Jackson Jambalaya

Andy Taggart needs to run. I realize he has been against Trump, and I don't like that about him, but he is a strong conservative- unlike Hyde smith- a democrat until 2010. He could beat Espy unlike McDaniel. And most importantly he is a Godly Christian man. Run Andy Run!!!!

HA HA Andy Taggert what a joke.

Fake news!

Andy Taggart needs to get over himself. No one outside of the metro area knows who he is. Excepting of course the considerable pull of the Bruce, Mississippi chamber of commerce. Oh, and #RememberFordice is the silliest thing on Twitter in a while. Anyone who does remember him doesn't know what a hashtag is.

It says a lot about politics and the choices we have to choose from...pathetic

Andy Taggart needs to run. I get he didn't like trump, but he is better than the other choices by a long stretch. I would hope he would learn to work with DJT.

Espy can't be beaten by anyone thinking about the Senate seat.

I am a Republican and have been all my adult life but if Taggert is elected, I will leave Mississippi after 75 years and never return.

Taggert is a wolf in sheaves clothing....Not who he appears to be.

Philbilly, you are a fool !!!!!!!!!!

Awful selection.

A "Godly Christian Man". That pretty much sums up all the problems with Mississippi in three words. Christ doesn't have diddly to do with politics so leave him out of the conversation.

Taggert is the most articulate of any name mentioned. Certainly not as conservative, but my oh my how the definition of conservative has changed over the last decade.

I'm a Taggart supporter, even when he is wearing sheaves.

People are rightly pointing out how lousy the choices here are.

But consider the prerequisites to being considered. You basically can't be too smart.

If you look back over the last 20-30 years at the most promising young people from Mississippi, 75% are gone. 15% are still here and making money in the private sector because they don't want to subject themselves to the whims of dunces in local politics or base voters who resent intelligence. Maybe 5% are in appointed government or academic positions--judges, law profs, etc.

And of the 5% who got involved in politics, the smart ones steer clear of elected office to quietly make money off patronage.

What you're left with is the Andy Gipsons, Chris McDaniels, and Cindy Hyde-Smiths of the world, none of whom could've won an election for college student body treasurer.

If its true that Phil is waiting on Trump's approval, that shows how little practical consideration that the Governor has put into what is probably the most important action he will have taken in his entire political career. And, he has blown it.

Cindy Hyde-Smith is a nice lady. But all those other characteristics that the Governor attributed to her in the NYT article mean nothing when it will come to the November election. Yes, she will have Phil campaigning for her full time; the Donald will probably bring his self down at least once (he can probably closely associate with Hyde-Smith, since he too supported Hillary in 2008, both with his vote and his money - and has a long history as a Democrat); and most importantly she will have the National Republican Senatorial money behind her. With all that, she will get close to McDaniel but not make the runoff with Espy.

Close connection to the rural community? Maybe so, but so does 80% of the state, and 99% of them have no business being in the US Senate either. Career as an elected official? What has she accomplished other than leading the parade for the Dixie National and giving the cushy contracts at the Fairgrounds to her buds? Legislative accomplishments? Other than voting against Tort Reform, anything else other than getting along with Phil when he was Lt. Governor?

And, if he really really wanted someone that could serve in the office for the next 25 years, has he bothered to have someone do the math for him? She would be 85 - and although she is almost a decade younger than Dilbert, all appearances are that he is in much better health.

Nice lady - terrible appointment. But, hey - Phil will get to create the first woman Senator from MS. (Afraid he hasn't stopped to realize that when she loses in November, it will be the shortest term appointment as well, when looking in the Guiness Book of records.)

If Taggart runs I will vote Democrat for the first time since 1976.

All I wanna know is will she fight to keep our flag? Chris McDaniel will! It's on his TV ad, even!

REBEL FLAGS OR DIE!!!
SURRENDER, HELL!!!
THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN!!!
BRING BACK "DIXIE"!!!
MCDANIEL - MCDANIEL - MCDANIEL!!!

1:54,

With citizens like you we deserve to be in 50th place.

1:50,

ME TOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey MSGOP, karma is a bitch.

3:00 don't count your eggs before they hatch

Republican party in Mississippi is damaged regardless of the outcome. You don't stab your voters in the back because they don't forget.

Delbert would be the better appointment and could win the general election. He's extremely smart and could debate McDaniel and Espy both under the bridge. And he could/would actually be a very effective Senator. Yes, he may be older and wouldn't be able to establish any long term tenure. But McDaniel has already said he's for term limits, no more than two terms, so if he's a man of his word (which remains to be seen)he would not run for reelection after two terms anyway and wouldn't establish any long term tenure either. (Chris, since you're for term limits, will you self-impose one if you're elected ?)

Then you have given people like Josh Harkins and Tate Reeves more time to run for Governor or allow their younger kids to grow older such that either of them might then be willing to run for the position at that time.

Some of you McDaniel supporters will disagree, but the fact is that Chris has done more to divide the Republican party in MS over the past 4 years than any other candidate in recent history. You can't call other Republicans traitors, RINOs, not real Republicans, and say they need to be drained and that Trump and his supporters are delusional, and now turn around and ask, correction: demand, that they support you. Sorry, but it's too late for that. Rather than being the great uniter, he's been the great divider. He's ostracized half the Republican voters in MS. If McDaniel makes the run-off, mark my words, MS will be another Alabama and will have a Democratic Senator from MS. Sadly his own ego and sense of self-entitlement has blinded him from seeing this.

Let's even assume for the sake of argument that McDaniel wins, again he has insulted half of the Republicans in DC and said they need to be drained and sent home. But yet he thinks he can now convince them to listen to him and work with him ? No, he'll be marginalized and ignored just as he has been here in the State Senate, and so will MS. Gees, he can't see the forest for the trees.

some one tell those N Y T bozos ,you dont farm cattle, you ranch cattle

4:15 - one of the most astute statements made on JJ in a long time; hell, maybe since its inception.

McDaniel is for term limits and worked VERY HARD to get a Constitutional amendment passed in Mississippi limiting state legislators to two terms!

Next year McDaneil will conclude his third term in the state senate...................” do as I say, not as I do”

at 4:15 Calling out RINOs is merely a strategy to EXPOSE what and whose side you're on.....self-serving Republicans? Or good-government citizen-representative? McDaniel is certainly a firebrand, but at least he's trying to clean out the deadwood and disease that's in Washington, and God knows, Mississippi. If you're unable to see how it is that Trump got elected, then you're probably part of the apathy that that fueled so many voters, and then got steamrolled by his election. Politics is a contact sport, and many of the old-timers are going to be gone soon. If McDaniel were elected....would he turn out to serve all Mississippians and American's interests by making conservative choices? Time will tell. Or will he simply be corrupted into channeling more federal pork down to Mississippi to keep it dependent at the bottom of barrel where many in Jackson and Oxford like it, so they reap the harvest provided by the little people. McDaniel may be an unpredictable, loudmouth, maverick, etc. but only because he's daring to challenge the good ole' boy establishment in Mississippi. Could someone get Delbert a kleenex to dry his tears? Poor thing, after being so close, but not being a true farm boy to represent rural Mississippi, it just didn't happen. Thank God.

I supported Chris the first time, and will do it again. I am not quite sure what game the Gov is playing here, but I don’t think it’s a good one. She was a D until just a few years ago, (like the egomaniac in DC) that’s no secret. And i don’t see her being able to pull off a statewide open election - unless we are in for a repeat of 2014.

And yes, 2014 caused a mess within the State GOP - and that infighting opened a lot of eyes in this State. They care more about their own pockets and their little club than they do about this State and her citizens. Voting for Chris was a first for me - I didn’t feel like i was voting for the less of the evils for once, and that I was voting for someone who would shake things up, go against the grain of the GOP.

An earlier comment said something about the ‘demands’ of Chris for support after ‘insulting’ the Party. Well, in 2014, the Party was fine with insulting me. I was told that I was a terrorist, a racist, an idiot, a traitor...that I was what was wrong with the country...how dare I question or go against the establishment. I was told the same things for not being a Trumpet. Why do voters like me have to take that? Why do we get attacked for standing by our personal beliefs? I do not consider myself an R, have not since that cycle. The behavior of the GOP’s old timers coffee klatch was the final straw. I can’t wait to see if the insults are a repeat of last time, or if they got new speech writers.

Mike Espy will come close to avoiding a runoff. She will be a very weak candidate and will lose to McDaniel. It will end up McDaniel vs Espy in a year that will be a nationwide Democratic wave. Espy wins.

That Democratic wave is never going to materialize....no matter how much left-wing media you watch and dream about. Trump is not an everyman, but - there was no collusion, everyone already knew he was a womanizer (including his wife) and they said, "So?" and Trump is on the verge of blowing wide open the corruption at the highest levels of corporate and government graft. Zuckerberg is in big trouble, the politicized FBI is being exposed, Hollywood is giving itself an enema, and North Korea is starting to say, "Hey, we were just kidding. Let's be friends." Trump and Putin are not in cahoots, but their masculine (fatherly?) leadership might just put two continents back on firmer footing.

@ 5:49 PM, I agree with you. The Mississippi Republican Party is officially a joke. With the exception of a few elections, I've always voted Republican. If Cindy Hyde-Smith is appointed senator as expected, she will come in 3rd with Espy and McDaniel in a run-off that will be won by Espy. If this plays out as expected, I'll vote for Espy.

If @6:01 is the average Republican voter, we're lost no matter who the candidates are.

Zuckerberg? Fatherly Putin? Eliminating corporate corruption?

Are you that delusional? Turn off the Hannity and get back to reality.

Thank You Feel

Ahhhh, ahhhhhh Woooo yeaaaaaa!


Love,

Chris McD

at 7:50pm .....and we can bet that you are one of those NOW "delusional idiots" that didn't think Trump would win at all did you?

Is Florida not considered part of the deep South? I thought you couldn't get farther south in the U.S. than in South Florida. Paula Hawkins was elected to the U.S. Senate from Florida in 1980,so I think she qualifies as being the first female in the U.S. Senate from the deep South.

Someone needs to call the bozos at The New York Times and tell them you don't farm cattle.

And someone needs to get hold of the bozo @4:21 and tell him you don't ranch cattle.

You run cattle.

Whether we like it or not, most people are going to vote race. So Espy loses.

Bigly.

Just another USM-grad political appointment by this State's first USM-grad governor. Just take a look at the other political appointments by Bryant who have USM ties without much more in the way of qualifications.

Bryant should have selected someone from Mississippi who had the education and experience "qualifications" to sit as a United States Senator to participate in the law-making process of the U.S. Senate, and someone who could beat other candidates in the November election. Instead, he let his USM agenda blind him into myopic tunnel vision, and he selected a USM-grad without the necessary qualifications and credentials that even come close to matching other U.S. Senators, or those of likely candidates to run against her in November.

How come there is no place any longer for George Bush type moderates in the MS GOP? Trump has ruined the party along with all the right wing nut cases.

This is simply from a voter:

1) C. McDaniel - you low life, you don't mess with mama. If you wanted to throw dirt then you should have gone after Cochran's live in.

2) Cindy Hyde-Smith - not qualified to be a United States Senator and Governor I don't care about your deal.

3) A. Taggart - after the underhanded thing you pulled, I don't think so.

4) Delbert - don't know what deal the good ole boys are trying to make with you, but U.S. Senator is way better than Lt. Gov. or Gov.

5) Tater Tot - it's not going to happen and I don't care who promised you that you'd be the next Governor.

"Is Florida not considered part of the deep South? "

The Florida Panhandle is culturally very similar to Georgia, Alabama, etc., but south of there? Hell, it might as well be the sixth borough of NYC.

How is Cindy Hyde Smith less qualified, 9:33 am?

She served as a State Senator for three terms , serving on various committees and ended up the Chair of the Agriculture committee. She graduated from college. She was vice chairperson of the National Agricultural Committee of State Agriculture Commissioners.

She's gotten 61% of the vote in her races, including the State race.

Establishment GOP: "Vote for our guy, we will help you (to the curb). If you don't support us the Democrats will win and it will be your fault."

When non-establishment GOP gets the nomination: "I can't support your guy, I'm voting Democrat and when the Dems win it will be your fault for not supporting our guy."

"Heads I win, tails you lose." Except when the non-establishment voters get tired of being treated poorly and stay at home and then the establishment GOP loses, these feudal barons are still happy. Better to rule the pond than join with others to control the sea.

Just tossing this out there, but if I were Chris McDaniel (thank God I'm not, however), I'd be concerned about what I said about a MSGOP woman.

It is one thing to say anything about or call a Dem woman whatever you want, because, well, they aren't really ladies, they are lib-ril hussys who all want abortions, jobs equal rights, homos to marry each other and all that other commie crap. Treating a GOP lady, at least in public, with anything less than the Southern Gentlemanliness that you'd treat pastor's mother with could easily be very, very bad for one's political future.

If she's a country lady that flies the state flag at her place and other such planter-class-wannabe-ness, McDaniel is screwed, at least insofar as being US Senator - i.e., he'll have to be a gentleman and take the loss of the race, or, he'll be his blustery asshole self and have his career shoved up his ass, tonsils-deep. Just sayin'.

USM agenda? Really? As opposed to the OM/MSU shit that's shoved down our throat every damn day.

It's known that: 1) Trump told Bryant "no go" to Hyde-Smith; 2) polls showed Hyde-Smith in 3rd place behind McDaniel and a democrat; 3) Bryant ignored Trump's warning and the polls; 4) Hyde-Smith will be 85 in 20 years; and 5) Hyde-Smith doesn't have stellar qualifications or noteworthy accomplishments in office. So, why did Bryant select Hyde-Smith with all those negatives - allegiances; agenda; political payback; strategy; or just plain out of touch?

7:30, word on the street is she was the choice of Bryant's campaign manager. I don't know him, but his first name is Josh. He will serve as her campaign manager.

9:33, which A. Taggart "underhanded thing" are you talking about in particular? i'm hard-pressed to know which one stands out the most!

9:39 The worst one was when he pretended to be running for re-election up until the day before the filing deadline, then announcing he would not seek re-election but one of his minions just happened to be there with a full set of filing papers and ran unopposed. Clearly he intentionally misled (ok, he screwed) his constituents. I forget which weasel we got stuck with on the board of supes that time (so many have turned out to be frauds and crooks).