At Mississippi Republican Primary, Expect Little Enthusiasm

Impact

I expect there to be a low turnout today in the Mississippi Republican Primary. Every college, university, and public school district is on Spring Break. This past weekend there was a mass exodus of Mississippians to their favorite vacation spots. Thus there will be no traffic in an effort to get to the polls. More people will probably be going to the polls to cast their votes for their favorite candidate in the congressional primaries more so than the presidential one. This is the worst possible time for there to be a primary in Mississippi because no one is here (I am hanging in Chicago and then headed to Indianapolis for a Black Keys concert. Priorities.).

Santorum will grab a lot of votes today, but maybe not from the Republicans. Mississippi has an open primary, and I suspect that many Democrats will vote in the contest. Who will they vote for? Well most of my friends will cast a vote for Santorum with the belief that he will be easy for Obama to defeat (slaughter) in November. A little The Ides of March in Mississippi.

William Falkner once said, “To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi.” Well Romney has tried. Romney has not spent much time in our state, even though one of his main staffers is a Mississippi boy.  He mentioned that he has learned to like grits in an effort to connect to voters.

On the Ole Miss campus in Oxford, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) still has supporters. There has been tabling in front of the Student Union last week for Paul. He is still popular among young, white males in Mississippi.

The favorite television ad among my friends has to be Mitt Romney’s. In this particular ad, a former employee of Romney discusses how Romney shut down his whole entire business and sent everyone to look for his daughter, who was lost in New York City. They found her shortly after. Really tugs at the heart.

Republican presidential candidates Gingrich and Santorum appeared with Mississippi Republican Governor Phil Bryant yesterday at a gulf coast energy summit. My friends were there to protest against drilling.

Some really great quotes came out of this event:

Bryant: “Obama probably hasn’t paid for gas in a long time. He’s got SUVs and limos to pick him up. I don’t wanna pay 50 bucks and only get half a tank…I ain’t against windmills. I think they’re beautiful. But I’m a realist. I know what works. I heard about alternative energy, I don’t know what futuristic idea they are talking about.”

Rick Santorum denied CO2 is toxic at the energy summit.  

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons