+Controversies | 27 days ago

Barbour ‘At Peace’ with Pardons, but Scandal Rages On

By Jay Newton-Small

Jackson, Mississippi

Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour on Friday defended more than 200 pardons he issued during his final days in office, 41 of which he gave to convicted murderers, sex offenders and child molesters.

“Mississippians are mostly Christians,” Barbour said in a lengthy statement, which he read at a Jackson press conference on Friday. “Christianity teaches us forgiveness and second chances. I believe in second chances, and I try hard to be forgiving. The historic power of gubernatorial clemency by the Governor to pardon felons is rooted in the Christian idea of giving second chances. I’m not saying I’ll be perfect, that no one who received clemency will ever do anything wrong. I’m not infallible, and no one else is. But I’m very comfortable and totally at peace with these pardons, especially of the Mansion inmates.”

+Controversies | 28 days ago

Haley Barbour’s Pardons: Why No One in Mississippi Is in a Forgiving Mood

By Jay Newton-Small
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Jackson, Mississippi The red, white and blue bunting is still up, whipping in the winter winds on the temporary platform in front of Mississippi’s state capitol. Two days ago, a new governor was sworn in here. But the satellite trucks that still ring the capitol aren’t interested in the new executive; they’re still focused on [...]

+Election Results | 93 days ago

A Banner Night for Democrats as High-Profile Ballot Initiatives Go Blue

By Alex Altman
Eric Albrecht / Columbus Dispatch / AP

In a hard-won victory for Democrats and their labor-union allies, Ohioans decisively rejected the state’s collective-bargaining law on Tuesday night, repealing Republican Governor John Kasich’s signature legislation in a referendum that could reverberate into 2012.

+Elections | 94 days ago

High Stakes in Ohio, Mississippi and Virginia as Voters Head to the Polls

By Alex Altman
Tony Dejak / AP

The narrative arc you’re likely to hear on this Tuesday in early November is that today begins the yearlong countdown to the 2012 presidential contest. But Tuesday’s slate of off-year elections and ballot measures is laden with its own share of drama. From Maine to Washington, voters in seven states will head to the polls [...]

+Viewpoint | 273 days ago

Clichés, Levees and Federal Funds

By Michael Grunwald

As Washington debates Medicare, taxes, deficits and the future of the budget, it’s become a cliché to say that Americans like big government but don’t like to pay for it.  Most clichés are true. And as the swollen Mississippi River barrels south toward New Orleans, you can see a stark example of that in the [...]

+Republican Party | 416 days ago

RE: Barbour’s Baggage

By Jay Newton-Small

As Adam notes, if Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour decides to run for president, he’ll come with a lot of baggage. Some of it will be of his own making. A few Barbour’s comments in the story Adam cites – a profile of Barbour in the Weekly Standard by Andrew Ferguson – are coming back to [...]

+Uncategorized | 1367 days ago

UPDATE2: The Other Race to Watch

By Jay Newton-Small

Following up on Karen’s update. The really interesting character in this is McCain, who recorded robocalls for Davis but didn’t personally visit. The Dem victory calls into question McCain’s coattails, as Gingrich warned, but it also makes me wonder why McCain’s been immune to the backlash against the GOP thus far in national polls. And [...]

+Uncategorized | 1368 days ago

The Other Race To Watch Today

By Jay Newton-Small

While most folks (okay, those of us political geeks who can’t get enough) will be riveted tonight to the returns in West Virginia, there is another election worth watching tonight: the Congressional race in Mississippi’s First district to replace Roger Wicker, who left to fill Trent Lott’s Senate seat. This is a district that should [...]