Published: August 30, 2008 11:51 pm      

GOP delegates quietly confident as they leave for ‘Twin Cities’

The national media's fascination with Democratic presidential nominee Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was not wasted on Mississippi Republican delegates to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. - and least of all to the head of that delegation, Republican Gov. Haley Barbour.

Barbour told The Clarion-Ledger in July even though McCain trailed Obama in the polls, he expected it to be worse.

"Americans don't like long wars. The American people clearly think the economy is bad. McCain has been on the polls behind four, five, six points. Some polls show him even. I thought he ought to be behind 15 points.

"But for some reason, he's not. And it isn't because the news media are giving Obama a hard time. I mean, that's the biggest wet kiss in the history of American journalism. And it lingers."

Some national observers touted Barbour as a potential vice presidential running mate for McCain - given Barbour's former service as chairman of the Republican National Committee during GOP political boom times in the 1990s.

But Barbour quickly quashed that speculation.

"I am a lot more conservative than John McCain," Barbour told The Washington Times on April 29. "It may help him that he is not as conservative as I am."

But Barbour told CBS News in April that he had far more concerns about Obama's philosophy than McCain's.

"Do the American people want the most liberal senator in the U.S. Senate to bring his policies to the White House?," Barbour asked. "That's what they would have with Sen. Obama, whose voting record is to the left of the socialist member of the U.S. Senate. The senator from Vermont has a more conservative voting record as a socialist than Sen. Obama."

Barbour and the rest of the Mississippi delegation saw the enthusiasm and energy the Democrats generated in Denver in Obama's coronation as their party's nominee. Nationally, Mississippi delegates acknowledge that the race is tight.

But in Mississippi, Republicans maintain a quiet confidence that McCain will carry the state - and most national pundits agree. Mississippi is not considered to be a state that is "in play" for the Democrats in terms of the presidential campaign by any major national news organization.

Yet Democratic gains in state politics are undeniable. Interim Democratic 1st District U.S. Rep. Travis Childers is favored to hold his seat against Republican nominee Greg Davis in November.

While senior U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran is considered a shoo-in for re-election for the Republicans this fall, interim Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Tupelo is in a dogfight with Democratic nominee former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove.

But Republicans also note with some satisfaction that Sen. Hillary Clinton bested Obama in northeast Mississippi and in much of southeast Mississippi in counties with white, blue-collar populations - venues in which Obama has struggled throughout the campaign.

Mississippi Republicans recognize Obama's charisma and voter discontent with a bad economy and an unpopular war. Few Republicans doubt Obama's star power - but most think Obama's star power won't trump 44 years of GOP dominance in this state's presidential politics.

Like Barbour, most of Mississippi's Republican delegates are more conservative than McCain. But Democrats looking for McCain's moderate views to generate GOP defections will be disappointed.



Contact Sid Salter at (601) 961-7084 or e-mail ssalter@clarionledger.com. Visit his blog at http:// www.clarionledger.com.