Upon Further Review…

Ronnie Musgrove made it obvious what type of campaign he plans on running with this press release today. Not only is it a bad idea to go negative in the second hour of your campaign, it’s a worse idea when its full of make-believe illusions from your one term as governor.

Citing his experience as a governor who balanced every budget and cut state spending rather than raise taxes… Referring to his years as governor, Musgrove said “Our spending was smart, our economy was growing, we were investing in education and we were attracting jobs and investment. We did it by working across political lines and watching the bottom line. That’s the kind of federal government this country needs and this state deserves. And that leadership and example has to start in Washington.”

Care to go into details about that balanced budget? When Haley Barbour took the oath of office, Mississippi had a $700 million deficit. Unless there was some governor in between Musgrove and Barbour; it is hardly truthful to talk about balanced budgets.

About jobs, from January 2000 to January 2004 Mississippi lost about 30,000 nonfarm jobs going from 1.15 million to 1.12 million. During that time frame, the state also lost around 50,000 manufacturing jobs.

That’s in contrast with Haley Barbour’s administration, who added over 40,000 in his first term, although (to be fair) there was a net loss of about 7,00 manufacturing jobs during that time.

About immigration…

“Congress has spent years turning a blind eye to illegal immigration…”

I do not have the resources to look up every speech Musgrove made during his term as governor, but I do not remember his saying much about the problem when he was in office.

Musgrove drew other contrasts with Wicker, citing Wicker’s votes for weaker penalties for hiring illegal aliens and for voting five times against funding for tougher border security. “Roger Wicker will spend your tax dollars on a mule museum but not on more border guards.”

Is that so? This attack might come as a surprise to Wicker considering he voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006 which funded 700 miles of border fencing; a measure the Democrats opposed and have since decided not to fund since becoming the majority.

He also supported the most important immigration legislation to come out of Congress in sometime, HR 4437 which would have provided a host of resolutions to the immigration problem including stiffening penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants, increasing sentences for smugglers, mandating detention and deportation, as well as mandating sentences for illegal immigrants who re-enter the country after be deported.

I don’t think you can try to out-conservative someone on immigration who supported that measure.

About his “independence…”

“I’ll vote against the Democrats when I think they’re wrong, and I’ll vote with the Republicans when I think it’s best for Mississippi. But the most important thing is this - if we’re going to get this country back on sound footing, we’ll need a senator who knows how to say no.”

This reminds me of Jamie Franks campaign noise (remember him saying he didn’t get his values from the national Democratic party or national Republican party). In fact, his entire press release sounds a lot like John Eaves and Jamie Franks from the past year.

On a personal note, I enjoyed my class with Musgrove. I didn’t agree with much of what he said, but he seemed like a truly nice guy- which I am sure he is. He’s better than this, and he ought to straighten up his campaign rhetoric.