A GOP ‘Bigot Eruption’?

U.S. Representative Geoff Davis has started a huge blogospheric outcry for allegedly using a racial slur directed at Barack Obama. Oliver Willis, among others, has described this as a "bigot eruption". Here's the offending remark:Congressman Geoff Davis, took the criticisms of Mr. Obama a few steps further, likening the change slogan to the pitch of a “snake oil ...

Obama, McCain Prevail in Mississippi

To the surprise of virtually no one, Barack Obama has won the Mississippi Democratic primary, the last contest before Pennsylvania's primaries in late April. To even less surprise, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain also prevailed in his party's contest. Perhaps more interesting than the primary victory are the exit poll numbers, which may suggest some serious problems for the Democrats ...

Flat Tax? No, Fat Ban

Radley Balko finds lard of a different nature than pork spending on the menu of the Mississippi legislature: a state legislative bill sponsored by two Republicans and one Democrat that would effectively ban all restaurants in the state from serving the "obese." Lest you think the sponsors are kidding, blogger Sandy Szwarc contacted the main sponsor of the bill ...

Confederate Flag Flies in South Carolina Primary

The Civil War might have ended 143 years ago but the Confederate battle flag refuses to die as a political issue. The Republican presidential candidates on Thursday moved to appeal to different types of conservative voters before the South Carolina primary, with Mike Huckabee using colorful language to declare the Confederate flag a states’ rights issue and Senator John McCain ...

Boy Howdy

Jeffro2pt0 of the Weblog Tools Collection blog reports that some significant number of WordPress developers are irritated by the software's practice of greeting users of its interface with a "Howdy" in the upper right hand corner. It seems as though the word Howdy, is not liked by many people in many places. I’ve been monitoring an ongoing discussion taking place ...

Virginia Continues Blue Trend

Virginia has long been considered a Republican hotbed -- the last Democrat to win the state's Electoral College vote was Lyndon Johnson in 1964 -- it has now elected two Democratic governors in a row, has a Democratic Senator and may be about to have two. Last night, Democrats gained four seats to take control of the Virginia Senate. Democrats ...

What is it with South Carolina?

Kevin Drum, citing reports that the "Barack Obama is a secret Muslim" story has gotten some (very minor) legs is South Carolina and reminding readers that there were some rather ugly smears against John McCain there in 2000, asks, "What is it about South Carolina, anyway?" This, perhaps predictably, brings forth some spewing of venom and counter-venom among commenters about ignorant ...

Conservative Democrats Decry Mississippi Closed Primary Ruling

The federal district court for the Northern District of Mississippi last month ruled in favor of state Democratic Party officials who wanted to close their primaries to non-Democratic voters, much to the irritation of many of the party's own officeholders who are warning of a return to racial bloc voting in the state: Republican-leaning voters in Mississippi have long been able ...

Siegelman and Selective Prosecution

A NYT editorial calls for an investigation into the successful prosecution of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman. It is extremely disturbing that Don Siegelman, the former governor of Alabama, was hauled off to jail this week. There is reason to believe his prosecution may have been a political hit, intended to take out the state’s most prominent Democrat, a serious ...

American by Birth, Southern by the Grace of God

Paul Waldman and Kevin Drum, understandably, resent the notion that rural folks and, especially, Southerners are perceived as more "authentic" and "American" than people from the cities and the coasts. Waldman finds it "deeply insulting" and Drum believes Southerners are downright "intolerant" because they won't vote for Yankees. Alex Massie, a Scottish-born, Irish-educated, D.C. journalist defends the South's honor, ...

Playing Games With Politicians’ Names

New Orleans Times-Picayune writer Bill Walsh notes that Barack Obama isn't the only politician whose legal name has been used as a coded slur: another notable case is Louisiana GOP congressman and gubernatorial candidate Bobby Jindal, whose given name "Piyush" is regularly used by Louisiana Democrats, presumably to emphasize his "foreignness." Democrats say it's a way of throwing back the curtain ...

Blanco Abandons Re-Election Effort, Blames GOP

Famously incompetent Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco will not be seeking reelection after seeing poll numbers that would even make President Bush blanch: Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, politically battered by a shaky post-Hurricane Katrina performance, announced Tuesday that she would not seek election to a second term this fall. The Democratic governor’s announcement ends months of speculation in Louisiana political circles, fueled ...

Clinton and Giuliani Ahead in Alabama

Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani lead likely voters in Alabama as the favorites for their party's nomination, according to a survey by the Capital Survey Research Center, the polling arm of the Alabama Education Association. Among likely Democratic voters, Clinton was favored by 35 percent to 19 percent for Sen. Barack Obama, 9 percent for former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, ...

Virginia Apologizes for Slavery and Exploiting Indians

The Commonwealth of Virginia has apologized for slavery and running off the Indians. Meeting on the grounds of the former Confederate Capitol, the Virginia General Assembly voted unanimously Saturday to express "profound regret" for the state's role in slavery. Sponsors of the resolution say they know of no other state that has apologized for slavery, although Missouri lawmakers are considering such ...

Republicans a Regional Party?

The Economist features a piece by "Lexington" contending that, Zell Miller's book nothwithstanding, the Democrats are a national party while the Republican Party no longer has much appeal outside the South. The extent of the southernisation of the Republican Party is astonishing. The party was all but wiped out in its historic base, the north-east. There is now only one ...