By bottling the bill in his committee, Robertson protected Barbour, a former Washington tobacco lobbyist, from being publicly embarrassed by a popular bipartisan bill hiking the tobacco tax. Robertson apparently counted on his incumbency and Barbour loyalty to keep him invulnerable at the polls. He counted wrong.
So did Ross, apparently, in trying to stick so close to Barbour. In the waning days of the bitter GOP primary, Ross even tried to smear Bryant for the state auditor's joint appearances for charity with former attorney general Mike Moore, who successfully won the $4.1 billion lawsuit settlement with Big Tobacco that created the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi to prevent kids from smoking.
The fact both men may have missed is that as popular as Barbour may be, voters still judge candidates on their own.
Average Mississippians want tax cuts, especially on necessities like food, and don't feel any need to protect Big Tobacco.
In addition, when Ross tried to link Bryant with Moore, he may have boosted Bryant's numbers among women. GOP soccer moms don't want their kids smoking any more than Democrat soccer moms, and Moore has been a popular spokesperson for protecting kids.
The full Clarion Ledger Editorial
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