The Force of Character Through the Media Lens in the 2008 US Election

The now historic 2008 US presidential campaign gave rise to two superstars among a cast of more conventional players. In that election, a flashy female Alaskan moose-hunter was tapped to be the vice-presidential candidate on a flailing conservative “maverick” ticket in response to a runaway liberal ticket after a disastrous eight years in which a [...]

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Barack Obama - The Challenges of a Life Time

We should be proud of Mr. Obama and what he has accomplished. It has been a long and arduous road. The campaign is over. The hard work begins. Barack has promised change. Change comes from within. Most Americans voted for change. That is all well and good. But we should stop that common misconception that [...]

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Not So Proud Moment for Mississippi

According to WAPT, two students were kicked off a public school bus for saying Senator Barack Obama’s name. In a separate incident, a girls’ basketball coach (at a public school) threatened to suspend any student from the team who mention Senator Obama’s name.

Here’s a link to the web-story: http://www.wapt.com/video/17928161/

I had heard some unconfirmed rumors of this type of activity occurring in some workplaces, but I am definitely shocked to hear this. Times are changing in the world, and it makes me very sad to hear people clinging to such hatred in the year 2008. I’m not naive enough to think racism doesn’t exist everywhere - I know it does. However, we are obviously in the limelight on such issues, and I hope we can all grow and learn from this experience of having elected the first African American president.

As Mississippians, we will never be better than the bottom (where we remain on many lists such as health care and education) unless we stop hating people because they do not look like us or they do not think like us.

America took a giant leap forward last Tuesday, but Mississippi refuses to budge.

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Senate Race to 60 Update (Updated x3)

The Democrats came into tonight sitting on 50 seats plus LIEberman for a total of 51 in the caucus. There were about a dozen or so contested races with only one being a Democratic seat. Here is what has happened so far with a running tally:

NC - Hagan (d) defeats Dole (r-inc) - Dem total 51 + LIEberman
VA - Warner (d) defeats Gilmore (r) - Dem total 52 + LIEberman
NH - Shaheen (d) defeats Sununu (r-inc) - Dem total 53 + LIEberman
GA - Chambliss (r-inc) and Martin (d) are headed to a runoff!! (UPDATED)
KY - McConnell (r-inc) defeats Lunsford (d) - Dem total 53 + LIEberman
MS - Wicker (r) defeats Musgrove (d) - Dem total 53 + LIEberman
LA - Landrieu (d-inc) defeats Kennedy (r) - Dem total 53 + LIEberman
CO - Udall (d) defeats Schaffer (r) - Dem total 54 + LIEberman
NM - Udall (d) defeats Pearce (r) - Dem total 55 + LIEberman
OR - Merkley (d) defeats Smith (r-inc) - Dem total 56+ LIEberman

Minnesota is too close to call in the Franken vs. Coleman race. We still are waiting on Oregon and Alaska. Sixty looks out of reach, but President-elect Obama will have a large Democratic majority in Congress to work with.

UPDATED: Jim Martin has knocked Saxby Chambliss under the 50% mark which requires a runoff in the state of Georgia. In Minnesota Norm Coleman is hanging on to a 600 voted lead, with almost all of the returns in. A recount could be called. In Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley trails by around 10,000 votes with 73% reporting. The Portland area still has a lot to be counted. Convicted felon Ted Stevens looks like he will retain his seat over challenger Mark Begich.

UPDATEDx2: Not so fast on the Alaska call. Apparently there are 60,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted and…

CNN Front Page Piece on MS-SEN Race

The front page of CNN’s website featured a picture of Ronnie Musgrove along with this leading story.

CNN:

Despite some polling showing Republican Sen. Roger Wicker with a comfortable lead over former Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, both campaigns agree the race is going to come down to every last vote.

“We have to run the race based on what we know,” said Musgrove campaign spokesman Adam Bozzi. “What we know is that Mississippi [voters] in every region across the state are tired of the bad economy, tired of unemployment, and tired of the direction that Washington is headed in.”

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