OXFORD — I thought I was fairly well versed on Southern colloquialisms, but being “on the front row at a public hanging” is one I never heard until a few days ago.
Give Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith credit for originality if not for good taste and politically correct speech.
A video posted on social media from a campaign event in Tupelo revealed that after receiving praise from a supporter, Hyde-Smith said “if he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.”
Given Mississippi’s history of lynchings, the statement drew outrage from African-American leaders as well as ridicule on various national television news and commentary programs.
Hyde-Smith issued a statement explaining the remark as referencing a supporter “who invited me. I used an exaggerated expression of regard, and any attempt to turn this into a negative connotation is ridiculous.”
At a news conference Monday to discuss an endorsement from the National Right to Life Committee, Hyde-Smith was questioned by reporters about the hanging comment and refused to elaborate further. She said six times, in answer to questions, to refer to her statement, saying that’s “all I’m going to say about that.”
Gov. Phil Bryant, who appointed Hyde-Smith to fill the seat vacated by Thad Cochran until this month’s election, did speak up, though. At the same news conference, Bryant implied that although the statement was a slip-up, “I know her heart. ... She meant no offense by that statement.”
To coin a better known Southern colloquialism, the hanging statement may not “amount to a hill of beans” in the outcome of the runoff between the Republican Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy.
She remains the odds on favorite to win in a state that hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since John Stennis.
The statement isn’t going to cost her much, if any, support among Republicans, especially the most ardent supporters of President Trump, some of whom admire her for saying it and not apologizing.
If it hurts her, it could be that it energizes African-American voters to get to the polls to vote for Espy.
Something that Hyde-Smith’s handlers may need to worry more about is her ability to be articulate in unscripted scenarios including in an upcoming debate with Espy.
Both candidates have agreed to a Nov. 20 public debate sponsored by the Mississippi Farm Bureau to be on live television.
Hyde-Smith had declined to debate her opponents during the first primary on the stated grounds that she needed to be in Washington, D.C., to attend to her Senate duties.
But in another of those videos that became public in October, she told a woman encouraging her to debate Chris McDaniel, the other Republican in the race at the time: “Right now, my opponent does not have enough money to get on TV, and my guys are saying that’s like handing him a $200,000 campaign donation because he’s way down in the polls.”
So far, Hyde-Smith’s platform consists of voting for and supporting whatever President Trump wants.
If the right questions are asked during the debate, it will give both her and Espy opportunities to articulate their visions for Mississippi and the nation and how to accomplish it.
Aside from fealty to President Trump, Espy may do a better job of that than Hyde-Smith.
Although Hyde-Smith is favored to win, her supporters must be a little worried, judging from the attack ads against Espy.
• Charles M. Dunagin is the retired editor and publisher of the Enterprise-Journal in McComb. He lives in Oxford.
