Phil Bryant Looks Funny

I don’t get the hoopla about Phil Bryant. He’s supposed to be this great stump speaker, this polished retail politiker. I’ve seen him speak twice, once at his January announcement speech at USM and once at the AARP forum at the capitol. On both occasions, about 60 days apart, he seemed stiff, uneasy, and like he was unfamiliar with the material at hand. His campaign videos confirm this. They’re not bad, they just don’t make good sense as campaign ads and he still seems stiff. He actually reminded me of John Kerry in the latest one, the public service “prepare for another Katrina” one. If Ross is going to concede being the “show horse” in this race, I really have to wonder about his self esteem.

There are a couple of great speakers among the Republican delegation, but we have a strict policy here not to say good things about Republicans unless it’s to encourage something they might be doing to destroy themselves. But on the whole, I’ll take the Democrats as a team. Rickey Cole is good, patient, and knows how to craft a line. Jamie Franks gets mad better than anybody I’ve ever seen and can almost cry on demand. There’s nobody I’d rather have calling out Republicans. But hands down is Gary Anderson. He’s smooth, polished, and has a good handshake. He’s got that rap around hug move down too, and that’s always a killer on a crowd of old people.