Jackson Free Press

The Associated Press is reporting that the Barack Obama presidential campaign is opening an office in downtown Jackson in order to work toward the March 11 state primary. The JFP learned separately that the office will be in the site of former gubernatorial candidate John Arthur Eaves' campaign offce. Former Gov. Ray Mabus and U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson are Obama's state co-chairmen.

Previous Comments

ID

98877

Comment

One thing's for sure: If Obama won the primary here, that would make INTERNATIONAL news.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2008-02-25T16:16:04-06:00

ID

98878

Comment

Hercules, Hercules!! Get ready for Mississippi to make international news because I think he will win here. In fact, I saw a Barack Obama sign in front of Presidential Hills this morning.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2008-02-25T16:48:06-06:00

ID

98879

Comment

Great news. With all the Hillary and Bill hate in Mississippi for years, Obama has a an excellent chance of defeating Hillary here. That's not the test though. The real test will come with Obama competing against McCain if Obama beats Hillary.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2008-02-25T16:53:23-06:00

ID

98880

Comment

golden, I stay out there, so I've seen the sign a couple of times. When I saw it, I thought to myself, It's on now. Ray, if Obama won the general election here, I would be looking for Jesus to "crack the sky", as they say.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2008-02-25T17:11:14-06:00

ID

98881

Comment

I've started seeing a handful of Obama signs in front yards around Jackson. My friends and I believe Obama will carry MS in the Dem primary, but we aren't as hopeful about November.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2008-02-25T18:27:24-06:00

ID

98882

Comment

Even though Obama may not win the general election, it would still make history for a black man to win the primary in Mississippi.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2008-02-25T18:40:20-06:00

ID

98883

Comment

not blown away by this news, but It's good to know so I can go down there... Hope. Action. Change. Obama '08

Author

ccecill

Date

2008-02-25T18:40:47-06:00

ID

98884

Comment

It's a sign of a tight race if anyone of the major campaigns deigns to show up here.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-02-25T19:07:37-06:00

ID

98885

Comment

Sure Obama will win the Dem primary; but, in no way will the State go Blue come the general. It wouldn't matter if Hillary was a Republican, MS votes Red. Not by any fault of Jackson or Hinds... It's the rest of the State. Glad to see him opening an office here. I hope he keeps it through the General. And, I hope he does more than Kerry or Gore did the last two time out. I think the focus should be on voting for Obama because Hillary is coming unglued as we speak. She even tried to say she had no idea where today's picture of Obama came from. "I know nothing about it," Clinton told ABC affiliate WFAA. "This is in the public domain. But let's just stop and ask yourself: 'Why are you -- why is anybody concerned about this?'" Clinton said that she found questions about whether her campaign leaked the photo to be "really laughable." "This is one more attempt by my opponent's campaign to change the subject," said Clinton, "From his health-care plan that won't cover everybody, from an economic plan that won't produce jobs, and from a record that is pretty thin when it comes to national security and standing up for our country around the world." Ridiculous! She is grasping at straws. She goes angry one moment then mocks "celestial choirs" in the next breath. Please go home Hillary, and take that angry man with you!

Author

pikersam

Date

2008-02-25T19:17:40-06:00

ID

98886

Comment

Actually, Obama could win Mississippi—if he could draw less than a third of the white vote. Either/or he really turns out people who don't normally vote. And there are a lot of them in this state. Don't forget that over 60 percent of voters under 30 in the state voted for Kerry—KERRY—in the last presidential election, a significantly higher proportion than any southern including Texas and Florida. Add to that the lack of enthusiasm for McCain that could keep some frothing-at-the-mouth conservatives home. So it is certainly possible. I'm not predicting it will happen, but the last thing we need in this state is more self-fulfilling pronostication about what is and is not possible here. Mississippi has a better chance than many other states of turning "blue," based on our racial demographic. People who are tired of Republicanism (probably not you, Pike, and we love you anyway) need to start understanding the power they have. Mississippi has longed been ruled by demagogues precisely because people don't understand their own power. The truth is that Obama may be exactly the candidate that can do it here—precisely because going blue here will require someone who will excite African American voters and young people, not to mention draws some whites who don't normally vote for a Democrat to add to those who do. In other words, to coin a phrase, it's about turnout, stupid. If Obama can deliver that here, this state could flip.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-02-25T19:34:23-06:00

ID

98887

Comment

Oh, and Hillary and Bill Clinton officially disgust me at this point. I mean, major disgust.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-02-25T19:35:09-06:00

ID

98888

Comment

How do you all think Nader entering the race will affect the candidates?

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2008-02-25T19:38:17-06:00

ID

98889

Comment

All politicians disgust me.

Author

BubbaT

Date

2008-02-25T19:44:57-06:00

ID

98890

Comment

Sen. Chris Dodd to endorse Obama today Obama now leads Clinton nationally by 16 percentage points and has a double-digit lead over Clinton in Texas.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2008-02-26T08:45:12-06:00

ID

98891

Comment

I'm with you on this one Ray Carter. The real test will be MS continuing to support a Democratic ticket if Obama is the party representative. I think we witnessed something similar with Anderson who ran against George Dale and won the Dems spot for Insurance Comm. In the general election, it was a Republican wash all the way. The person with the most experience was kicked to the curve. We don't need any of this STRANGE MS voting to take place with this one. We didn't need it then.

Author

justjess

Date

2008-02-26T13:41:54-06:00

ID

98892

Comment

I can't stand Nader. I blame him for helping Bush/Cheney rise to power, and I wish only republicans and Nader supporters could suffer the consequences of the Bush/Cheney legacy/ticket. There are certain Democrats (yes I said it) I wouldn't vote for under any circumstances no matter how much I disliked republicans because I know the good and welfare of the country trump any party of politics.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2008-02-26T15:00:53-06:00

ID

98893

Comment

Nader's an egomaniac....

Author

gipper

Date

2008-02-26T15:11:44-06:00

ID

98894

Comment

Donna is correct. Mississippi has the makeup for Obama to win here. The question is can he motivate people, especially minorities in MS to come out in mass numbers like he has everywhere else. Folks are sleeping on Obama, but there is something special about that guy. Something that almost transcends politics. Yet, it is not cult worship or the fact that he is the Anti-Christ like some conservatives want to claim. If I am not mistaken, Mississippi has the highest percentage of African Americans of any state. The question is, can that be translated into votes?

Author

Goldenae

Date

2008-02-26T15:54:08-06:00

ID

98895

Comment

I'll step up to the plate and admit that I voted for Nader in 2000. Since Mississippi was rock-hard solid for Bush during that election, my vote for him would not have come close to changing the outcome of the election. Had I lived in New Hampshire, then it would've mattered. The reason I voted for Nader was because his brand of populism appealed to me with stances against corporate power and to clean up government. I would've voted for Gore if a viable third-party candidate wasn't available. I also voted third party in the 2002 California governor's election (the one before the recall election). Gray Davis didn't cut it and no way I was voting for a Republican like Bill Simon.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2008-02-26T16:23:18-06:00

ID

98896

Comment

Oh, cool! Now I can go and get an Obama sign. It'll sit nest to my husband's blank campaign sign. :)

Author

Lady Havoc

Date

2008-02-26T17:52:48-06:00

ID

98897

Comment

I wonder how many supporters will the Nader-Haters attract this time. Ralph hates everybody. He said that there was no difference in the Gore/Bush campaign and that he entered the race to give people a choice. He hates Kerry. I think that the man needs a "HUG." Maybe, just maybe, he will go to the house and sit on the porch.

Author

justjess

Date

2008-02-27T13:23:56-06:00

ID

98898

Comment

Nader is now officially out of touch with younger generations. Gen Y isn't called the "civic generation" for nothing. They are hopeful, and believe in working within the system to fix it -- not make it as bad as possible hoping for a revolution of people in hybrids storming the White House to take it back, as Nader hopes will happen. In other words, they are optimistic realists. Generally speaking, of course. I'm as tired of Nader as I am of Bushes and Clintons.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-02-27T13:26:57-06:00

ID

98899

Comment

I am willing to say that if the conservative vote stays home; there is an excellent chance that Obama could win Mississippi in a general election. It would be a squeaker, though- maybe only a copule of thousand vote difference. I put his chances at 55%.

Author

Willezurmacht

Date

2008-02-27T14:50:22-06:00

ID

98900

Comment

FYI- from the New Republic- David Duke quoted: "Yet, far from railing at Obama's rise, Duke seems almost nonchalant about it. Self-described white nationalists like himself, he explained cordially, "don't see much difference in Barack Obama than Hillary Clinton--or, for that matter, John McCain." Sure, Duke considers Obama "a racist individual," citing his Afrocentric Chicago church. But soon the founder of the National Association for the Advancement of White People was critiquing Obama as overhyped and insubstantial in terms you might hear from, say, Clinton strategist Mark Penn. "They say he's for change. What change? He's become almost a cult figure. I don't see any shining light around Obama's head. I don't see any halos," Duke said."

Author

Willezurmacht

Date

2008-02-27T14:53:31-06:00

ID

98901

Comment

I'll step up to the plate and admit that I voted for Nader in 2000. I did too, Golden Eagle, for the same reason. But even though it didn't matter here, I regret it anyway. It was way too head-in-the-clouds to think there wasn't enough difference between Gore and Bush in 2000. Btw, I follow Claifornia politics closely and have never liked Gray Davis either. Also, didn't Jesse Jackson win the Mississippi caucuses (there wasn't a primary) in 1984? That's my recollection. So an Obama win on March 11 won't exactly be history. But it will be damn noteworthy anyway.

Author

GenShermansGhost

Date

2008-02-29T13:57:03-06:00

ID

98902

Comment

I'm actually questioning Nader's sanity for running a third time.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2008-03-03T15:11:32-06:00

ID

98903

Comment

I'm actually questioning Nader's sanity for running a third time. If ego-mania is in the DSM, then yes, he's insane. It's a sad end to an otherwise worthy career of fighting for consumers.

Author

GenShermansGhost

Date

2008-03-03T15:17:52-06:00

ID

98904

Comment

"Also, didn't Jesse Jackson win the Mississippi caucuses (there wasn't a primary) in 1984? That's my recollection. So an Obama win on March 11 won't exactly be history. But it will be damn noteworthy anyway. " Interesting general Sherm. you aren't the first to feel that jesse de ja vu :-)! I haven't had more laughs during an election since...ever.

Author

FreeClif

Date

2008-03-03T16:48:34-06:00