Redstate

Nope, she's not pro-life at all. Landrieu is a Hillary clone that doesn't even do that good of job of pretending to be moderate, honestly.

John Bolton for President
"FEAR THE 'STACH!!!"

I really wish you hadn't said that because now I have to defend Landrieu, and Lord knows I hate to do that, especially when she's up for reelection in less than a year. Nonetheless, I do feel the need to set the record straight. You are correct that she is not pro-life. You are not, however, correct that she is "a Hillary clone". Landrieu is a co-sponsor of the Brownback-Landrieu cloning ban. She has also voted for SCHIP coverage of unborn children, a ban on partial-birth abortion, a ban on funding for organizations that support coercive abortion, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, the Child Custody Protection Act, and the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act. No, Landrieu is not a friend on the issue, but she is a far cry from Hillary.

http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/bio/keyvotes/?id=273

www.republicansenate.org

Congrats. She's on the side of 70+% of the American people on issues so obvious that only a nutjob would oppose them.

I don't think Hillary supports cloning, and she at least pays lip service to being against PBA (of course, she says "well, the bill has the wrong exceptions," and votes against it, but she still says she's against it). Sorry, I don't think some minor, completely transparent pander votes keep her from being a Hillary clone.

She actually ran on being pro-choice in 2002, partly because Tyrell was a too-vocal pro-lifer who came off as an extremist on the issue, fairly or unfairly. I don't think she deserves any credit whatsoever on the issue, frankly.

Feinstein also supports a few of the things you mentioned I believe. HER I give some credit to, because she has no reason at all to support such things other then she actually believes them. But Landrieu, hell no.

John Bolton for President
"FEAR THE 'STACH!!!"

"Recommended by EMILY's List of pro-choice women. (Apr 2001)"
Source

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But at least I'm not totally off my game according to that -- she has some good votes as well.

http://www.myelectionanalysis.com

Louisiana or Mississippi?

guesstimate that there is one pro-life female in the Senate.

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The former AG Mike Moore runs. Everyone always raves about him. And by everyone I mean Cook, Clizza, Rothenberg, etc. Also, Gene Taylor would make a decent statewide candidate. I actually hope he runs because on the off chance he won, he'd be more conservative than Ben Nelson or Joe Lieberman in the Senate, and we'd probably win his house seat. Seems like a decent risk to take on our end.

“I think we are the team to beat in the NL East -- finally.” - Jimmy "MVP" Rollins, 1/23/07

She left office b/c she was term limited and at the time there was really no where for her to go with incumbent Rs in the GOV and SEN seats. So unlike Pickering, she didn't say she was quitting for her family.

If she has ambition to be GOV, this might not work. But if she wants it, she should definitely be on the shortlist.

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Although increasingly acceptable to be pro-choice one minute and pro-life the next according to the political shifts of the wind, what ought to trouble Mississippians is that Lt. Gov. Tuck, though apparently a capable politician, failed the Mississippi bar examination three times and then turned around and sued the Board of Bar Examiners claiming that the test was unfair. Boo hoo. If Gov. Barbour must appoint a "pro-life woman," surely he can find one somewhere in the State of Mississippi who can bring a little more intellectual fire power to the job than Amy Tuck.

First, looking at the shortlist who is more qualified by any criterion (legislative ability, conservatism, ability to win statewide, etc). I think there is a good argument that Rep. Wicker has more legislative experience. But ignoring entirely the gender issue, Tuck should probably in the final 2 or 3 being considered (if she wants it).

Second, I do lean toward the idea that Rs should do a bit of "affirmative action." This doesn't mean making sure a certain number of X or Y are elected. But it does mean when a chance to appoint a Senator comes up, that among the small pool of qualified people (here 5-10 people) they should give strong consideration to a minority or woman.

If the GOV thinks Wicker would be better, great. But I hope he interviews and talks with Tuck. If she would be just as good as Wicker and she has a history of winning statewide (61% is big in a state with as many registered Ds as MS), she seems like a good bet as the strongest candidate.

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I agree fully... I just didn't want to use the words. :)

"I believe in grace, because I have seen it. In peace, because I have felt it. In forgiveness, because I needed it."

-George W. Bush

There's nothing wrong with affirmative action when that word is detached from the quota or pseudo-quota system (which is what it almost always is used to mean).

There is a difference between giving a preference and making something the single criterion for a position. I don't think anybody is claiming that Amy Tuck would be getting this solely because she is a woman. It appears that she is qualified, has the statewide political skills needed to run a successful campaign, and is good on the issues. If she has made it onto the shortlist on her merits, I don't have a problem with saying that being a woman is itself an asset.

And really, we should treat females as having a qualification that men don't - and that is an ability to put a new face on the Party. Face it, conservatism is usually more attractive to men. Would it be terrible to have a few more conservative women in high offices to spread our message to a demographic where we typically run behind?

Note: I don't know enough about Tuck (or really any of the listed names) to opine on whether she would be qualified. But by what other commenters have said here, she would be a solid choice. Even if she wanted to be Governor, that is 4 years away - 2011. She could take the job, hold the seat in the special election and still run for governor. If she won that race she could appoint her own successor who would run out the term and stand for election in 2012, when the seat comes open. Hell, she could take the Governor's chair and turn around and name Barbour to the Senate seat - trade offices with him.

His seat is a PVI R +10, which is pretty safe, one would hope. And I think I read yesterday he has a half mil in the bank, which is a good start. He's on Appropriations. He should be able to fundraise.

I wouldn't stay away from him if Barbour thinks he's the best for the job.

“I think we are the team to beat in the NL East -- finally.” - Jimmy "MVP" Rollins, 1/23/07

But regardless of the outcome, you can't win congressional seats for free - some cash would need to be diverted to an otherwise unneccesary district. Also, instead of sitting on that half mil, Wicker would undoubtably have to spend it, instead of funding other, more needy, candidates elsewhere.

But you're probably right, it wouldn't be large enough to really matter, just I'm trying to figure out all the angles.

Another Congressmen on Appropriations... just want we need in the Senate.

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Just saying he shouldn't be avoided because of funding issues.

“I think we are the team to beat in the NL East -- finally.” - Jimmy "MVP" Rollins, 1/23/07

I think the deal will look something like Keenum to replace Lott, Barbour to replace Cochran in 2014 under a united GOP (if Barbour isn't VP by then.)

As a non-Mississippian, I didn't know the details of that debate.
And while I can't for the life of me think of a good reason for keeping a grocery tax instead of a tobacco tax, there does seem to be a Barbour v. Tuck aspect to the debate.

I should add that I have no idea who Barbour is considering, but I assume the shortlist from Hotline comes from more knowledgable people that myself.
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small towns rely on the grocery tax to fund departments. when that is reduced then they were going to have to rely on the added income from the rise in cigarettes. well, if people quit smoking as is hoped or start going out of state to but cigarettes income goes down meaning that taxes will be raised in other areas.

I have not researched the applicable law. But my vague understanding from news articles is that if Lott resigns in 2007, then early election (probably on primary day). If he resigns in 2008, then November election.

Problem is, it seems the main reason Lott is resigning is because he wants to lobby sooner (that'll help the R brand) and new laws go into affect next year. If I'm reading all that correctly, then Lott will want to resign in 2007.

If that happens, I don't know how the GOV (R) v. AG (D) fight on what the election law requires will go.

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Great rundown of the candidates, Adam, but I have to step in here and correct you on the law. As the Democrat Secretary of State has conceded, because this is a year of a general election (the gubernatorial election was a few weeks ago), the special election must be held on the date of the next general election, i.e. next November. The Democrats are ready to go to court over this, but their SoS has agreed with Gov. Barbour. It's a technicality, but isn't all law in the technicalities?

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002633236

www.republicansenate.org

like I said "vague impression." And from your link, this is interesting:

Barbour has announced that a special election will be held Nov. 4 2008 to elect a permanent Senator. The date coincides with the 2008 general Congressional and Presidential elections. No primary will be held and the candidate who receives a majority of the vote on Nov. 4 will be declared the winner. If no single candidate receives a majority vote, the top-two candidates will face off three weeks later. The winner will serve out the remainder of Lott’s term and will be up for re-election in 2012.

That sounds like a LA jungle primary system. Perhaps the MS GOP is strong enough to prevent multiple big name Rs from running, but there are several interested parties.

This could end up with Tuck, Wicker, and some state Senator all running on the R side and Moore and Musgrave as Ds. The top 2 would go to a runoff. That'd be a crazy (but fun to watch) election.

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Why in God's name would anybody oppose a tax swap from groceries to tobacco? I'm a big smoker's rights guy, I don't believe in smoking bans, I don't believe in taxing tobacco out of existence, etc. But in most states, groceries aren't taxed at all, and they shouldn't be. If I had to raise a tobacco tax to fix that, that seems to be perfectly reasonable.

John Bolton for President
"FEAR THE 'STACH!!!"