JACKSON - The entry of successful Democratic Jackson attorney John Arthur Eaves literally raises the price of gubernatorial poker in the 2007 election, but the impact on the odds against incumbent Republican Gov. Haley Barbour's re-election would seem rather minimal.
Eaves, 40, toyed with entering the governor's race in 2003 - qualifying and running briefly but withdrawing from the race. In 1996, Eaves was the Democratic nominee in an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. House, losing the race to Chip Pickering by a margin of 61 percent to 36 percent with two minor party candidates picking up the balance of the votes.
In that 1996 race, Eaves passed out cards that didn't identify him as a Democrat. He campaigned as a conservative on a family values platform.
Like his father before him, Eaves operated an old school campaign while Pickering ran a state-of-the-art modern media campaign. At times during the campaign a decade ago, Eaves appeared uncertain, unfocused and had trouble enunciating a clear message.
But over the last decade - replete with victories in a number of high-profile national and international lawsuits - Eaves seems to have more than made up for any youthful lack of confidence. He aggressively markets his family law firm.
With big billboards and TV spots in which he talks about his personal religious beliefs and patriotism, Eaves has become a high-profile trial lawyer not only in Mississippi, but beyond the state's borders in a number of unusual cases, including:
n Eaves sued the tobacco industry on behalf of the Ukrainian government in 1999.
n Eaves sued the federal government on behalf of 20 people who died in a Feb. 3, 1998, accident near Cavalese, Italy, when a low-flying U.S. Marine jet severed the cables of a ski lift gondola, sending the gondola crashing 350 feet into the valley.
n Eaves sued Osama bin Laden, his lieutenants, several Islamic organizations and the governments of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan for $100 million in damages after the 1998 American embassy bombings in Nairobi and Kenya, which took place 10 minutes apart and killed 231 people, including 12 Americans.
n Last November, Eaves filed a federal lawsuit against oil companies and distributors over the increase in gasoline prices after Hurricane Katrina.
The success of the Eaves law firm means that Barbour now faces a Democratic opponent who could match his campaign spending if he chose to do so from a combination of personal wealth and the donations he can easily get from trial lawyers across the country angered over Barbour's successful push for tough tort reform laws in Mississippi during his first term.
For Barbour, Eaves' entry into the race will also kick his fund-raising into high gear from opponents of any changes in the state's tort reform laws. Barbour also has significant personal wealth.
Is Mississippi headed toward the most expensive governor's race in state history - topping the almost $20 million that Barbour and former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove spent combined in the 2003 election? Maybe.
The other obvious question is just how serious Eaves is as a candidate in 2007. Four years ago, he made a splash and dropped out.
Don't look for that in 2007. Eaves and his legendary father worked the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston and spent quality time with the Mississippi delegation. Eaves has been actively seeking Democratic candidates for down-ticket races in 2007.
It's unlikely that Eaves or any of the other Democratic contenders - including former state Sen. Bill Renick of Ashland, William Bond Compton Jr. of Lauderdale County and Louis Fondren of Jackson County - can beat Barbour this time around.
But the 2007 price of gubernatorial poker has been seen - and perhaps raised - by young Mr. Eaves.
