By Staff
July 28, 2002
The 3rd Congressional District race turns serious this week as Republican Chip Pickering and Democrat Ronnie Shows meet Thursday to debate at the Neshoba County Fair.
Let's hope they stick to the issues and avoid the picky, petty personal jabs that marred the only other political debate to grace Founders Square at this historic annual event.
That debate, a 1995 event between incumbent Republican Gov. Kirk Fordice and Democratic challenger Dick Molpus, quickly degenerated into a political sniping contest. Fordice went on to win the 1995 election.
To this day, longtime fairgoers still remember that raucous debate. Some had speculated the debate would go down in history as the fair's first and only a nasty aside to the more traditional, political stump speeches.
The fair's political speeches will return this year, as always. Local, regional and statewide elected officials will take the stage Wednesday and Thursday to boast about what they've done and what they plan to do.
But with statewide elections more than a year away, attention will focus on the 3rd Congressional District debate. And rightly so. This is a serious race set up when the state lost one of its five U.S. House seats. Shows, who represents the current 4th Congressional District, and Pickering, who represents the current 3rd District, are fighting for a re-drawn U.S. House seat that includes portions of both their old districts.
The race also could play a role in deciding which political party, Democratic or Republican, will control the U.S. House next year.
So at 2:10 p.m. Thursday, under the tin roof of the Founders Square pavilion, we want to hear what Shows and Pickering have to say about such high-profile issues as the war on terrorism, the federal budget and the military.
While they're at it, let's hear their plan to ensure that Mississippi's military bases including Naval Air Station Meridian will continue to play major roles in national defense and will be saved from possible closure.
We encourage you to be there if you can. The Meridian Star will provide full coverage of the debate in Friday's edition.