JACKSON - So that's what the TV ads were about.
In 2002, the Federal Election Commission reports indicated that the John Arthur Eaves law firm was Mississippi's top "soft money" donor - giving $140,000 to Democratic Party politicos. Gov. Ronnie Musgrove has been the beneficiary of some Eaves donations in the past.
In perhaps the political understatement of the year, successful Jackson trial lawyer John Arthur Eaves Jr. has said he doesn't plan to contribute to Musgrove's campaign any more. What he plans to do is run against Musgrove for governor in the Democratic primary.
Eaves Jr., who makes his home in Madison, has for months run a series of television ads for his family's law firm criticizing Musgrove for calling a special session on medical malpractice tort reform and later signing a bill that caps damage awards in malpractice lawsuits.
But as late as Jan. 9 - the day Musgrove delivered his fourth State of the State address before a joint session of the Legislature that Eaves attended - the 36-year-old plaintiffs' attorney denied that he was running for governor. Looks like he changed his mind.
Eaves is the son of legendary populist Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former state legislator John Arthur Eaves Sr. of Jackson, the flamboyant Winston County native who three times sought election as Mississippi's governor in the 1970's and 1980's.
The Eaves Sr. campaign style was old school. With the pompadoured hair, the white suits and the red neckties, Eaves is one of the best stump speakers this state ever produced. One of his most memorable campaign gimmicks was the perennial cry for the "$10 car tag." He would rail against the "bureaucrats down in Jackson in offices where the air conditioning is turned down so low you could kill a hog."
Eaves usually carried a gospel group or a honky-tonk country band in tow to entertain the crowds. His Neshoba County Fair appearances are frequently mentioned in the same breath with those of the late Ross Barnett - the unchallenged king of Mississippi stump orators.
In fairness, the elder Eaves' campaigns were always founded more in show than in substance. And to date, it appears to be a family tradition. During his ill-fated 1996 Democratic 3rd District congressional bid against eventual winner Chip Pickering , the junior Eaves answered questions regarding specific legislation facing Congress with the stock answer: "We really need to study that."
In the 1996 race with Pickering, Eaves described himself as a "very conservative Democrat. I believe there is room in the Democratic Party for conservatives like me. It is the party of inclusion. It is OK to be a Democrat. Sonny Montgomery showed us that."
Last year's 3rd District congressional showdown between Pickering and incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Ronnie Shows saw Eaves pony up some $12,000 in contributions to Shows relatively early in the campaign.
The Eaves law firm is a highly successful personal injury firm that has enjoyed particular success practicing in Europe as well as across the state and nation. Unlike his father in the days before mega-verdicts in personal injury cases, Eaves Jr. can literally finance his own gubernatorial challenge against Musgrove.
More importantly, Eaves can bleed trial lawyer donations away from Musgrove - who was the darling of the trial lawyer donors in his 1999 campaign against Republican Mike Parker.
Musgrove remains the favorite in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, but the price of poker for the incumbent just went way, way up.
