JACKSON - With the Nov. 4 general election just a week away, Republican Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck and Democratic challenger Barbara Blackmon are still raising money as they race from event to event in a final campaign blitz.
The candidates, who have accused each other of running negative campaigns but never faced off in a debate, are scheduled to appear jointly Thursday night during a political forum on the public TV and radio stations of the Mississippi Broadcasting Networks.
Blackmon says she's launching a series of new television ads today. But the lawyer and state senator from Canton said her best strategy is to meet as many voters and shake as many hands as possible in the final days of the campaign.
"We're still doing get-out-the-vote efforts, e-mails and telephoning and radio and TV and print ads," Blackmon said Monday. "But the most important is shaking hands so they can see the person and look them in the eyes and tell whether the candidate is sincere."
Blackmon trailed Tuck by 14 percentage points in a statewide poll commissioned by The Associated Press and The Clarion-Ledger. The poll, conducted by telephone last Tuesday through Thursday, had an error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Tuck spokesman Michael Goode said the lieutenant governor - who raised $1.77 million through September and had $598,000 left to spend - will continue with her current ad campaign.
"We'll continue setting the records straight on Barbara Blackmon's nasty attack and focusing on Amy Tuck's strong stands for Mississippi values," he said.
Blackmon - who raised $1.1 million this year and had spent $812,855 through September - on Monday morning stopped by a golf tournament in Madison whose sponsors anted up $1,000 to $2,500 each for her campaign.
"I came by and greeted the people before they went on," said Blackmon before heading to the Gulf Coast to attend a fund-raiser given by casino executives.
Both Blackmon and Tuck oppose raising casino taxes as a way to plug budget holes for Mississippi.
Tuck on Monday raised $42,000 at a luncheon at the River Hills Club in Jackson. The event featured U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who hadn't previously met Tuck but flew in at the request of U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.
"I think she's the kind of woman we want in public office and that's why I'm here," said Hutchison, a two-term senator and one of the most prominent female Republicans on the national scene.
Tuck - who later flew to Columbus to attend a rally for Republican gubernatorial nominee Haley Barbour - said she won't alter her strategy.
"It will just be a lot of the same - working almost nonstop, a lot of time on the phone, a lot of traveling across the state from one end to the other," Tuck said.
The candidates' paths may cross Tuesday. Both are scheduled to be at Hob Nob Mississippi, an event sponsored by the Mississippi Economic Council at the Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Jackson.
On Saturday, Tuck will be in De-Soto County at a Barbour rally that will feature President Bush. Blackmon plans to attend pre-game tailgate parties at the University of Mississippi before she flies to tailgate parties for Alcorn State and Jackson State universities.
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