"Mississippi Doublewide" - Caddle
I got a past due notice hanging on my front door
Hanging on the one from the month before
Sheriff comes a knocking almost every day
Got to pack my shit before they haul me away
Obviously guys from the Will Wilkinson school of country music. I have found that I love a certain brand of country music in my middle age and it has little to do with the conservatism that Will Wilkinson (who obviously doesn't know shit about the subject) extols.
I spent the day in Richmond and am heading to Charleston, WV for the next two days. How this kid from Boston ended up a southern and appalachian rain maker I'll never know. (I'm heading back to Richmond two more times in the next two weeks and have a trip to Louisville in between.)
So what do you all think tonight? (Chris Matthews just described it as a race between three cultists in Mississippi and Alabama -- that would be two Catholics (I have a hard time swallowing Gingrich as such) and a Mormon.) I have a feeling that the continued splitting of the most conservative vote between Gingrich and Santorum and the strong establishment backing for Romney (and his overwhelming money advantage) are going to result in Romney stealing at least one of these two deep southern states, which I think will be very helpful to his cause.
Alright -- time to look at the early vote counts and see what is happening. Oh yeah -- and grabbing a beer. One is clearly not going to do the trick tonight.
Ah yes, Stanley walked (a freakishly warm day here -- it was over 80 and it is still warm enough that wearing a light leather jacket has left me sweating) and a fresh supply of beer laid in.
Update: It looks like both Mississippi and Alabama are close three way races with Santorum narrowly in the lead in both with about 33-35% of the vote while Romney and Gingrich both hover in the high twenties. Right now Romney is in third in both states, which would be a bit of a PR problem but would not prevent him from keeping a wide delegate lead. I wonder to what degree Gingrich's persistence is preventing Santorum from winning a substantial victory in both places. Maybe Romney will make Newt the Secretary of Bullshit in his future cabinet.
Further Update: Santorum comes from behind in three way (or what the French call a menagarie) -- he is the projected winner in Alabama.
Romney should have stopped with the grits pandering and done what this Massachusetts boy did and master the art saying "fuck all y'all."
And still further update: Santorum is stubbornly clinging to a narrow lead in Mississippi -- right now with 90% of the vote reported (according to CNN), it's Santorum with 74,436 (33%), Gingrich with 71,105 (32%)and Romney with 67,782 (30%). His lead seems to be holding though. And I can't see Romney making up a 6,800 vote deficit at this point. Romney must be pulling for Gingrich to overtake him at the finish. But the story right now looks bad for Romney -- two Santorum wins and two Romney third place finishes. Fun for the rest of us.
Santorum continues to hold on in Mississippi. With 96% of the vote in, he has put a little more distance between himself and Gingrich. I think a double victory is pretty damned close to inevitable. Curious to see what the Pillsbury Dough Boy of Reaction will do now that he has lost both Alabama and Mississippi.
It's official. NBC says Santorum is the winner in Mississippi. And Illinois and Louisiana are next, both of which I can see Santorum taking. And then people in the GOP establishment, such as it is, are going to be more than a little queasy.
And can I just note, contrary to people like Sullivan and Jon Stewart, I believe that the media has given Ron Paul absolutely as much attention in this campaign as he deserved. He cannot generate even 10% of the vote in southern states. He is a marginal candidate who has cracked 15% of the vote in only three state primaries -- New Hampshire, Vermont, and Virginia -- and the latter only because the anti-Romney voters had no one else to choose.
