On June 6, the Democratic primaries in the 2nd Congressional District will be up for grabs. Three candidates are facing off in the race, including political whack-a-mole Dorothy "Dot" Benford, who pops up every election cycle. But the two most significant personalities battling for the chair are state Rep. Chuck Espy and the Democratic incumbent Bennie Thompson.
Both men want to better the Delta region, a largely black portion of the state and one of the poorest in the nation. Both want to encourage business and better the schools. In fact, if you're looking for variation, you need to think party politics.
The 13-year incumbent is all about partisanship. He's very much a liberal Democrat with no predilection for smiling tolerantly at the other side. The 58-year-old grew up in a time when many whites were open with their disdain for blacks and their desire to lock them out of society.
Thompson saw firsthand the mass exodus of Dixiecrat separatists from the Democratic Party when Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1964 to form a foundation of the modern GOP.
Johnson predicted, even then, that he'd signed the South over to the Republican Party, and Thompson was there to bear witness to the lemming rush as poor whites fled to a party that continues to demand they vote against their economic interest every year—giving incredible tax breaks to their rich bosses who then pack up their jobs and ship them overseas for more profit.
Thompson recognizes the aging faces in today's Republican Party from the old Democratic Party of 30 years ago and holds no love for them.
Thompson had the cajones to stand against the invasion of Iraq, openly decrying President Bush and Congress for making a terrible mistake. He was open about this when most Democrats were tucking their tails or joining the mob.
But many critics consider Thompson vengeful and biting, with a long memory. Thompson even eschewed an endorsement of blue-dog Democrat Ronnie Musgrove in the 2003 gubernatorial race, telling The New York Times that year that "(Musgrove) has a long way to go to get the excitement back to where it was four years ago."
Thompson's long years in office have also produced snuggly relationships with parties unpalatble to progressives. In 2005, a lobbyist love-child rolled out of the U.S. Department of Labor, allowing the DOL to warn Wal-Mart before it would bounce in for any surprise visits regarding child labor, and it gave the company a 10-day grace period to comply instead of assessing instant fines for violations. When angry progressives introduced an amendment to the 2006 fiscal year labor appropriations bill that would have stripped funding from the DOL, Thompson was one of the "Wal-Mart 22," a small band of Democrats who voted against it.
To be fair, Thompson is torn between union supporters who hate Wal-Mart's anti-union practices and the fact that Wal-Mart is one of the few companies bringing new jobs to the impoverished Delta.
But Thompson also gets big money from Exxon-Mobil, one of the oil drilling giants who have made record profits while Americans struggle to drive to work on high gas prices. When asked if America would ever manage to be fully independent from foreign oil through renewable energy sources, Thompson said he doubted it. Was that Thompson talking or Exxon-Mobil?
Chuck Espy describes himself as a moderate whose biggest campaign selling point is his "willingness to work with Republicans." Whereas Thompson is openly suspicious of the conservative set in Washington, Espy's history in the state Legislature shows a quiet personality willing to work in the background with people.
"Chuck comes to me privately expressing his views, and I think that's a good trait, instead of getting up on the floor of the House and eviscerating you," says Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, who frequently works with Espy. "Usually Chuck's approach is 'I want to share with you how this might affect my people or my district,' or 'I want you to understand that if you did this it would help my district.' He's always thinking about his people, but he's not one to dive headfirst into drama."
"In short," Holland says, "he ain't me."
Though Espy comes off as a good facilitator, he has no national political experience. In interviews, 31-year-old Espy is a starry-eyed dreamer who was unable to detail his plan for bringing better education and fresh business to the Delta beyond getting back on the U.S. Congress' Agricultural Committee (recently abandoned by Thompson in favor of the Homeland Security Committee—which has grown in significance, as of late), cutting taxes and insurance rates for businesses, hiring an economic development coordinator and working "with all the members of the congressional delegates as a team to rebuild the state."
The challenger believes that the highly partisan atmosphere of a Republican-dominated Washington will not interfere with his plans to be a voice for his region, despite the Republican habit of locking Democratic voices out of debates, including Thompson's. A recent drug-prescription bill, now unpopular with a majority of the American public, got no real fight from Democrats in 2005 because Republicans knew their minority voice wasn't needed to pass it.
Espy wants to fund a pilot program installing two reading facilitators in two Level 1 schools in the Delta. He hopes the program will prove a good example and coax extra cash down from Washington and up from Jackson for a similar statewide program. Espy's willingness to dip into his own pocket for the program is admirable, but his argument hammers with an empty echo against American political priorities. Appropriations committees are already well aware of the benefits of such programs, even as they routinely short-change education funding every year.
The challenger's lack of experience manifests in other ways as well. Thompson will hold the chair on the Homeland Security Committee if Democrats take the House in November—and recent polls show this is a strong possibility. This could open incredible doors. Thompson says he's already looking to get a bio-medical facility related to Homeland Security to Jackson, near the UMC hospital. If Espy takes the seat, however, he walks in with little more than a desire to sit on the Agricultural Committee. It could be a long haul from there.
Espy reveals himself to be a right-leaning moderate in the U.S. congressional race, even though his conservatism may not have been apparent as a state representative. Espy has garnered much support from Republicans in the area, and Thompson's campaign claims the political action group Citizens for Better Representation are encouraging Republicans and people with incomes over $50,000 to vote for Espy in the Democratic primary. Certainly, if you believe Greenville Republican leader Clarke Reed's assessment that Republicans are jumping behind Republican candidate Yvonne Brown instead of Espy, then you're being snookered. Republicans were happy to cross over and vote in the Democratic mayoral primaries in Jackson, and they'll be more than happy to do so in the Second Congressional District—or in any primary where a Republican has no real opponent. Note to Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Dowdy: If you haven't lined up a left-leaning pseudo-Republican to run in the next statewide primary, then you're obviously not taking home a valuable lesson here.
A quick peek at Espy's campaign finance reports shows names like conservative powerhouse Billy Mounger. "I think Espy is a better choice over Thompson any day," says North Jackson resident J.F. Sanders, a Republican who also supported mayoral candidate Frank Melton in the 2005 election.
Some of Sanders' beliefs may actually be in line with Espy's. Let's run down a checklist where the two candidates part ideological ways, as revealed in recent interviews.
Abortion:
Espy: Against all forms of abortion, including the "morning-after pill," considered by some to be just another form of birth control.
Thompson: I'm not a woman, and it's not my business to choose for one.
The Iraq War:
Espy: Wishes we'd had more information before we went into it, but we're there now.
Thompson: Didn't approve of it then. Don't approve of it now.
Bush's honesty with America in leading up to the war:
Espy: Bush was honest but inaccurate.
Thompson: Bush lied to us.
Impeaching Bush:
Espy: No. Impeachment is wrong.
Thompson: Hang 'im high. Hang 'im high.
Was the recent tax cut for the rich a good idea:
Espy: Needs more information.
Thompson: Of course not. Did you get back $800 this year from it? Your boss did.
Offshore tax havens for U.S. companies:
Espy: They should have access to them, but make the U.S. a better competitor for their location.
Thompson: If they get U.S. support and protection, they need to pay U.S. taxes.
If you're looking for a right-leaning newbie with no seniority or status, a higher opinion of Bush than most Americans right now and a potential enemy of Roe vs. Wade, with cozy connections to local Republicans and a willingness to schmooze across party lines in Congress, Espy is your guy.
If you're looking for a well-oiled partisan with lobbyist links, but a suspicion of the current administration and the Congress of Newt Gingrich, and you don't think Republican ties will mean squat after Democrats retake Congress in November, then Thompson is more likely your fellow.
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