Pickering Says Washington Too Hard, Jackson Should Be Easier

Everyone's favorite, soon to be ex-Congressman, Chip Pickering was in the news again today. This time he gave the AP a little more "detail" into why he will resign as the 3rd District's rep in 2008.

When asked about running for the Governor's seat in Jackson in 2012, his answer was a dubious "maybe".

However my odd love of the article comes later, as it goes on to describe some, how do you say "typical Republican morality."
As we all know Pickering said he's not going to run again because he wants to spend more time with his family of 7. But when asked about the 2006 election, he said it did play "some part" in deciding not to run again. How so you ask?

"It is different being in the minority. And for my temperament and personality, probably being in the majority and building the coalitions to govern is - I'm more suited for that."

And then there is the gem he describes as working too hard in Washington since the Democrats took office. Pickering relates to the AP how when Republicans where in charge, the only voting days were Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday. But since the Dems took charge, they have had to vote now on Mondays!! THE HORROR!! An American working 4 days a week?! I can see the man's outrage.

So being a House Rep is apparently only for the super dedicated and anti-family man to take up. How can someone serve when they are not dealing from a position of power? The Minority, wasn't that just a movie with Tom Cruise?

And as for Governor, I guess since Arnold can do it, anyone can eh Chip?

Eaves Speaks From His Convictions At MS Press Non-Debate

Appearing at the Mississippi Press Association non-debate Eaves spoke of how his faith inspires his politics. He made clear that it is necessary to provide healthcare for all children and that volunteer led prayer must be allowed to return to the schools.

Here are a couple choice excerpts from an article by The Sun Herald's Geoff Pender:

"Honestly, I don't believe we can gamble our way toward prosperity anywhere in Mississippi," Eaves said. "Our first priority on the Coast should be helping people get back into homes rather than helping the casinos send their money back to Las Vegas."

-and-

The conference, which continues through the weekend, is being held at Beau Rivage Resort and Casino. Eaves said this made him feel like "Daniel going into the lions' den," because he has vowed not to accept casino campaign contributions.

Barbour has received hundreds of thousands of casino industry contributions which have been hidden by funneling those monies thought the Republican Governors' Association. They are rewarding him for successfully pushing to allow the Coast's casinos to come on land.

The Sun Herald Article

Eaves Takes On Barbour Over Partnership (WLBT)

"We can expand the Partnership. It will save the taxpayers money. It will save our kids a lot of misery. It will save lives."

This is from the Friday evening news on WLBT out of Jackson.

(The 4 million dollar figure is how much Barbour's firm was paid by tobacco companies, not direct campaign contributions. WLBT is in error on that point.)

Eaves Interviewed by Bolivar Commercial

Eaves recently sat down with the Bolivar Commercial for an interview. Here are some choice quotes:

“I am a Democrat because I am a Christian,” said Eaves. “Jesus came to help the sick and heal the poor. He came and it was all about people, not about profit. He was not about self-service, He was not about greed, and He was about helping. I believe that at the core that is what the Democratic Party’s message is.
...
“I am so disturbed that we are striving for ‘adequate,’” said Eaves. “The great people of Mississippi deserve excellent education. We can do that in so many different ways. We have to give our children the investment that they need in order to create the economic opportunity that our people deserve.”
...
“I look around we have the greatest character of people in the world,” said Eaves. “We have the highest charitable giving in Mississippi. We are the home of the blues, the home of country music and the home of great literature. There is evidence of an outpouring and a soul in Mississippi like no other.”

Eaves is nothing if he isn't consistent. He is proud of his Christianity and is acting on it. I'm glad to see another Democrat who is willing to speak openly about his faith.

Dan Gilgoff, John Arthur Eaves, and the way the National Stuff Works

I just posted the article from this Sunday's Dallas Morning News about John Arthur Eaves, and it seemed necessary to talk about the article in one post and do the analysis in another.

Dan Gilgoff is a widely respected author who puts a lot of rubber on the road. I think however, that he's missing the angle on this one and attributing to The National Democratic Party a thing that is inherently local. He makes the assumption that the DNC is involved in recruiting for the Governorships in the way that they're involved in recruiting Congressional and Senate candidates. It's not entirely the same.

I don't want to be misinterpreted as saying that the Eaves campaign doesn't have the support of the DNC or DGA or whatever. That is a separate conversation. Although I hear that he and Gov. Dean do have a good relationship.

Legislative calculus goes on for months or years. Thus legislating is a team sport. In 2006 the DCCC in conjunction with (at the time) Rep. Pelosi's office put together a national policy plan. They said, this is what our team is going to do. And the folks who were top and second tier congressional candidates got on board with that package. They became the local representatives of the larger national organizations. "We're going to be on the Anti-Iraq, pro environment, minimum wage raising team," they said. Senate races work the same way. Sen. Schumer gets on the phone and says "Mr. Webb, this is what we're going to do and it's a great way to sell yourself to the folks back home in Manassas." And in order to get those agendas passed, those organizations are heavily invested in each targeted race. There are weekly, and then nightly conference calls with staff and the DSCC or DCCC folks assigned to your race.

Gubernatorials don't work that way. They're races about leadership and character and completely determined by the local political circumstances. In Ohio, Ted Strickland got elected by saying "Ohio Republicans are corrupt. They steal your money, falsify elections, and have for sale signs sitting on their desks. And the national Republican party has the same problems" among other things. There's a harder time nationalizing elections for state offices. If the problem is in Jackson, talking about DC probably won't get the job done.

So the DGA, DLGA, DAGA, and all of the other state office associations function differently than DCCC and DSCC. My experience with them is that they serve primarily as information clearing houses. They store institutional memories. If you need a good media guy, you call and get a recommendation. You need advice on how to target your field plan, they can talk to you about what's worked in the past. They serve other functions, but that's how my involvement with those organizations has gone. My impression has always been that my campaign was a box on a grid. Their purpose is not to be heavily invested in the local political circumstances. It's resource allocation.

The reason that's important to know is that although the DNC and the DGA will be involved in this election, the Eaves candidacy is ultimately a thing generated, sustained by, and ultimately judged by local circumstances. The fact that there's a guy running as a Pro-Life, Pro-School Prayer, Baby Baptizing Democrat in Mississippi says more about Mississippi than it does the National Democratic Party. That's a point that Dan Gilgoff seems to ignore.

Dallas Morning News Editorial on Eaves

I have said on several occasions that what happens in Mississippi has national implications. This article lays some of that out, and it's coming from a reputable source. It's a Sunday morning feature in a major metro daily.

Some of the highlights-

"At stake is more than the governor's mansion in Jackson, but arguably the future of the national Democratic Party. That's because Democrats have almost completely lost their grip on the South, with the number of Southern Democratic U.S. senators dwindling from 20 in 1980 to five today. In the past two presidential elections, the Democratic ticket lost every Southern state. A win by Mr. Eaves "would be a shot across the bow to the Republican Party that Democrats can compete in the South again," says Mike Mikus, Mr. Eaves' chief campaign strategist.

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"Mr. Eaves appears to represent the next step in the Democratic Party's plan for making inroads among evangelicals and other serious churchgoers. In 2005, Timothy Kaine, the winning Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, reserved his first ads for Christian radio. In 2006, the Democratic Party persuaded a pro-choice candidate in Pennsylvania to drop her Senate bid to clear the field for the ultimately successful Robert Casey Jr., an abortion opponent."

What we do here matters. As Sen. Boxer said, "Elections have consequences."