks me, I'm going to tell them I'm running.' "
Baria said he is running for re-election to the Senate.

Here's the problem:  David Baria's not running for Insurance Commissioner, and Mike Chaney knows that.  In fact, Baria and Chaney joked about it Monday night.  (That's what the conversation was about; Chaney joked that he needed Baria in the race in order to raise money.)  I'm a little concerned that Mike Chaney, a good man, may have been misquoted and made to look silly. 

First hat in the ring for Governor in 2011?

While it certainly appears that Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant will be making the bid for Governor in 2011, he has not, to my knowledge, done anything officially to indicate that he is indeed doing so. Of course, he already has a PAC up and going from his past races, so he gets to skip the step Bill Luckett just took.

I've never had the opportunity to meet Bill Luckett. I've only laid eyes on him once, and that was when I briefly watched him advocate on behalf of Kroger in the Kroger beating case.

Anyone know anything about Luckett?