Jackson Jambalaya

I prefer Waffle House.

I heard the same thing this morning via someone who was at the breakfast.

Irl Dean Rhodes' breakfast, where is Tate coming from. Excuse me what all he did and got away with and Tate thinks this is someone to hang with and be associated with. This makes me regroup here and leave Tate out. I thought he was smarter than this.

Who is Irl Dean Rhodes?

And who are the Molly Ringwalds?

Irl Dean Rhodes was the Rankin County Chancery tax clerk convicted in the 80's by Ray Mabus's investigation who gave him the tout of bringing down the corrupted Rankin County and also gave him the shoe in to be the governor of Mississippi. It was very embarrassing for Rankin County for a decade or more. The legislators had to pass new guidelines after the conviction of Rhodes. It justs goes on and maybe Tate is too young to remember but his father is not. Also Board of Supervisors sting tied into all of this and these cases are guidelines used know in the State of Mississippi. Kingfish you would do so much better explaining all this!!!!!!

This breakfast seems to be a political happening in Rankin.
A number of elected officials attend on a regular basis.

And Molly Ringwald is an actress who starred in the 1985 movie "The Breakfast Club".

I know it was 25 years ago, but come on people, it is a classic everyone should see.

The Molly Ringswalds is a 80's tribute band named after her.

Bye Bye Tate. Irl Dean Rhodes? You gotta be kidding me. That is political suicide.

Irl Dean Rhodes was the only supervisor (out of many chargws) who went to trial on corruption charges and i am fairly sure he waa acquitted. Other supes plead out. Hes ancient now but still wields incredible political clout in Rankin county.

He was the Chancery Clerk.

8:27 since you had he was a supervisor and that was wrong did you mean crook instead of clout?

My bad...he was was found not guilty nonetheless

8:27 I have lived in Rankin Co for over forty years. I can assure you most people in this county don't even know who Irl Dean Rhodes is, and the few left who do know him could care less what the old crook thinks. Rhodes' "incredible political clout in Rankin County" has been gone for a very, very long time. He could not get someone elected for county dog catcher much less a state office.

Irl Dean was Rankin County Chancery Clerk. He was convicted of tax evasion and failure to report all his earnings. He had to repay the county thousands of dollars of interest from storing county funds in his personal account. His skimming practices forced the legislature to change the way clerks are paid.

Well it may not be a "Formal" announcement but its the first time that I know he has said this in a public setting, thats formal enough for me

"someone to hang with?"

I was at the breakfast. So was Tate. So was Congressman Harper. And Lt. Gov. Bryant. And Senator Dean Kirby. And Represenative Mark Baker. And Supervisor Wood Brown. And a Supreme Court Justice. And PSC Commisioner Posey. And Dave Dennis.

I have seen Senator Wicker there before. And Governor Waller.

4:23, I am so impressed. I guess those are names you think are worth dropping. You are so funny!!!! That is why people make jokes about people from Rankin County. Gee thanks you must be kin to Bubba too.

I think it is ridiculous to start smearing Tate by trying to lump him with a washed up has-been like IDR. Must be afraid he is going to win.

I wasn't aware I was doing so. I merely named the forum Mr. Guyton was referring to.

Lumping him with IDR is the problem, bingo!!!! I am not afraid if he wins I would just wish he would get a little smarter and keep his chin up!!!!

Afraid he is going to win? I'd make him the favorite right now. He is raising money left and right, is aggressive in his campaigning.

The color commentary was just an obvious attempt to make him look bad. Was it necessary?

What color commentary? The words "breakfast club"?

I was told by multiple sources its a breakast Rhodes hosts the first saturday of every month. Nothing sinister about that. See, if I was Ladd, I would've included a 400 word recap of Rhodes' prosecution and how St. Mabus saved us. Then I would've made up some accusations about Republican sleazed and smeared Mr Reeves with them. I can't win.

Tate is going to win. Easily. At this point I plan to vote for him, but I don't have a great deal of confidence in him.

He has the money to run a first-class campaign, but I don't think he is a good candidate. He is not charismatic, his speeches are uninspiring and I find him to be fairly arrogant. Nevertheless, his political acumen is apparent because this will be the second time that he recognized a vacuum and positioned himself to fill it. It will be interesting to see how he runs the Senate.

@4:46, that's a pretty good list of attendees for the breakfast. If you could put together a better list of local politicians with names worth dropping, I'm sure we'd all like to see it. And while you and your friends make fun of Rankin County (after all, who wouldn't make fun of the school system and the state's lowest unemployment rate) remember that the path to statewide office for a Republican still runs through Rankin County.

Tate will trounce Billy Hewes. Pickering has no business even thinking about the race and should be grateful to be State Auditor. (Heed my warning, Stacey.) Delbert is the only one who could make this an interesting race, but even then I really don't think he could beat Tate's war chest.

Bryant will be your Governor (unless Delbert runs - that would be a good race). Reeves will be your Lt. Governor. Neither are inspiring, but there just isn't an attractive alternative.

I thought Tate delivered a very inspiring speech at Neshoba. Apparently he has a gift for raising money.

Just spoke to former ADA in Rankin....Irl Dean was never convicted of anything...if you have documentation contrary produce it here...

Well...don't know that " political acumen" is filling vacuums and raising money.
I can see the ads with the same or similar little old lady who calls him Delbert this time. Delbert's pleased and remembers her name. When he leaves, she turns to a friend and calls him a nice young man that's done ( list different things in different ads) and says " the Houseman boy has been good for Mississippi" ...her friend rolls her eyes and says " Hoseman,honey, Hoseman".
And, if Tate went negative, the ad would start ending " what has Tate Reeves done?"

9:16 IDR was convicted of tax evasion and failure to properly report earnings. See link

http://books.google.com/books?id=Laf6YtcbZVQC&pg=PT231&lpg=PT231&dq=irl+dean+rhodes+conviction&source=bl&ots=1dUejPgm7o&sig=dF44bKb_G6op_VNL40q2OAT08ic&hl=en&ei=9gNgTO-TE4L_8Ab92Y20DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCQQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false

5:45 Not saying I don't agree. Just curious--who do you consider inspiring in the political realm in the past 4-8 yrs--statewide?

9:35 IMO certainly not Phil Bryant and his chainsaw..."I'm headed to Yazoo City with my chainsaw". I would have to say Delbert.

Delbert is certainly an intellectual type. A little hard to follow sometimes but maybe that says more about me. HA!!

Biggest problem I sense for Republican down the road is what to do when Haley is no longer around. Don't want to see anything like the slate in 99. Damn that was a weak one. The Republican party here already lags behind on technology. I've talked to some Republicans and get the "We have Haley, what else do we need" attitude.

Expand on that technology comment. Be more specific.

Looked at the website lately?

Another example. Just tried to register off of my personal email address. Sent me the activation link Activation error. Its been this way for over a year. The website and the ways it could help the GOP are almost an afterthought if one goes by appearance and functionality.

Too many bible thumpers in the MS Republican party.

Don't fool yourself Einstein. There easily as many 'bible thumpers' in the MS Democratic party.

Yeah...it's hard to find someone like Haley who just looks and sounds like a redneck but isn't or Trent who just looks and sounds like a Baptist preacher, but isn't.

The problem with Tate is he looks and sounds like a geek but sadly, isn't .

Delbert looks and sounds like the nice boy from a good family who is also smart...which he is.

Early on, I would say that the outcome of the Lt Gov race might ultimately lie in the hands of Phil Bryant.

It is well known that Tate Reeves, Billy Hewes, and Stacey Pickering are all running for Lt Gov. It is generally known that Hewes is the preferred candidate of Phil Bryant. Hewes' main strength is a regional base (Gulf Coast) which should assure him second place and a spot in the runoff. Reeves' strengths are 1) he has done a good job and is known and liked by most of the grassroots GOP; 2) he has a lot of money; and 3) he has won statewide before and has a winning organization. This will be enough to get him the lead spot and likely a runoff with Hewes.

Phil will win his primary and then be faced with a choice: do I put my statewide organization behind Hewes and openly get involved in the runoff OR do I stay on the sidelines? Phil has a history of avoiding fights and confrontation, but the stakes are high either way.

If he puts his organization behind Hewes, then that fills a huge void in the Hewes candidacy: he has no statewide organization. However, if he does so and Hewes loses, he has to deal with a pissed off Reeves for four or more years.

10:37..Interesting food for thought. I just do not see Bryant coming out publicly in support of Hewes. Although it is common knowledge that he was (shall we say) hand picked. Wonder if Bryant promised him his support publicly??
Maybe Hosemann takes on the race for governor and Bryant will have his hands
too full to get involved in any other race.

Handicapping aside, who make a stonger Lt Gov? Would Reeves be able to get things done without Haley? Wouldn't Hewes be a stronger leader due to his time there?

Who has been LT Gov without legislative experience?

Current Lieutenant Governor Bryant had no previous experience in the Senate and it has been quite obvious. His main interest has been to position to run for Governor. We need a strong LG candidate with a serious interest in running Senate. We have a strong Governor in Barbour and a weak Lieutenant Governor in Bryant. With the probability of a weak Governor in the next term, it's critical Mississippi has a smart, strong, independently conservative business leader like Tate Reeves!

Well if you are saying that Reeves will be better as LtG than Bryant has been I'd call that quite a stretch.

Reeves would be a terrible choice for Lt Gov. He is more concerned about eating than anything else.

Bryant served in house, had legislative experience.
The Senate has worked well, ask Hayley!

Bryant served in house, had legislative experience.
The Senate has worked well, ask Hayley!

No one that has watched the Capitol for a long period of time believes the last three years has been anything but a disaster!

Disaster? point out a few examples please.

There are Two Senators from Rankin County who are not listed as host or supporters for the event at the Porters!