When Ronnie Musgrove wrapped up his 10 minutes at the Neshoba County Fair microphone last month, he and his wife, Melody, exited the fabled stage’s only door, then walked around and sat on the front row to hear what Roger Wicker had to say during his 10 minutes.
That’s as “face-to-face” as the contest has been to date.
The two party rivals seeking to serve the four years that will remain on former Sen. Trent Lott’s term not only look a lot alike, their issue stances have been substantially similar since both served in the Mississippi Senate years ago.
But Musgrove is a Democrat and Wicker is a Republican. Their respective party leaders at the national level have declared Lott’s seat a must-win, so the money is flowing and distinctions must be drawn.
Look for two themes:
- Each will try “lump-in” tactics on the other.
- Each will go negative while accusing the other of going negative.
The key “lump-in” tactic of the race — and the one that may prove decisive — will be Wicker’s attempt to wed Musgrove to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, poised to accept the Democratic nomination for the presidency, and other big-name liberals such as Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. “Barack Obama is certainly supporting Ronnie Musgrove,” Wicker said at the fair. “He’s raising money for him, he’s working for him and he wants Ronnie elected.” And, later in Wicker’s speech, “Liberals on immigration like John Kerry are supporting Ronnie Musgrove.”
In an interview immediately after Wicker sat down, Musgrove said if Obama was raising money for him, he didn’t know about it. The former governor said perhaps Wicker’s reference was to Obama’s efforts to boost the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is paying for many Musgrove-friendly ads. (The Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee is doing likewise for Wicker, who is serving an interim appointment to Lott’s seat.)
As for his support of Obama, Musgrove said, “I am going to vote for my party’s nominee for president.” But the fact the question was posed twice before Musgrove answered it illustrates the tight rope the former governor must walk. Obama, having defeated rival Sen. Hillary Clinton in Mississippi’s Democratic primary, can be expected to rally traditional Democratic voters in record numbers in November. To win a Senate seat held by Republicans for 20 years, Musgrove will need every one of those Obama voters, plus — strangely enough — a decent slice of Mississippi’s conservative core. Wicker knows those conservatives will flock to him if he can brand Musgrove as an Obama clone.
In his “lump-in” tactic, Musgrove wants voters to see Wicker as a Washington insider firmly in the pockets of corporate fat cats, doing their bidding no matter the cost to workaday Mississippians. “Our government is not taking care of business because it has forgotten what its business is. It’s business is taking care of the people’s business, not the special interests’ business,” Musgrove told the largely Wicker crowd at the fair. Tapping into the 91 percent unfavorable rating Congress is now “enjoying,” Musgrove wants Wicker exposed as one who toes the party line (97 percent of the time) and doesn’t exercise independent judgment for Mississippians, as he says he would.
As for slings and arrows:
Musgrove:
- “A broken system in Washington has betrayed the very people who have made our country great. Hardworking people lose out because insiders get special things that we don’t get.”
- “Roger Wicker is entitled to his own opinion, but he is not entitled to his own facts.”
Wicker:
- “Ronnie Musgrove had a chance to be a good governor. He let us down and we gave him his walking papers.”
- “Five years ago, my friend Ronnie Musgrove had run Mississippi into the ditch. We don’t need to go back to the job-killing policies of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, the failed leadership, the beef-plant scandals.”
Their TV ads will continue to leave viewers scratching their heads. Musgrove will talk about his balanced budgets, employment growth and cheery times during his years in state office. Ads for Wicker will characterize those years somewhat differently — and both camps will have the numbers to back up their claims.
Election day is still almost three months away, but the Wicker-Musgrove contest — because it stands to alter the precariously balanced party lines in the U.S. Senate — will be closely tracked by the national press.
Although Wicker accepted his 10 minutes at the Neshoba County Fair, he turned down an offer to debate — citing obligations in Washington. But the two should meet face-to-face before voters have their say. That would give Mississippians at least a chance to get past the rhetoric before they go to the polls.
