CLARKSDALE - Ronnie Shows embodies the potential of the Democratic Party in the conservative South.
It is limited potential, so Southern Democrats are wise to embrace Shows and the remaining handful of centrist congressmen and governors who've resisted the temptation to bolt for the politically safer fold of the Republican Party.
Shows, who was in Clarksdale for a visit with state Democratic Party Chairman Jon Levingston, is seeking re-election to a second term as U.S. representative in Mississippi's 4th Congressional District.
The former state senator and highway commissioner made a splash on the state's political scene in 1998 with his upset of Jackson lawyer Delbert Hosemann for the seat vacated by U.S. Rep. Mike Parker, who ran unsuccessfully for governor. Shows, 53, overcame a 2-to-1 spending disadvantage to beat the well-heeled Hosemann, and Shows has been gaining popularity - and making Republicans nervous - ever since.
Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper that reports extensively on congressional politics, calls Shows a "top Republican target for 2000" in what is expected to be a fierce battle for control of the House, where the GOP currently has a razor-thin nine-vote majority. Shows faces District Attorney Dunn Lampton of McComb in November.
State Republican Party Chairman Mike Retzer, in a bit of race-baiting hyperbole quoted by Roll Call, said Shows "has gone to Washington and voted the straight (U.S. Rep.) Bennie Thompson line, the straight urban, liberal, Black Caucus voting line.
"There are a lot of middle-class, conservative Democrats who were fooled by his candidacy last time who may want to reconsider in 2000."
Lampton and the Republicans wish Shows were so easy to categorize.
The record, conversely, shows the incumbent to be a potent mix of social conservative and fiscal populist. He opposes abortion, supports gun rights and staunchly defends Social Security, Medicare and veterans benefits.
The American Civil Liberties Union, a pretty fair judge of the "straight urban, liberal, Black Caucus voting line," gives Shows a meager rating of 7 (on a scale of 100) in its National Freedom Scorecard, opposite of Thompson's 79 and lower even than the two Republicans in Mississippi's House delegation, Roger Wicker (21) and Chip Pickering (14).
Shows' voting record and easy-mannered style play well in the 4th Congressional District, which covers Southwest Mississippi and much of Jackson.
Shows is proud of his membership in the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of 30 moderate to conservative House Democrats who operate on the premise that "common sense, conservative economics and compassion aren't necessarily mutually exclusive."
The group's name is a twist on the South's longtime description of a party loyalist as one who would vote for a yellow dog if it were on the ballot as a Democrat. Feeling as if they'd been "choked blue" by their own party's leadership, centrist Democrats formed the new coalition in 1995 to flex their muscle on fiscal matters, particularly the need for a balanced budget.
"The national party used to think you had to vote a straight party line," Shows said.
Now, he said, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt and the rest of the leadership "don't expect Southern Democrats to vote like Northern Democrats."
"They realize that if I don't represent my district, I'm not going to be up there," Shows said.
Though Levingston insists "there's always been a role in the (Mississippi) Democratic Party for common-sense, centrist leaders," those of Shows' ilk have been ostracized by some state party loyalists over the years.
The election of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove seems to have energized the moderate wing of the party - and illustrated to the left wing that the party can win by appealing to the political center.
Levingston said Republicans "have very cleverly crafted political issues in terms of either liberal or conservative."
"So often, issues are not partisan at all. For instance, whether a senior citizen can afford the heart medicine necessary to sustain their life: That's a real problem that knows no partisanship. The Democratic Party, especially the Democratic Party in Mississippi, is making an effort to address those issues in a way that is effective.
"It's simply not a matter of liberal or conservative; it's a matter of addressing real people's problems with practical solutions.
"Clearly, Congressman Shows reflects many of the views commonly held in his district. And I think it is an example of how big the Democratic tent is that we can embrace leaders such as Congressman Shows, as well as those whose views may differ somewhat from his."
It's unusual - and refreshing - to hear a Democrat talking about a "big tent."
It was Republicans who embraced the metaphor a few years back in their bid to attract more minority voters.
The Democrats needed a bigger tent as well - to cover Shows and other moderates who are critical to the party's electoral success.
