Hood will not defend Medicaid suit

This will be called partisan politics. Everything that comes from the AG is called partisan politics. You want to know why? Because he's "the last man standing" among statewide Democrats.

First, the issue at hand: Hood's decision not to represent the state against claims that Gov. Barbour's latest Medicaid plan is in someway improper.

Hood's reasoning is sound:

"Due to the specific issues involved in this case, we would not be able to raise defenses that could conflict with the powers of my other two clients — the legislative and judicial branches,” Hood said.

Hood's office does not represent Gov. Barbour. He represents the state as a whole. And it must be his office's opinion that if he represented the governor -- that would be the executive branch -- then he would be doing a disservice to the Legislature or the courts -- that would be the legislative and judicial branches, accordingly.

Now, on to another tidbit.

If you look at the 2007 elections, you'll notice an interesting point: Jim Hood won more votes than any other candidate running. Here's a ranking of statewide vote-getters:

1. AG Hood: 440,017
2. Treasurer Reeves: 436,833
3. Lt. Gov. Bryant: 431,747
4. Gov. Barbour: 430,807
5. SOS Hosemann: 425,228
6. Insurance Comm. Chaney: 414,718
7. Auditor Pickering: 399,279
8. Ag Comm. Spell: 371,191

From where I'm sitting, I see a man who is admired for doing the right thing, for being tough and for not being scared to make tough calls.

I also see a GOP attack machine that is dead set on making sure he doesn't win re-election in 2011, or better yet, beating ol' Phil for the top spot.

The Big Day! Voting For President (Primary) In Mississippi

I voted in a trailer as I have in every election since Hurricane Katrina.

We voted on touch-screen machines manufactured by Diebold.  I had some difficulty because the screen wasn't very sensitive and I had to poke at it about a dozen times to move onto the next page.  The person who came to assist said that it had been acting up all day.

At 1 when I voted in my overwelmingly Republican precinct 264 folks had voted in the Democratic Primary and 181 folks had voted in the Republican Primary. 

That stands in strong contrast to 2007 state primaries when by the end of the day 802 folks had voted in the competitive Republican primary for Lt. Governor while 153 voted for Jamie Franks in the Democratic Primary.

I wonder if these patterns will be the same statewide.

Please leave you voting experience in the comments:

Ouch (or)

It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To*

- I fully expected losses in the races for Governor, Lt. Governor, Treasurer, Auditor, and Secretary of State. It was clear that in those races the Republicans was ahead far in advance of the election.

- I also fully expected Jim Hood's win and still don't understand why they spent all that money even after it was clear that he would still win. I'm glad he won with a lead better than any other statewide race with the exception of Treasurer where even I voted for the Republican. (Indereformocrat Shawn O'Hara needs help, not a position of responsibility.)

- The heart-breakers were for the positions of Commissioner of Insurance and Commissioner of Agriculture. Gary Anderson looked behind, but polling did not show the hidden bias that once again robbed him of a position he was better suited for than his opponent. I thought that the Agriculture race would go to House and after having placed all blame on the legislature and Mississippi State University Lester would find his defeat there. It looks like there too the Democrat goes down in defeat.

That leaves the unenviable position of 7 Republicans and 1 Democrat statewide. I think it's fair to say that Mississippi Democrats have hit the bottom of the curve with successes in the Senate and not losing seats in the House (or possibly one, I'm not sure).

*Subtitle recommended by my father.