Since Mississippi lost its 4th Congressional District, Republican Chip Pickering is facing off against Democrat Ronnie Shows in the race to represent the redrawn 3rd District. Oktibbeha County falls into this new 3rd district. Strangely similar print and television ad campaigns led me to investigate what, exactly, is the difference between these two men.
A camogflauge-laden Pickering flyer featured photographs of him with his wife and NRA president Charlton Heston. Pickering is shooting a shotgun. It’s obvious that Pickering doesn’t care much for gun control.
Inquiries into Shows’ position on the gun control issue proved that he, too, was a NRA member.
Shows makes it clear in his platform that veteran’s rights are important to him.
Pickering’s stance on the issue is, not suprisingly, no different.
Pickering and Shows also agreed on a few other big issues. They both favor increasing military spending and defending the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. Also, both candidates are pro-life.
To distinguish himself, Ronnie Shows casts himself as the “working man’s candidate.” Shows says that Pickering is in the pocket of corrupt corporations such as WorldCom. To prove that assertion, Shows cites how Bernie Ebbers, former WorldCom CEO, routinely endorsed Pickering and contributed large sums of money to his campaign.
Pickering, to set himself apart, supports the Mississippi sportsman and wildlife conservation. Of course, it’s not a stretch to see the overlapping categories of Shows’ “rural working man” and Pickering’s “Mississippi sportsman.”
Both candidates support President Bush most of the time-Pickering at 84 percent and Shows at 64 percent during 2001. Pickering is fiercely loyal to the Republicans while Shows is only loyal to the Democrats 53 percent of the time.
Like it or not, Mississippi’s 3rd District will have conservative representation. The question for the voters to decide is how conservative?
Josh Foreman is a junior communication major.