PHILADELPHIA, Miss.–If you’ve ever had it out with your husband or wife, you could probably relate to the way your speaker of the Miss. House, Phillip Gunn, explained the rift in the Republican party in the state, following the Senate primary and run-off. He explained it like a marriage on the rocks, but one that’s worth saving in his Neshoba Co. Fair speech Thursday.
“Every time my wife and I have a disagreement, we have a choice to make,” said Gunn. ” We can abandon the marriage, or we can choose to work it out. I believe the sign of a strong marriage is not the absence of disagreement, but that you have the ability to reconcile. The same holds true for a political party.”
Gunn started his speech by saying the rift was the “white elephant in the room”.
Interestingly, Thursday was the day that trouble was expected from some who may be associated with the Tea Party. The only disruption came in the form of signs that some people near the front of the pavilion that read “Betrayed!”. They also had on some clown-like make-up.
When Democrat candidate for Senate Travis Childers took the stage, he did have a surprise up his sleeve.
“When the Tea Party says we cannot sustain a $17 trillion debt, they’re right!” That drew loud applause. “That’s why I’ll work for a balanced budget amendment to get this country’s spending under control.”
The WHOLE speech:
Childers said he supports raising the minimum wage, equal pay for equal work, both currently concepts held by Democrats, and he said he would like to have multiple debates with Sen. Thad Cochran.
When Cochran came out, he got a standing ovation and held he crowd very well.
“If you happened to have walked by a television during the past few months, you might have seen or heard some things about me. Some picture I saw even made me look a little bit older than I thought I was,” he joked.
Cochran is campaigning on some pretty familiar moderate Republican concepts, like getting rid of ObamaCare.
The WHOLE Speech:
He also said he wants to help bring more jobs to Mississippi. He did not address whether he would debate Childers and did not acknowledge any specific scandals.
Gov. Bryant followed him on stage and said he doubts sometimes whether the formular that is used to calculate unemployment is correct.
“No excuses,” he said, saying that it is now and has been his intention to put Mississippians to work.
