LIVE THREAD MISSISSIPPI GOV. RACE - Barbour (R) 53% Musgrove (D) 45% (85% Reporting- AP Calls It)

Bush appearing can only help Jindal. Though it was meant as an attack against Jindal, Kathleen Blanco made a point in that Jindal is only running against her. Blanco is running against two people--Jindal who is running for Governor, and Bush, who is very popular in Louisiana and she cannot get brownie points with voters much by attacking him (cost Ben Chandler the election here in KY). They say that Air Force One is good for 25,000 votes everytime she lands. So the President appearing in Louisiana can only help Jindal. No big Democrat that Kathy Blanco can call on would help her, if anything it would hurt her...

Try telling me that about...oh... 7 years ago. Seventh grade. I was in a mock debate (being Bob Dole). I thought I made a pretty good case (for a stuttering pre-teen who'd never really spoken before a crowd). One of the posters I'd made during setup read "Dole bled, Clinton fled". I don't exactly remember the speech, but during the questions, one black girl (this being a majority black school, w/ busing in OKC) held up a food stamp and asked something to the effect of "What would you do about these?" I responded that she wouldn't have to rely on them if Dole were elected. Well, long story short, Dole lost in the mock election by a vote of about 72-3-1 (Perot getting a vote).

yup, democrats of all walks of life will vote to perpetuate their self-interest. welfare recipients because they want to keep their entitlements, contractors because they want to keep access to no bid contracts with state and local government, union workers because they want to maintain collective bargaining, teachers unions because they want to reduce class sizes (ie. more teachers = more union members), and worst of all, lawyers because they want no tort reform to allow limits on punitive damages, which makes business very costly for everyone... That is why Republicans must win, because the democrat party is one big giant suckling sow with all the little piglets sucking on the teats of the sow to milk the country for everything it has......

I would also almost take my chances with a RINO, but since you pay just close attention, you have to remember how horribly bad Sundquist turned out in his last three years.

I spent many days at the capitol protesting the income tax.

I was shocked when Bredesen beat Van Hilleary, but Van took the east for granted and Bredesen did a great job in those counties. He didn't have to win them, but he got enough votes in the 43-46% range to make a difference overall.

And don't forget his tax hikes as Mayor were to build the Titans stadium (like Bud Adams couldn't afford it), the Gaylord Entertainment Center (then just called the Arena), the home of the NHL Predators whose owner is filthy rich, and, of course, to "revitalize downtown" which goes on into infinity year, after year, after year. Actually, since the stadium and arena were built, more and more business left downtown. It wasn't the economic boom as predicted, but then again Dems are too stupid to understand true economics.

Many shops and restaurants were lured in being told that the new stadium, arena, parking areas, etc. etc. etc. would be a huge boom as people move back downtown. More and more apartments were zoned, big high rise fancy ones to moderately priced lofts. They didn't come. Most that live here are just not urban types. And so these businesses found their markets to be soft and one-time hits like during a game or a concert or a basketball tournament, etc.

And as you pointed out, the suburban flight from the high taxes. My wife and I moved to Franklin in Williamson county in May of 1999. Do we pay more for things? Some but not many. Rent and home prices mostly. But it's easier to find affordable housing and there are new housing tracts being built in the $160-185K range that matches Nashville.

We increased our rent from a hellhole in Nashville just off Edmondson Pike (a nice area) from $650 to only $900. The time driving to work and back alone saved money, the apartment is so much nicer in a great community, the small town life feel is still here but we have everything a big city has just a few miles away. Super Wal-Marts, Home Depot (2), Lowe's, Sam's, Costco and all the fast food, fancy restaurants, chain restaurants, dozens of banks, 3 Walgreens within a 5 mile radius, seven to eight grocery stores with great prices (Bi-Lo is the best on price), etc.

I can even get a wider variety of foods delivered to my home than I could in Nashville. I don't miss it at all. And since a large portion of Franklin is hoity-toity, it keeps out the riff-raff due to the prices of homes and such. Crime is low, property rates dropped to half their rate from 15 years ago (simple economics, the bigger the tax pie, the lower rate you can charge), and quality of life is great. I'm going to die here.

>Okay, what's happening in LA with Jindal?

Interesting turn of events--Blanco is playing race baiter by calling Jindal a racist. She is backed by a major Pakistani-American group who claims that Jindal is a racist because of his Indian heritage and a Jindal election would be disastauous towards future policy towards Pakistan. Even if anything of this is true, then we should back Jindal even more, do a big FReep support campaign for him, because Pakistan is one of the most dangerous places in the world, Osama is probably hid out there, and this group backing Mrs. Blanco has in the past been suspected of funnelling money to Al Qaeda.

In answer to someone else, Jindal is a convert to Roman Catholicism, not hindu. However Indians, whether hindu or not, are pretty big in southeastern part of Louisiana, mostly around Harahan..

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