In MS Senate race, an African American Democrat faces a Republican using a Confederate symbol

[DonViejo]

By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
September 30 at 5:57 PM

YAZOO CITY, Miss. — For the past five months, U.S. Senate candidate Mike Espy has tried to remind Mississippians how he has served them in the past: a son of the Delta with three terms in the U.S. House who spent time as Bill Clinton’s agriculture secretary.

But even Espy’s most ardent supporters worry that when many voters go to the polls on Nov. 6, what Espy has done will matter much less than what he is: a black man running for one of the highest elected offices in a state with a Confederate emblem on its flag.

One of his opponents is hearkening to another version of the past: Republican Chris McDaniel, a conservative fond of provocative statements whose yard signs boast the “stainless banner” — the second flag of the Confederate States of America.

The state’s appointed Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican, is the other candidate who will be on the special-election ballot; she took over from Thad Cochran, who resigned in ill health in April. The winner will fill the remaining two years of Cochran’s term; if no candidate wins a majority, the race heads to a Nov. 27 runoff.

Espy, 64, whose family has deep roots in Mississippi, must draw large numbers of black and Democratic voters to the polls. But his biggest challenge will be persuading a large enough swath of others, including white moderates, to ignore the two main Republicans on the ballot and vote for a Democrat who happens to be black.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-mississippi-senate-race-an-african-american-democrat-faces-a-republican-using-a-confederate-symbol/2018/09/30/a7414410-bdb6-11e8-8792-78719177250f_story.html

[BumRushDaShow]

1. For a state that has a black population of 38%

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ms

THIS should be something that the party must put more time and $$$ in.

[Nitram]

2. Wow! That is indeed a stark statement of where his opponent is coming from.

We're back in the 50s, with racist white men running on a promise to put minorities "in their place."