BLACK NOVEMBER FOR DEMOCRATS:

Nagin crosses party lines, endorses Jindal (The Associated Press, 11/03/03)

Mayor Ray Nagin gave an unexpected boost to Bobby Jindal's campaign for governor Monday, crossing party lines to endorse the Republican while noting that Democratic backers of Jindal's opponent had warned him off the gamble.

The endorsement -- a black big-city Democrat backing a conservative Republican -- is unorthodox, though in keeping with the maverick mayor's unconventional style. In the primary he backed a conservative north Louisiana Democrat, Randy Ewing, who was not the first choice of other black political leaders, and who finished fifth. [...]

[T]he businessman-turned-politician who has shaken up traditional patronage-bound politics in New Orleans clearly identified himself with the 32-year-old Indian-American technocrat, a political novice himself.

The mayor, in his loose, drawling style cited the singer Sam Cooke ("Change is gonna come,") and spoke of Jindal's "intelligence and credentials." Jindal, beaming at Nagin's side, fired off at top speed a litany of development plans for the city, repeated formulas about its role as a "gateway" to Latin America, and insisted on its potential importance as a medical center.

As if a booming economy weren't bad enough, having already lost in CA last month--to give the GOP the governorships of the four largest states in the country--the Democrats face the possibility of losing races in KY and MS tomorrow and in LA a week from tomorrow. Plus, the Democrat mayor of Philadelphia is in trouble in his race; Bob Graham retired today; Zell Miller just endorsed President Bush; the Iraq spending bill passed without loans; TX got redestricted along GOP lines...the bad news just keeps on coming.

Meanwhile, Mayor Nagin would make a nice replacement for Senator Breaux, eh?

MORE:
Elections reflect GOP strength in South (Ryan B. Zempel, November 3, 2003, Townhall)

Although the Mississippi results will be cast as a referendum on Bush, the race is really simply indicative of the increasing GOP dominance of the South. Regardless of who wins, the race is demonstrating that having a D after your name is increasingly becoming a disadvantage in the South. How else to explain the fact that Barbour has embraced Bush (who visited the state Saturday) while Musgrove has steered clear of national Democrats?

Republicans attempted to exploit the disadvantages of being a Democrat by holding a judicial confirmation vote on Charles Pickering last week, sparking another Democratic filibuster. Pickering is popular in Mississippi and Musgrove has endorsed his nomination, but Republicans are hoping that Musgrove's membership in the party of the filibuster will cost him at the polls.

Historically speaking, the stars aren't aligned for Barbour. Mississippi has only had one GOP governor since the Reconstruction era -- Kirk Fordice, who was Musgrove's predecessor. Republicans hope that Fordice was the beginning of a trend that Barbour will continue.

A win by the Democratic incumbent will disabuse Republicans of the notion that their lock on the South is solidifying. But if the GOP manages to pull out a win, that would seem to confirm the idea that the Republicans are on an inexorable march towards Southern dominance.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 3, 2003 7:49 PM