If Only I Had Delusions of Grandeur

If I did, I'd claim that this blog brought down Brandon 'Yaw Yaw' Cherry in the District 19 runoff yesterday. But, it takes someone who's very insecure in their own accomplishments to claim they had a part in something that in reality, they did very little to aid in. I can't say that three or four blog posts brought down a candidacy-though I'd like to think the response to them swung a few people toward the winner.

No, Mark Duvall deserves the credit. He ran as his own man, didn't scream at people, didn't have to resort to someone else's playbook, and won 56% or so of the vote. He's probably going to sweat a little in the general election but he's probably going to win the seat-after all, the precincts making up District 19 in Itawamba County were almost all carried by Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004, and the largest single bloc of votes is located there. The district as a whole will trend Republican after the next election, as its more than likely to expand west into Lee County, but that's 2015, not now.

Here's my advice to you, Mr. Duvall, should you choose to accept it.

Run the hell away from Jamie Franks. After all, Brandon 'Yaw Yaw' Cherry was his boy. His parents are both administrators in the Lee County School District, where Mr. Franks wife works. Steve Holland, Mr. Franks' good friend, gave him $400. So did 'Lawyers involved in Miss. Betterment' (I'm sure that if they benefit from that betterment, that's okay with them). Mr. Franks has never been exceedingly popular in his home district anyway-he went to a runoff in the primary in 1999 (no R in the race), and spent over $100K to win by 600 votes in 2003. I've yet to see that in anyone's column (Sid, your blog doesn't count and you know it), but it's damn true and they can look it up.

Yeah, he's a Dem, but remember: You're not in this for the good of the Democrats. You're not in it for Mark Duvall. You're in it for District 19 and the state of Mississippi. If he wins, and you don't kiss up to him, what can he do? He doesn't gain you a single vote anywhere in the District-even though, like Mussolini, he still amazingly has supporters. And knowing him, his partisan nature won't bring him-or those who support him-to hold his nose and vote Republican.

Be your own man, Mark. You don't need him; otherwise, you never would have run against him 8 years ago. Best of luck to you; represent my old hometown well.