Jackson Free Press

Bold New Party?

<b>New Dem Head Wayne Dowdy on Faux Elephants and Young Voters

It's hard to get past Wayne Dowdy's name. Through no fault of his own, the new head of the Mississippi Democratic Party—a Millsaps grad, a grandfather and a U.S. congressman …

No Worry: The Feds Will Pay for Medicare (Maybe)

In a bizarre twist in ideology, Gov. Haley Barbour told Neshoba County Fair go-ers Thursday that the federal government should pick up the tab for the health-care costs of poor …

Where are the Rock Stars?

When Judy Coleman was 16, she watched MTV's "Rock the Vote" special "Choose or Lose" religiously. The rock stars sucked her in.

Of Sin and Politics

I remember being surprised when I got old enough to realize that not everyone had a yearly "giant house party" in their home county. In fact, the Neshoba County Fair …

Index: Your Vote Count?

• The percentage of Americans that voted in the 2000 presidential election: 54.7

• The number of Mississippians between 18 and 35: approx. 692,500• The number of Mississippians who voted in the 2000 election: 993, 571• The number of eligible Mississippi voters who …

Judge Blocks New Mississippi Anti-Abortion Law

Clarion-Ledger is reporting: "Mississippi's new abortion law infringes on a woman's 14th Amendment right to have an abortion early in the second trimester, a federal judge has ruled. In a …

Wayne Dowdy Will Worry State GOP

Clarion-Ledger columnist Sid Salter writes that new Mississippi Democratic Party head Wayne Dowdy will worry the state Republicans: "Dowdy is a formidable opponent in every sense of the term. He's …

Minor: Miss. GOP Lying About ‘Highest-Taxed State'

Columnist Bill Minor writes this week: "Bad enough that the chief propagandist for the Mississippi Republican Party is a turncoat Democrat, but worse that he lies to make taxpayers believe …

Ex-Felons Fight for Right to Vote

Twelve years ago, Yvonne Kennedy, a Democratic member of Alabama's House of Representatives, began a campaign to re-enfranchise ex-prisoners in the state after they had served out their sentences. At …

Ann Williams

Ann Williams, 54, is a bit tough, a little hard to take in at first. But that's because she's passionate. And she speaks the truth.

Only Children Bleed

The House Juvenile Justice Committee is holding legislative hearings on the training schools at the Capitol on July 19 from 2-5 p.m. and July 20 from 9 a.m. until noon …

Mississippi Dems ‘Ready to Rumble'?

Bill Minor writes: "Barbour, the guy who won the governor's job with supposedly unmatched political smarts, made a colossal blunder by pushing through legislation that left thousands of recipients - …

Then I Got Mad

Click here to view a petition to recall Gov. Haley Barbour.

Doth the State GOP Protest Too Much?

It strikes me that the state GOP is getting pretty bent out of shape over Edwards, considering that the state is supposedly so locked up for George Bush. Over on …

Dueling for the NRA Vote

Evan Derkacz writes for Alternet that the pro-gun vote doesn't necessarily belong to George Bush. He writes: "Although Kerry seems to have learned from Gore's mistakes and Bush has lost …

JFP PoliticsBlog Is Back! (Almost)

The JFP is re-launching our popular PoliticsBlog to track information about candidates our readers can vote for this year—from U.S. president to judicial races in Mississippi. Our news interns are …

John Edwards: Friend of Business?

The Washington Post today: "Business associations in Washington were uniformly hostile yesterday to John Kerry's choice of Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) as his running mate, promising that a trial lawyer …

"Fahrenheit 601": JFP Readers Want Film in Jackson

Here's the blog that has Jackson talking; originally posted June 19, 2004, this thread spawned a movement to bring "Fahrenheit 9/11" to Jackson. Now the energy has turned to bringing …

[Barbour] Leaving No PLAD Behind

Mississippi Medicaid was bleeding badly—doubling in cost over five years—and changes had to be made. Our dilemma was this: How to keep the Medicaid program sustainable while making sure everyone …

[Cohen] Beware the Writhing of a Starving Beast

When Haley Barbour was running for governor, the national GOP pulled out its heaviest hitters to canvass the state for his campaign. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Rudy Giuliani …