July 26, 2007

July 26, 2007 05:49 pm

— It was reminiscent of an old Baptist tent revival, complete with the wooden pews, spirited speeches, crowd using hand-held fans to keep cool, random shouts of praise, and plenty of sweet tea for thousands.
But something quickly altered Thursday’s scene at Founder’s Square at the Neshoba County Fair: a zinger from Gov. Haley Barbour that could land in Mississippi political speech history. OK, maybe that’s a bit over-the-top. But it was entertaining.
Barbour was delivering the opening remarks of his Thursday speech. His opponent, John Arthur Eaves, had just finished speaking to the crowd of about 2,500 crowded around the pavilion. Barbour brought his wife, Marsha, on stage and thanked her for their 35 years of marriage.
Then came the line:
“That’s right, I got my trophy wife the first time,” Barbour said, an obvious jab at his opponent, Eaves, who recently remarried and often remarks about his new bride’s beauty. According to Barbour's camp, the comment came after the governor heard Eaves had allegedly told supporters on the campaign trail that his wife would restore dignity to the governor's mansion.
"He's just not going to put up with that," the source from Barbour's camp said.
The zinger had a ripple effect. There was the initial, “oohh” followed by another round of “oohs aahhs.” And then there were people explaining the one-liner to those who didn’t get it — which was particularly funny to watch.
It was a personal attack to be sure. But it finally brought back some of the thunder of old political speeches of the Fair.