Missouri Sounds Like Mississippi

This article on Missouri's August 5 party primaries is a reminder of a recurring complaint among Mississippi voters.

Missouri, like Mississippi, has open primaries: each voter picks a party on primary day. In this particular Missouri county, all of the contested races for county offices are in the Republican primary. There are, however, some exciting races in the Democratic primary for state offices, which means that voters in this county will have to forgo those state races if they choose to vote in their contested county races.

Last year, the races for county officials in Mississippi's largest county, Hinds, were decided in the Democratic primary, so anyone who chose that primary missed out on voting in the Republican contests for state offices. And a Hinds countian who voted in the Republican primary in order to vote in the hot race for lieutenant governor between Phil Bryant and Charlie Ross, for example-- that citizen did not get to vote for his county officials, including the sheriff.

The situation was reversed in neighboring Rankin County, where the county races were almost all decided in the Republican primary. Anyone who, for example, voted in the Democratic primary in order to vote for a fellow Rankin countian, Rob Smith, for secretary of state-- that person missed out on voting for his county officials.

There were similar stories in other parts of the state.

Our next state and county elections, to be sure, won't occur until 2011, but most Mississippi municipalities will elect their officials next year. What sometimes happens in those races is that all or most of the candidates for mayor run in one party's primary, while all of the candidates in certain wards or districts run in the other party's primary. So instead of asking voters "Democrat or Republican?", the poll workers ask, "mayor or council member?" In 2005, Hattiesburg and Tupelo were two cities in which this took place.

What usually happens in the above situations is that people get upset when they realize that their voting choices will be limited, but they then forget about it until the next time it transpires.

Click here to see a plan that I have proposed for giving Mississippi voters greater choice.

Search YouTube's "Politicians Channel"

From Ballot Access News:

YouTube has thousands of videos of candidates running for office. The YouTube “Politicians Channel” is at this link. On July 14, Google announced that it is launching the “Google Elections Video Search gadget," which will use speech recognition technology to prepare the text of each of these videos. Then, the gadget will search the text of the speeches for content on a particular topic. ... . The gadget doesn’t seem to be in operation yet, but is described at this link.

Mississippi's Special U. S. Senate Race

The special election for the U. S. Senate seat from which the Republican Trent Lott resigned will occur at the general election on November 4. The race, which features the Republican Roger Wicker and the Democrat Ronnie Musgrove, has turned out to be closer than had first been anticipated.

Sidney Salter writes: "... there have only been three open U.S. Senate seats from Mississippi since 1947 - the race to succeed Democratic U.S. Sen. James Oliver "Big Jim" Eastland of Doddsville in 1978, the race to succeed Democratic U.S. Sen. John Cornelius Stennis of DeKalb in 1988 and this current race to succeed Lott between Musgrove and Wicker."

There's a key difference between the two earlier races and the present one: Wicker, elevated to the Senate by Gov. Haley Barbour after 13 years as the 1st District congressman, is a candidate for the remaining four years of the term. How can that be considered an "open" seat?

1947 was when the special election was held to succeed the late Sen. Theodore G. Bilbo. Mississippi's special elections were then nonpartisan, as they are today: there are no party primaries, and all candidates are listed on the same ballot. However, such contests were then one-round "first past the post" elections, and circuit judge John Stennis won with 26.9 percent. U. S. Rep. William Colmer, a Dixiecrat, finished second in the six-man field (which even included a Republican, who ran dead last). If there had been a runoff, Colmer would surely have defeated the more moderate Stennis.

In 1948, House speaker Walter Sillers, a Dixiecrat, pushed through a provision requiring 50-plus percent to win a special election, and that has been the law ever since.

"In 1978, the battle to choose a successor to Eastland saw... Republican 4th District U.S. Rep. Thad Cochran turn back the challenge of Democrat Maurice Dantin of Columbia and independent Charles Evers of Fayette.

"A lifelong Democrat until the mid-1970s, Evers left the party over complaints that state Democrats took African-American voters 'for granted'... . Cochran won the general election with a 45 percent plurality of the vote, trailed by Dantin with [31.8] percent and Evers with [22.9] percent."

Henry Kirksey, a perennial black independent candidate, got 0.3 percent of the vote. Kirksey was elected to the state Senate as a Democrat in 1979 and 1983.

Since the 1978 U. S. Senate race was a regular election, 50-plus percent was not needed to win.

Sidney must have forgotten about the 1971 governor's race, in which Evers ran as an independent and got 22.1 percent against the Democrat Bill Waller Sr. (the Republicans did not run a gubernatorial candidate that year). Ironically, as Hinds County district attorney, Waller had twice prosecuted Byron de la Beckwith for the 1963 murder of NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers, Charles's brother.

Besides the 1978 Senate campaign, Evers ran at least one other statewide race-- in 1983 for governor, when he got just 3.9 percent of the vote. He made all of his statewide races as an independent because (1) independents only have to run in the general election, (2) he knew he couldn't get 50-plus percent in a statewide party primary, and (3) 50-plus percent is not required to win a general election[1].

Evers, who was once Mississippi's Democratic national committeeman, ran numerous times for local and district offices, always under a party label. He bolted the Democrats in 1980 to back the Republican Ronald Reagan over President Jimmy Carter, but Evers did not actually become a Republican until circa the late '80s.

Sidney claims that "Mississippi has in the past given President George W. Bush the highest percentage win of any state in the union."

In 2000, the Magnolia State voted 57 percent for Bush, as Alabama and South Carolina also did. At least six other states gave the Texan even higher percentages: Texas and Alaska, 59 percent each; Oklahoma, 60 percent; Utah, 67 percent; and Idaho and Wyoming, 69 percent each.

In 2004, Mississippi gave Bush 60 percent of its vote. Texas and Alaska each gave him 61 percent; Alabama, 63 percent; Oklahoma, 66 percent; Idaho and Wyoming, 69 percent each; and Utah, 72 percent.

"The national Democratic ticket could be either blessing or curse for [former Gov.] Musgrove."

Mississippi has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1980; in fact, Jimmy Carter (1976) is the only Democratic presidential nominee to have carried the Magnolia State since Adlai Stevenson did in 1956.

Some 300,000 more Mississippi voters usually turn out for the presidential election than for the previous year's governor's race. There promises to be an even greater increase this year, since (1) the Democrat Barack Obama looks to turn out big numbers of young voters and black voters, which should help Musgrove, and (2) there was a drop-off in the vote in last November's matchup between Gov. Barbour and the Democrat John Arthur Eaves Jr. The Obama candidacy should also motivate some anti-Obama voters to head to the polls.

The unusual situation of having both U. S. Senate seats up for election at the same time will likely also increase the turnout. Cochran is opposed in his bid for a sixth term by Democratic former state Rep. Erik Fleming. Cochran's coat-tails can be expected to help Wicker, as will Barbour's formidable organization.

If Sen. John McCain should pick a Southerner as his vice-presidential running-mate, that would also benefit the entire GOP ticket in Mississippi.

"... the hard reality is that Mississippi has never elected an African-American candidate to statewide office."

While that's true of modern times, Blanche K. Bruce, a Republican from Bolivar County, was the first black person ever to serve a full term as U. S. senator, 1875-1881. Born into slavery in Virginia, Bruce became a prosperous landowner in the Mississippi Delta during the post-Civil War Reconstruction era.

The first black member of Congress was another Mississippian, Hiram Revels, who filled an unexpired term in the U. S. Senate, 1870-1871. Revels, a Republican, was a North Carolina-born minister, educator, and politician from Natchez.

The other black Republican U. S. senator was Edward Brooke, who represented Massachusetts, 1967-1979. The only two black Democratic senators, ironically, held the same Illinois seat. Carol Moseley Braun served from 1993 to 1999, and Barack Obama has served from 2005 to the present. Moseley Braun and Obama, moreover, are both from Chicago.

This fall's election contests in Mississippi show many signs of generating much excitement.

******************************

[1] The Mississippi Constitution mandates that, in order to win a statewide office, a candidate must (1) get 50-plus percent of the vote, AND (2) carry a majority of the state House districts; otherwise, in the following January, the state House chooses between the top two vote-getters. If Evers had topped either the 1971 or the 1983 governor's race without meeting both requirements, he very likely would have filed suit against the constitutional provision.

The Civil War and the KKK

A commentary from Tim Birdnow on my post, "More Ignorance of History":

I come from a border state (Missouri), and often find myself caught in the middle on the issue. I tend to come down on the side of the Confederacy, since the Constitution does not say anywhere that the agreement is indivisible, and it states quite plainly that any powers not expressly granted to the Feds were reserved to the States. The slavery issue was raised later, which makes Mr. Lincoln`s war dishonest, in my view. Lincoln was, of course, basing his decision to go to war on the Force Act and President Andrew Jackson`s efforts to compel South Carolina to forgo nullification of the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832, but the Constitution should trump legal precedent. I do think the Union was worth fighting for, but a political compromise should have been reached. It WAS possible to end slavery, but nobody was willing to make the necessary compromises to accomplish it. I don`t think Lincoln should have gone to war. Frankly, if he were a true statesman[1], he would not have taken office.

On the Ku Klux Klan: the original Klan was a bit different from the racist entity that would come later, and it was an almost inevitable outgrowth of Reconstruction. There was chaos in the South, with crime running rampant and no way for Southerners to stop it. Many of the Northerners who immigrated south enjoyed the suffering of the ``damned rebels`` and so [Gen. Nathan Bedford] Forrest and company founded a vigilante organization to deal with the problem. Since many of the criminals were freed slaves, the Klan naturally went after them. I`m not claiming that the Klan was a good thing, mind you, but that it was a natural outgrowth of the times. The later racism of the Klan is a whole different story.

As to the name of the War, we`ll never get a consensus. I call it the Civil War, although it was only a civil war here in Missouri and in Kansas. "The War Between the States" is a better title, although it never caught on. Bear in mind, many things are misnamed; the Revolution was more of a conservative rebellion against changed policy by Britain, and as such is a misnomer; it should be called the "War of Independence." Precedent trumps accuracy, so I side with the majority.

******************************

[1] President Harry Truman said that a statesman was a politician who had been dead for at least 10 years. ~~ SR

Alaska's Poor Caribou

In 1995, the Republican-controlled Congress authorized drilling for oil in a comparatively small area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR); the bill passed the Senate by just one vote. President Bill Clinton then vetoed the measure.

If not for Slick Willie's veto, the U. S. would now be getting a million-plus barrels of oil per day from ANWR.

Here's an exhibit of beautiful photos of ANWR, with accompanying maps and script explaining the facts about this whole issue.

Don't you feel sorry for the poor suffering wildlife?

"Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less"...

Ventura Won't be a Candidate

UPDATE: Dean Barkley has qualified to run for the U. S. Senate. Since there are six other Independence Party candidates, the party will have a contested primary in September.

Jesse Ventura said Monday night that he won't run as a third-party candidate for U. S. senator.

Appearing on CNN's "Larry King Is Alive," the former Minnesota governor cited family considerations as his main reason for eschewing the race against the incumbent Republican, Norm Coleman, and the likely Democratic nominee, Al Franken (aka Stuart Smalley). Ventura also expressed his dissatisfaction with the presidential candidacies of Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain and said that he very likely would not vote at all.

I was surprised that Ventura, who called himself a "rogue independent," did not mention any of the other presidential candidates and instead made it sound as though McCain and Obama are the only alternatives.

Following Ventura's announcement, Dean Barkley, who was appointed interim senator by Gov. Ventura in 2002, said that he was reconsidering the Senate race and might seek the Independence Party's nomination after all.

The qualifying deadline is 5 p.m. local time today.

In the course of the interview, Larry King stated that George W. Bush has the lowest approval rating of any president ever. In the early 1950s, President Harry Truman sank to 23 percent in the polls, and I don't think Bush has yet dropped that low.

Ventura To Reveal Plans Tonight

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura of Minnesota will announce tonight on "Larry King Is Alive" (8:00 Central time, CNN) whether he will run for the U. S. Senate this year. Tomorrow's filing deadline is also Ventura's 57th birthday.

Already campaigning are Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Al Franken (aka Stuart Smalley), the presumptive Democratic nominee. In the 1998 governor's election, Coleman finished second to Ventura, while the Democratic nominee, Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III, ended up in third place. Ventura, the Reform Party nominee, was helped by the fact that Minnesota has same-day voter registration, and a large number of young voters turned out for him.

Newsweek published this interview with Ventura on the Senate race.

If he takes the plunge, Ventura is expected to seek the Independence Party's nomination in the September primary.

More Ignorance Of History

The Saturday Clarion-Ledger featured a letter from Matthew Stuart of Clinton, who identifies himself as a history major at the University of Mississippi. Stuart chides a previous letter writer for a misstatement regarding General J. E. B. Stuart.

"Perhaps, as the letter suggests, Jeb Bush was named after the infamous Confederate cavalry general, J.E.B. Stuart. However, JEB Stuart had nothing to do with the founding of the Ku Klux Klan..."

The first name of the former Florida governor and brother of the president comes from the initials of his full name, John Ellis Bush.

Matthew Stuart is evidently not related to J. E. B. Stuart, since he calls the general "infamous." I wonder if Matthew considers all Confederate generals-- and, indeed, all Confederate soldiers-- to be "infamous." If so, does that mean that Matthew would refuse to defend his home soil if it were invaded by a hostile army bent on destruction?

"Perhaps the letter writer was thinking about Nathan Bedford Forrest, another fine cavalryman and founding member who was the first Grand Wizard of the group. Perhaps every man named Nathan should be scolded for his name!"

If memory serves, General Forrest later broke with the Klan. And I wonder if Matthew thinks every resident of Forrest County, Mississippi, should also be scolded for living in a place named for this man.

It's worth noting, too, that William Forrest Winter, Mississippi's governor from 1980 to 1984, was named for General Forrest, with whom Winter's ancestor rode in the Civil War. Governor Winter probably needs a good scolding for not changing his name.

Matthew or anyone else who wants to know what the Civil War-- the War Between the States-- was really about should start by reading the letters which Lord Acton and General Robert E. Lee exchanged following the war.

Whenever I hear J. E. B. Stuart mentioned, I think of North Carolina senator Sam Ervin, chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee, which convened in 1973. Jeb Magruder, one of President Richard Nixon's aides, was involved in the Watergate scandal, and Ervin repeatedly referred to Magruder by his full name-- Jeb Stuart Magruder.

Mr. Bill, the Commish, and Other Things

At least one blogger must be ecstatic over today's election of former state Rep. Jamie Franks of Mooreville as chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party. The Commander, publisher of the great red spot, previously blogged at Franks Tanks, which succeeded in its main purpose of helping defeat Rep. Franks in his race as the 2007 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. Today's news no doubt means that Chairman Franks will be an inviting target for The Commander and other bloggers for several years to come.

The Commander had a post today in which he called Sidney Salter the "Dean of Mississippi Political Journalists." At least one journalist has been commenting on Mississippi politics since long before Smiling Sidney started chirping from his perch in Scott County-- columnist Bill Minor, Sidney's good buddy.

In fact, Mr. Bill is rumored to have begun his journalism career during the construction of the Indian mounds in Mississippi.

The Commander also alludes to the fact that the scheme for the state beef plant boondoggle was hatched by House speaker Billy McCoy and Rep. Steve "The Undertaker" Holland during a trip up (or down) the Natchez Trace (if the exact spot could be determined, a historical marker should be erected).

In addition, the Commander correctly calls into question the Republicanism of Lester Spell (not that the average Mississippian really gives a hoot about such things). Dr. Spell previously was elected mayor of Richland as a Democrat, under which label he also won his first three races for agriculture commissioner. In 1995, he beat the Republican Charlie Hull, who was the father of a football star and who was encouraged to run by the late Gov. Kirk Fordice. Spell also defeated the Republican nominees in 1999 and 2003, but when it became expedient to switch to the GOP, he did so during the course of his third term.

Last year, Commissioner Spell beat Max Phillips of Taylorsville in the Republican primary. He then got slightly over 50 percent of the vote against the Democrat Rickey Cole and Les Riley, the nominee of the Constitution Party. If neither candidate had surpassed the 50 percent mark, the race, of course, would have been decided by the state House of Representatives last January. That would have been an interesting turn of events, since the Democrats have a majority in the House.

Georgia's Photo Voter ID Upheld

The Georgia Democratic Party claimed that photo ID burdens the poor, the disabled, and minorities. Here in Mississippi, we've been told for years that voter ID would also be a hardship on elderly people. Could it be that Georgia's senior citizens are more resourceful than Mississippi's? ~~ SteveR

Click here for some interesting comments.

******************************

From the Associated Press:

ATLANTA — Georgia voters will have to present a photo ID when casting a ballot in Tuesday’s primary election.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Tom Campbell ruled today that Georgia law requires voters to present the photo IDs at polling precincts before voting in state elections.

Georgia’s Democrats sought to block the state from requiring photo IDs from voters in the primary, saying it places an undue burden on the poor, the disabled and minorities.

But Secretary of State Karen Handel predicted that changing the requirements days before the election would create “mass chaos” in Georgia’s precincts.

Louisiana Discriminates Against Blacks, Poor, and Elderly

Did you know that Louisiana engages in blatant discrimination against black people, poor people, and elderly people by requiring citizens to show a photo ID in order to vote? So, obviously, if you live in Louisiana and are black, poor, and elderly, you don't stand a chance!

The Bayou State is restoring party primaries-- after 30 years-- for its congressional elections. The primaries will be held on Saturday, September 6, and the runoff (or second) primaries will be on Saturday, October 4. The general election, of course, will be on Tuesday, November 4.

Louisiana has registered voters by party since 1916, and the currently recognized parties are Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, Green, and Reform. All of the parties except the Republicans are inviting independents to vote in their congressional primaries (the three minor parties are not likely to hold primaries, since they usually do well to have just one candidate per office).

The following notice is featured on the secretary of state's website:

"A Reminder to Voters - Take Picture ID to Polls
When you go to the polls to cast your vote in an election, be sure to take a driver's license, a Louisiana Special ID, or some other generally recognized picture ID. Voters who have no picture ID and bring only a utility bill, payroll check or government document that includes their name and address will have to sign an affidavit furnished by the Elections Division in order to vote. Should any problems or questions arise, the principal office of the Registrar of Voters in each parish will be open from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. on election day."

The Bayou State also allows early voting starting 14 days before an election and lasting until seven days before the election. This may be done at the local Registrar of Voters office (the equivalent of the county circuit clerk's office in Mississippi).

A Time To Drill

One of the most ridiculous aspects of this whole mess is that Alaska, which sits on billions of barrels of oil, has the highest gasoline prices in the nation. ~~ SteveR

"Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., who used to be in the oil business, said the reason oil companies are not drilling on the 86 million acres [leased from the federal government] is that there is no substantial oil available on those lands to make drilling economically viable."

******************************

by Paul Weyrich

In a remarkably short time, the public has changed from supporters of environmentalism to advocates of drilling for oil and natural gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and/or in the ocean.

For the first time since the 1970s, liberals in both parties have found themselves responding to significant demands for drilling. Their responses are meant to confuse the electorate in order to turn public opinion back to their position on the environment.

Toward that end, liberals have come up with two mantras which we hear on every talk show, in every press conference, and in every speech addressing the high cost of gasoline.

The first is that it will take at least 10, maybe 30 years before we see a drop of oil coming from the ground at the aforementioned sites.

The second is that greedy oil companies already have 86 million acres of leases provided by the federal government. They only want more leases to satisfy their greed.

On the first point, correspondent Ken Wood pointed out that Larry Kudlow recently featured on his television show James T. Hackett, president and CEO of Anadarko Petroleum Company. Whereas some liberals are saying it could take 30 years for the oil to be available, Hackett said it would take two or three years, depending upon where the oil was drilled.

Indeed, I saw one oil exploration expert on Fox News who said that if the right equipment were available it would take only one year to get the first oil since the oil companies know exactly where the oil is located in the outer continental shelf.

One oil shale expert told drilling proponents in the House of Representatives that the first 800 million barrels of oil from shale could be available in two or three years. The remaining estimated 2 trillion barrels of oil from shale would take... Read more>>>

The "Top Two" in Washington and Oregon

"Top two" describes a nonpartisan election system, in which there are no party primaries. All candidates, including independents, are listed on a single ballot, with the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, proceeding to the runoff.

This year Washington becomes the second state-- the other is Louisiana-- to use the "top two" system. The first round in the Evergreen State is scheduled for August 19.

In addition, it now seems all but certain that a "top two" initiative will appear on the ballot in Oregon next November 4 (the popular term for this system in Oregon is "open primary," just as in Louisiana and Mississippi).

Following are excerpts from an exchange on the "top two" that I had on a blog of The News Tribune in Washington state, primarily with a commenter named jimrtex:

Steve: The U. S. Supreme Court said that the "top two" does not violate the political parties' associational rights, and that was the only question the court considered in that case. The 9th Circuit will next consider a challenge to the Washington "top two" on ballot access and trademark grounds.

California voters rejected the "top two" in 1915 and 2004, as did North Dakota voters in 1925, so it's definitely not a new concept.

Why should the voters be limited to two choices in the final, deciding election? In a system of party primaries, each party may have a nominee in the final election, and there is no limit on the number of independents who can be on the general election ballot.

Louisiana has had the good sense to restore party primaries in its congressional elections.

RegisteringFool: Apparently, too, the Ninth Circuit still believes that the injunction against the "top two" primary is still in force, because it wants more briefing on "the appeal" from the district court's ruling. "Top two" supporters should take note that there is nothing in the Supreme Court ruling to suggest the injunction should be reversed. The only thing the Supreme Court reversed was the Ninth Circuit's rationale for affirming the district court.

jimrtex: ... letting the top two candidates [have a runoff] ensures that there will be a majority in the second election - that it will be decisive. If you had more than two candidates, you would have to provide for the possibility of a 3rd election.

Steve: 29 states today register voters by party, and another 13 states publicly record each voter's choice of party on primary day. What's wrong with the parties knowing which voters nominate their candidates?

[... .]

The "top two" is used in many local and judicial elections in the U. S., so those officials are elected with 50%-plus. Georgia is the only state that has party primaries AND runoff general elections; there are potentially FOUR elections-- the primary, the runoff primary, the general election, and the runoff general election.

You obviously think that candidates getting elected with 50%-plus is more important than the voters having more than two choices in the final, deciding election. I disagree.

In the California blanket-primary case (Jones), the 9th Circuit adopted the district court's ruling as its own, and the Supreme Court reversed it in 2000. In 2003, the 9th Circuit followed the Jones precedent in striking down Washington state's blanket-primary law[1].

[... .]

[... .]

[... .]

Steve: [jimrtex asks] "If the first election that reduces the field to two candidates does not make party nominations, why do the parties need to know who voted for their candidates?"

You've here underscored why the parties oppose the "top two" monstrosity. The parties, to be sure, have the right to nominate/endorse candidates prior to the first round of the "top two," but those candidates are chosen by far fewer people than in a system of party primaries. Of course, it's much easier for the parties to control who participates in a convention or a caucus.

In Scalia's Jones dicta on the "nonpartisan blanket primary" ["top two"], he said that the State could require the parties to nominate candidates as the first step in the process. Obviously, that's not the way that Nebraska's nonpartisan state legislative elections work.

coovertc makes a good point in his #2. In Louisiana's 1996 U. S. Senate race, there were five or six major Republican candidates, and it appeared that they would split the vote and enable two Democrats to make the runoff (just as had happened in the 1987 governor's race). At the last minute in 1996, the Republican bigwigs got behind one candidate, who made the runoff against the Democrat Mary Landrieu.

Since 1996, there has been less competition in Louisiana's major races. Two ex-governors have "tested the waters" and decided not to run; if the Bayou State had had party primaries, they very likely WOULD have run, thus providing more choices for the voters.

In the "top two," the top two vote-getters are required to finance and conduct TWO general election campaigns, since all voters in the jurisdiction are eligible to vote for them. This makes campaigns more expensive and discourages candidates from running.

"3. Which voters are disenfranchised?"

When the two runoff candidates in the "top two" are from the same party, all other parties' faithful voters are disenfranchised. Not to mention the fact that the two runoff candidates' party is split in the final, deciding election.

******************************

[1] In California's and Washington's blanket primaries, all candidates of all parties were listed on the same ballot, and the top vote-getter from each party advanced to the general election. Thus, the primary voter could cross party lines from office to office.

Rising Young GOP Star

From Power Line:

Our occasional correspondent Joel Mowbray (jdmowbra@erols.com) files this report on a young Republican legislator whom he finds to be a rising star:

Striding to the podium without a hair follicle anywhere on his smooth face, Josh Mandel certainly didn't inspire high expectations at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley this past Sunday night. The former Marine, who has served two tours in Iraq and currently sits in the Ohio legislature, is tall and lean, but in a suit, he looks as if he's about to pin a corsage on his prom date.

From the moment he began his speech, however, the Republican Jewish Coalition audience hung on his every word.

He was lucky that he could finish talking in his allotted 15 minutes, as he was interrupted by applause 13 times. When he finished, the audience of mostly jaded, been-there, done-that political junkies gave him a rousing standing ovation, and a couple dozen well-wishers mobbed him as he walked off the stage.

One observer -- who has been to countless political events -- said simply, "Josh is a world-class speaker."

Given that he's a Republican in a two-to-one Democrat district in the Cleveland area, Mandel will need to give a lot more sterling speeches -- and raise another $400,000 -- to stay in his current job.

While Mandel could give almost any speaker a run for his money, the secret to his winning a state representative seat two years ago was knocking on almost 20,000 doors -- wearing through three pairs of shoes in the process. But with the GOP having a razor-thin four seat majority in the Ohio House, Mandel will be facing a tidal wave of cash from his opponent, the state Democratic party, and independent political groups, including so-called "527s."

If Mandel survives this November, expect to hear a lot more about him. Not only does he give a "world-class" speech, but he already has an impressive legislative track record. In his first (and only) term, he introduced Iran divestment legislation, and he successfully led the effort to force Ohio's massive pension funds to stop investing in companies that do business in Iran.

The Ohio Republican Party loves Mandel, and it's only a matter of time before the national party -- and other Americans -- share the love as well.

'Gays' Get Their Guns

The Independent Political Report says, "The Pink Pistols are a gay gun rights organization in the United States and Canada. Their mottos are 'Armed gays don’t get bashed' and 'Pick on someone your own caliber.'"

This group's 2008 calendar is "Guns and Buns."

The U. S. Supreme Court's recent excellent Second Amendment ruling must have made the Pink Pistols especially gay-- er, happy.