Word: mississippis
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Occasionally, Finch's old political finesse would shine. At a country barbeque, he would woo redneck throngs by talking about his childhood days working on the farm and toting water out to daddy in a fruit jar. But even Mississippi has gained some sophistication these days, and the old ploy just didn't work any longer...
Finch's defeat in the run-off election in the Democratic primary has destroyed--for the time being at least--any speculating about a new kind of color-blind populism in Mississippi. In the wake of his defeat, Finch appears more a burp from Mississippi's populist past than the harbinger of a new kind of politics. Nonetheless, it remains to be seen whether Finch's decline was due to the shakiness of his alleged political base or to the numerous political blunders Finch made during the first two years of his governorship--blunders that a more astute populist politician...
Maurice Dantin, the victor of the fiercely competitive Democratic primary, is not a candidate who excites. In fact, the entire primary battle--except perhaps for Finch's participation--suggested that Mississippi is losing whatever politcal uniqueness it once had. The speeches bored, the issues were non-existent, and the candidates came across as conservative facsimiles of one another. All stood slightly to the right of Ronald Reagan. All were good family men, churchgoers, Rotarian-types who seemed to have gone straight from Ole Miss to Ole Miss Law School, on to the D.A.'s office, private practice and finally politics...
...KNOWS why voters chose Dantin over the other country club clones. He is, to be sure, a fresh face, having run for statewide political office only once before. Moreover, Dantin came across as the antithesis of Finch, who scared Mississippi's power elite with his howling mobs of supporters. For a while, Finch's excited antics pleased a lot of Mississippians because they thought his fervor would be channeled to bring about concrete reforms. When this went for naught, the poor whites and blacks who supported him decided they prefer a man who quietly does nothing to one who yells...
Unlike past political races in Mississippi, Dantin's victory in the Democratic primary has not assured him a spot in the Senate. Strong challenges from a Republican and an Independent stand between Dantin and the Eastland legacy. Both Thad Cochran, a Republican Congressman, and Charles Evers, brother of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, plan to be spoilers...