Free Republic

In the first two advertisements of their kind, Republicans seeking an advantage in a Mississippi special election are invoking Barack Obama in arguing that a Democratic Congressional candidate is too liberal for his district. That flies in the face of what has been conventional wisdom for months among national Democratic strategists who have not publicly taken sides in the presidential contest; many privately express more hope in Obama's potential coattails than in rival Hillary Clinton's. But while Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have made appearances in Republican advertisements before, the GOP is now taking on Obama, reflecting both...

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sPeQ2mKRro The Republican candidate in a special election to fill an unexpectedly contested seat in a conservative Mississippi congressional district is using recent controversies surrounding Senator Barack Obama to tar his Democratic rival. A television ad from Southaven Mayor Greg Davis tells viewers that his Democratic rival, Travis Childers, a realtor and Prentiss County official, has accepted the endorsement of "liberal Barack Obama." Then, with Childers' face beside footage of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, it says, "When Obama's pastor cursed America, blaming us for 9/11, Childers said nothing." Then: "When Obama ridiculed rural folks for clinging to guns and...

Democrat Travis W. Childers led the field and just narrowly missed the majority vote he needed for an outright victory in a special election held Tuesday in Mississippi’s 1st District. Childers now moves on to a May 13 runoff with Republican Greg Davis, the mayor of Southaven, in a district that has a conservative lean and usually votes strongly Republican in contests for federal office. Childers received 49.4 percent, just short of the 50 percent threshold, according to complete but unofficial returns. Davis received 46.3 percent of the vote and trailed Childers by more than 2,000 votes, staving off elimination...

A grieving Memphis couple has given up on its seven-year custody battle over a foster daughter after the Tennessee Supreme Court ordered the girl must be returned to her biological parents in China. Larry Parrish, a lawyer for Jerry and Louise Baker, said in a statement the couple would not make themselves available to the media. But he said the family has concluded any further attempts to keep the 8-year-old girl they've called Anna Mae in their home would be futile. "It has been soberly concluded by the Bakers that Anna has been forced by a defective system to suffer...

An official with the Institute on Religion and Democracy says it is outrageous that a leader in the United Methodist Church has called for the removal of U.S. flags from the denomination's churches. Minister Clayton Childers of the Capitol Hill-based United Methodist Board of Church and Society said the presence of a national flag can imply endorsement of national policies, which often are counter to the teachings of Christ. Childers even noted that the Swastika flag was displayed prominently in German churches during the Nazi era. Mark Tooley is with the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD). "Obviously," he notes,...

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Police said a sexual predator in Jacksonville was attacked Saturday night by eight men who claimed he tried to grab a 12-year-old child on the street. Officials said the men confronted John Childers, 46, and beat him with their fists. Police found Childers on the ground in front of the Evergreen Avenue half-way house where he lived and called rescue. Childers had bruises on his head and face, but was not hospitalized. Witnesses told police that eight men arrived in a 1993 Lincoln Continental and another vehicle, beat Childers, then left. The witness said the men had come around looking...