BARBOURSHOP:

Mixing It Up In Ole Miss (Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Steve Chaggaris, Clothilde Ewing, Sean Sharifi and Natasha Kuzovich, 10/01/03, CBS News)

Mississippi gubernatorial candidate Haley Barbour has said he hopes to be the Republican Party’s most successful vote-getter among blacks. But, according to the Clarion-Ledger, Barbour is using the Mississippi state flag, which features the Confederate flag – an offensive symbol to many black voters – on his campaign materials. Barbour also appears in a photo on the website of the Council for Conservative Citizens, a group accused of fostering racist views. Although Barbour denies any ties with the council, the photo was taken at a council sponsored fundraiser in July, the paper reports.

In a 2001 statewide referendum, Mississippians voted 2-to-1 to retain the Confederate symbol on the state flag, and Barbour is trying to energize those voters by promoting the flag. Last week, he stated, "I will tell you without any fear of contradiction, until this started being stirred up, I never had a black politician, a black minister, a black candidate ever mention the state flag to me ever."

In politics, it helps to know which side your bread is buttered on.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 1, 2003 02:27 PM