Jackson Free Press

Hot off her wins in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island, presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton is turning her attention to Mississippi. Clinton will be appearing tomorrow at the Mississippi Democratic Party's 26th Annual Jefferson Jackson Hamer Day Dinner in Canton.

The Democratic Party also invited Sen. Barack Obama, but has not yet received word on whether he plans to attend. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. For tickets or more information, call the state Democratic Party's Jackson headquarters at 601-969-2913.

Previous Commentsshow

I suggest everyone go to WAPT when they post the video of Ray Mabus commenting on Hillary's visit. He sums up what he think Hillary thinks of MS very succinctly.

pikersam

Mar 5 2008

Hmm... heard through the grapevine that Obama is definitely coming.... Im' so glad the Hildabeast is going to be here... maybe that's why it's so cold lately.

LawClerk

Mar 5 2008

Just remember Iowa when you vote!

pikersam

Mar 5 2008

Why Iowa?

LawClerk

Mar 5 2008

Obam sent a big email this afternoon pushing supporters to be there.

msgrits

Mar 5 2008

I need everyone to pray. I mean PRAY. Pray the hardest you've ever prayed in your entire life. I may have a ticket. But, I MAY have a ticket. I won't know until tomorrow. PRAY. PEOPLE, PRAY. GET ON YOUR KNEES. TELL JESUS I AM SORRY. PRAY (I am being serious) I'm praying right now.

Lori G

Mar 5 2008

Oke doke. :-)

LatashaWillis

Mar 5 2008

L.W.-Thank you. I appreciate it. I REALLY want to go. But, I also know that it won't happen unless the universe deigns it so. And, I'm just smart enough to know I need help with that. :)

Lori G

Mar 5 2008

I want to be there so bad. Not a chance in hell, though.

ellen

Mar 5 2008

"I may have a ticket. But, I MAY have a ticket. I won't know until tomorrow. PRAY. PEOPLE, PRAY. GET ON YOUR KNEES. TELL JESUS I AM SORRY. PRAY (I am being serious)" Wow.

LawClerk

Mar 6 2008

I know, Lori. It is historic. ;-)

DonnaLadd

Mar 6 2008

I just want to be a part of it. Daddy Bushie came to the Greenville Airport in '92 while campaigning and my high school dance team performed. He signed a "bush/Quale '92" poster for me. He also elbowed my best friend in the face. Although I'm quite sure Hillary doesn't want me to dance for her, I just like being admist the frenzy. I'd love to hear her speak in person.

Lori G

Mar 6 2008

I don't fault you wanting to hear Hillary speak though I don't think it is that historic... First, you don't bargain with God. Just saying. ;-) Second, the ONLY reason Hillary is even speaking here is because now she HAS to as Ray Mabus pointed out yesterday. Mississippi wasn't even on her radar because she thought she would have mopped up Obama by now. Well that theory didn't work out too well for her which is just another reason to question her as President. Also, reading some of the articles about MI and FL re-voting so they can seat the delegates Hillary thinks she will do good because of the large numbers of Jews, women, and Hispanics mainly in FL. MI is a mirror of OH where the white blue collar workers are like the Dixiecrats of the South! Not because the "voters" want her to win; but, because of select groups of voters. That is divisive to say the least! She is banking on prejudice thought to put her in office. That may be the way of politics; but at least Obama is running on a platform that is for all the people. Go Obama!

pikersam

Mar 6 2008

I remember when President Clinton came to Jackson. It was a big rally downtown at the intersection of Capitol and State. Wasn't that his first run for office? I just remember the excitement. Go Hillary!!!!

lanier77

Mar 6 2008

GO Obama, hillary The clintons are nasty do everything to get in office cry babies. I guess its ok to be mean and nasty and be dirty. She has no integrity and is tearing the party apart to get into office. OBAMA 08

NewJackson

Mar 6 2008

Good Lord, you say one thing about wanting to be a part of a presidential candidate visiting just BECAUSE, and people come out of the woodwork criticizing your religion (or lackthereof) and your overall ability to reason. I KNOW the only reason Hillary is coming here is just because we are "all of a sudden" important. I'm not even VOTING for her. In fact, I'd like for someone to ask her about the statements she made concerning MS when she was in Iowa. Lord have mercy, people, drink some coffee, get a sense of humor, and rediscover your inner eight-year-old. It'll make life easier, I promise.

Lori G

Mar 6 2008

I was hoping you were being a little tongue in cheek. I did say I understood why you wanted to hear her speak. IF she was President I would feel compelled to hear her talk, and want to bring my children too. I'm not trying to rain on your parade; but, as this long (too long) election has gone on, the more and more it is apparent that Hillary is just a shell of some kind of alien spawn or something. ;-)

pikersam

Mar 6 2008

Posted on January 23, 2008 The New York Observer Endorsement of Barack Obama Lost amid the sound and fury of this year’s primary season is the certainty, not the promise, of change. For the first time since 1952, there is no heir apparent to the administration in power. The stakes have rarely been higher in a presidential election. The question is not if there will be change in American leadership, but what kind. And the change that is being offered has a focus and intelligence that is kindred to the best American traditions. It is embodied by one candidate in the Democratic Party who is offering a reinvigorated America: Senator Barack Obama. The New York Observer urges New York Democrats to support Mr. Obama in the state’s presidential primary on Feb. 5. New Yorkers might ask why they should not pull a lever for our junior senator, Hillary Rodham Clinton. While Mrs. Clinton is an extraordinary United States senator for New York, we believe that Mr. Obama can be a great president for the United States of America. Most of the other candidates have absorbed, assimilated or appropriated Mr. Obama’s issue of change. It is a powerful concept. But a great deal of the argument for Mr. Obama’s candidacy is about one great issue in American life: restoring and reinvigorating American democracy. Democracy is the greatest strength of this still-young nation. Its living enactment is our gift to the world. It is the product of our best instincts and most powerful ideals. But it has been polluted, sullied and compromised by an obstructive administration that seems to have to have no particular regard for its attributes. It is difficult to remember the last national candidate who has charged and jazzed the democratic system as Mr. Obama has. Partly as a result of his candidacy, college campuses have remembered why they are proud of the United States, kids are going door to door, runners are handing out leaflets on weekends, racial lines have been culturally melted and the electoral approach to presidential campaigning has been reborn. And, as more than one commentator has said, America is being reintroduced to the world. Because of who he is and what he stands for, a former constitutional law teacher with few ties to the Washington establishment yet a sophisticated respect for it, Mr. Obama stands the best chance of restoring the essential relationship between power and the American people. He is not flanked and blocked by an existing, entrenched power structure; his words are not muddied by layers of handlers; he still says what he means. We believe that Mr. Obama’s idealism and fresh ideas would ensure that the end of the Bush era would also mean an end to government by secrecy, Cheneyism, arrogance, oligarchy; an end to mindless armed unilateralism abroad; an end to the blustering, rank partisan disputes of the last quarter-century. Mr. Obama has found his strength in the generation that succeeded the baby boomers, speaking for the frustrations of those who wish that their leaders would get over themselves, get over the 1960’s, get on with resolving issues that threaten our global leadership. Mr. Obama is an inclusive figure at a time when our popular culture demands that we embrace a new America while still comprehending the lessons of hard-won history—from World War II through the fall of the Berlin Wall—that have brought us to a free world in 2008. He is also determined to mend this nation. Mr. Obama, as Walt Whitman did, hears America singing, not snarling. Too many candidates have turned opponents into traitors, critics into jackals. Mr. Obama believes the nation yearns to see hope and inspiration and courage emerge victorious from the era’s gauntlet of hypocrisy and lies and false bravado. Imagine, for a moment, any other candidate this year saying what Mr. Obama said at the 2004 Democratic National Convention: “The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into red states and blue states; red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don’t like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states. We coach Little League in the blue states and yes, we got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.” That is a song we have not heard for too long a time. It is the kind of song that can make citizens of spectators, Americans of couch potatoes, patriots of slackers. Mr. Obama would also be the most formidable Democrat in the general election. He has demonstrated a capacity to energize young people and attract new voters, and is the only candidate in the Democratic Party who attracts independents, who are the fastest-growing part of the electorate. His refusal to demonize the Republican Party as a right-wing attack machine will appeal to those independents as well as moderate Republicans. Mr. Obama, it is true, is hardly an experienced Washington hand, which surely explains the freshness of his vision and the power of his life experience. His opponents have hit this issue hard. But as far as experience goes, to those Americans who celebrated finding ourselves with our first M.B.A. president in 2000—we can only advise them to look at the $9 trillion national debt in 2008. And when George W. Bush was driving a bleary, shocked nation into war with bait-and-switch deceptions in 2003, where was our experienced leadership? Meanwhile, in the west, an Illinois state senator—who has since served three years in the Senate, the same Congressional period that a fellow Midwesterner, Abraham Lincoln, had served when he sought the presidency—rose to exhibit courage and public judgment on that deceptive adventure, stating, “I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.” Now we have paid the price many times over, and there are no clear paths in Baghdad. But there may be one in Washington. Mr. Obama is the emblem of a new America. He has risen too quickly for his opponents’ taste; that fact is nothing less than a recommendation. His relationship to truth and plain speaking and public transparency is the first step toward reviving democracy in the United States of America. Barack Obama of Illinois is the future. Democrats everywhere should embrace him.

Robert65

Mar 6 2008

Obama's not coming, so we aren't going.

Jeff Lucas

Mar 6 2008

According to the Ledger, Obama will be in Jackson on Monday. Wonder where.

ellen

Mar 6 2008

Pike, I hate to tell you this, but most elections are won by people who appeal to "select groups of voters", and not the entire populace. Especially, to quote your list, when they are "groups" like "jews, hispanics and women." Um, that list includes a pretty large percentage of the population. As for her not "planning" to come to MS, I'm not sure why that bugs people so much. MS is rarely influential in selecting nominees - we come late in the primary game, and we have a relatively small number of delegates. Not sure why she should spend time and money before she needs to. I'm fine with people supporting Obama, but I feel very strongly that this type of speculative criticism of Clinton is a waste of time, and only benefits the republican party in the long run. Criticize her policies all you want (hers, and not her husband's), but quit the whining.

kate

Mar 6 2008

I remember when President Clinton came to Jackson. It was a big rally downtown at the intersection of Capitol and State. Wasn't that his first run for office? I was there, and it was his first run. I was a freshperson at Tougaloo at the time. They took a few busloads down there so we could hear him speak. One of my classmates was in the MS Mass Choir, and she sang the Star Spangled Banner.

LatashaWillis

Mar 6 2008

He has demonstrated a capacity to energize young people and attract new voters, and is the only candidate in the Democratic Party who attracts independents, who are the fastest-growing part of the electorate. His refusal to demonize the Republican Party as a right-wing attack machine will appeal to those independents as well as moderate Republicans. As an independent, I can say that's what got my attention. I'm past tired of the partisan bickering.

LatashaWillis

Mar 6 2008

Gee Kate, I figured you've been around these blogs long enough to know that it is one thing to critique one's post, but completely another to "tell" them what to do. But, I'll take what you say into consideration. NOT! I'm sure glad Obama isn't just trying to appeal to certain groups and wants votes from all Americans. Good point LW about being an independent. Generally, it is independents that aren't so hung up of the make up of one's person or the groups they cater to with their message. Just that they are choosing the best person or the lesser of two evils depending on the election. I'm looking forward to hearing Hillary's Southern accent now that she is back in the deep South. LOL!

pikersam

Mar 6 2008

Here is an interesting article in the WSJ where they point out that Hillary got less delegates in TX than Obama. Oh, and this little tidbit: Pennsylvania is the real test, and it will be a tough one for Sen. Obama. Like its neighbor Ohio, which Sen. Clinton won by 10 percentage points amid signs in the voter exit polls of racial polarization, Pennsylvania is home to many struggling working-class, less-educated and older voters -- groups where Sen. Clinton has been strongest. She has support from the state's governor and Philadelphia's mayor. Hmmmm.....

pikersam

Mar 6 2008

Sure Pike, Obama is trying to appeal to all Americans, so is Hillary, but wasn't there an article on here that said he was going to have to get the white male vote to win? Don't you think he is going to put extra effort in to win them over. He is a politician, appealling to certain groups is what they do best. Your comment about Hilliary being alien spawn is wrong, I always thought she was Satan's Step Child from Hell... :) I read an interview with 19yr old motocross champion and they asked him who he was going to vote for and he said "I'm not voting, it dosen't matter who's President, it still going to be screwed up." I am beginning to agree with him.

BubbaT

Mar 6 2008

Clinton Camp Compares Obama to Ken Starr I also heard a Republican say on Good Morning America that he voted for Clinton because he felt that she would have less of a chance in beating McCain than Obama.

LatashaWillis

Mar 6 2008

I have heard few people say that too.

BubbaT

Mar 6 2008

Yes, Mississippian do want to know! Release your taxes Hillary! In case anyone has forgotten Hillary used the "tax return" issue to torpedo her opponent for Sen. Rick Lazio in 2000. I find it arrogant when she says she will only release the returns after she has secured the nomination. I'm reading that people are saying she's playing the victim card with her allegations of Obama acting like Ken Starr. LOL!

pikersam

Mar 6 2008

Someone ask her what she thinks about gun control! Her husband was such a great friend of the 2nd Amendment.

LawClerk

Mar 6 2008

pike, I'm not "telling" you do to anything. I am personally undecided between Clinton and Obama. But, most of what I'm seeing here is simply "vote for Obama because Clinton's eeeevvvvilllll". Seriously, when you complain that she's appealing to "special" groups like "women", that really doesn't resonate with me. If she won the women's vote, she'd win the election. Women are not a "special" group. We are the majority. You feel that Obama appeals to "all americans". Maybe. I see him working the youth vote (for which I applaud him), and African Americans. Like any other politician, he's playing to his strengths. Quite frankly, if I remain undecided between now and tuesday, I will vote for Clinton, simply because I'm so tired of people telling me how "awful" she is. I like Obama, and I like Clinton. Feel free to sway me to your side of the fence, by offering me reasons to be for Obama, and not simply be against Clinton. I find it interesting that Clinton appeals to the "less educated", per your post above. Could be race, could be other factors. In my personal, limited, and unscientific experience, I've found that people are more inclined to vote for Obama because he's a man, than to vote for Clinton because she's white. Voting for Clinton doesn't make me a racist (even if others are voting for her since she's white), any more than voting for Obama would make me a sexist (even if others are voting for him because he's a man). All I'm saying is, I get it. I get that many people don't like Senator Clinton. But, I'm still at a loss to understand the appeal of Obama, beyond the fact that he's new, young, and offers change (which is alot, but not enough to secure my vote right now).

kate

Mar 7 2008

Kate, you told me to "stop whining." And, that is just uncool on these blogs. You recent post is much more on topic, and loses the "you need to tone" that was in your first post. I appreciate your second response much more than your first. Thx. BTW: That was the MSM that said she was appealing to the "less educated" not me. I was just relaying the message. And, I think one thing many of us in MS know is that it is a lack of education that has allowed racism and racist choices to rule over reason. Yes, I agree with the MSM that in States like OH, MI, and PA that the white blue collar worker is just as racist as a Southern redneck. And, I strongly disagree that Obama has played the race card as much as Hillary has played the victim card. Facts and demographics prove that no one can win across America with just the African American voters. AA's make up less than 25% of the total population, and that figure many be generous. Just look at yesterdays Ken Starr comparison. The fact that she whined that the MSM was giving Obama a pass while she was being "fully vetted;" is hogwash! She won't even do the simple things like release her tax returns that she has EXPECTED from opponents in her past campaigns for Senate is arrogant. I find it very troubling that nothing is ever a "Clinton's" fault, that it is something done by the rightwing machine or the MSM or her detractors - but never their fault.

pikersam

Mar 7 2008

Once the Nixon tapes were finally released we really saw how much of a bastard he and his cohorts really were. That is why we have to keep pressing the Clinton's to release documents related to their time in the White House, like Obama is requesting.

pikersam

Mar 7 2008

And yet, still no substance on "why Obama"... For the record, I didn't say that Obama had "played the race card". I said that he appealed to African American voters. Two entirely different stances, in my opinion. Help me, please. I am sincerely undecided. I do NOT need any more info on what's wrong with Clinton. I need info on what is right about Obama.

kate

Mar 7 2008

There is a ton of information out there on Obama's stances on various issues. It's easy to find with a Google search or a click to his Web site. As far as I can tell, he doesn't dance around very many issues at all. He seems to be more openly progressive than Clinton, if not as partisan. Read his stances for yourself. Adam even pointed out this morning that Clinton supported opening up offshore drilling in Mississippi. My bottom line: I really like Obama and his positions, and he inspires me; at the same time I am sick of Clintons and their drama and their assumption that they deserve to go back to the White House. I believe he will unite people better; I believe they will further divide us. I also think he has a much better shot at beating McCain because, frankly, a lot of people (especially young ones and non-white) excited about his candidacy may stay home again if it's Clinton v. McCain. That will benefit the Republicans. Oh, and if you don't like the plural "Clintons" or the "their" in this occasion, then you should also reject her claim about all her "experience." She can't piggyback off him in one sentence, and then distance herself in the next. She has no more experience being commander-in-chief than Obama does, and she really ought to stop pretending she does.

DonnaLadd

Mar 7 2008

Kate, i just wanted to say, I am a fan of yours on the blogs, and I'm sorry for the words between us. And, yes I am a bit more in favor of Obama due to style of substance. Yet, I find it funny that anyone running for President thinks they can implement a fraction of the policies or what they claim to stand for due to our wonderful system of checks and balances. But, I just think Hillary should try to take a higher road than the one she is on right now. Like this statement she made in Hattiesburg: Clinton has already sought to lower expectations for the contest in this state where Obama is expected to do well, largely because of his increasing appeal among black voters. Mississippi's population is 37 percent black. "I know that I may have an uphill battle here in the state, I appreciate that," Clinton said. Why even go there in her speech to a predominately white crowd? And, it is the media speculating that Obama will do well in MS not Obama saying he will do good due to the large black population.

pikersam

Mar 7 2008