You know the movie.

Jimmy Stewart is the local hero to young men in his home state, sent to Washington D.C. by his governor to fill a sudden U.S. Senate vacancy.

In “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” the new senator chooses to stick to his own principles in the face of great personal cost, instead of going along with the corrupt political machine that tries to turn him into its puppet.

In the end the good guys triumph over the bad guys and the audience comes away feeling good and believing that the system can work for the average citizen.

Right now Mississippi’s facing a situation like that in the set up for “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” Republican Trent Lott is leaving the Senate and Republican Gov. Haley Barbour is expected to appoint someone to fill the vacancy before a special election is held.

Many people have speculated that our District 3 U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering, a Republican who already said he wasn’t running for another term in the House, is the logical choice to fill that vacancy. Can Pickering win against one of the state’s heavyweight Democratic contenders like Mike Moore in a special U.S. Senate election? I don’t think so. And, here’s the question I’ve been asking folks since Lott made his announcement: “Who really WANTS to be the junior senator from Mississippi in the minority party anyway?”

I don’t believe there’s a Republican who is, or has been in office out there with enough statewide appeal who has a GREAT shot at beating a strong Democratic U.S. Senate candidate next year, and no one likes to be the sacrificial lamb.

But, Gov. Barbour could appeal to a large cross section of voters by appointing a candidate not already submerged in the wacky world of politics.

What if Gov. Barbour chose someone that was exciting to some traditional Republican voters as well as Democrats and independents? A regular person, not elected before. You know what else? Such a choice also would probably draw some favorable national attention to the appointment and that helps the whole state.

C.D. Smith comes to mind. So does both Mary and Hartley Peavey, and Doc Fogelsong — they and many others in this state are all potential “Mr. Smiths.”

Of course the Governor would need a Republican and someone who describes themselves as conservative, but, we don’t need anymore edgy Republicans — those who are so conservative they believe the world is flat and they just keep moving to the right until they topple off of the edge.

EEE-GAD! You might say. ‘What a stupid idea, suggesting someone serve in the U.S. Senate who has never served in an elected public office before.’

It’s not that stupid of an idea.

Former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, a Republican, was a physician who had never held elected public office before he defeated Jim Sasser in Tennessee and even became Senate Majority Leader after Trent Lott couldn’t hold on to a majority in the Senate, and then inserted his foot in his mouth by praising Strom Thurmond’s 1940s segregationist presidential platform.

Here’s some current U.S. Senators who haven’t held elected office before their present positions, you probably heard of some of them: U.S. Sen. Hilary Clinton, Democrat, of New York; U.S. Sen. Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy, Democrat, of Massachusetts; U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, Republican, of North Carolina; U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, Democrat, of Virginia; U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, Republican, of Nebraska; U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, Republican, of Utah; U.S. Sen. John Warner, Republican, of Virginia; U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, Republican, of Florida.; U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Democrat, of New Jersey; U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, Democrat, of Wisconsin; U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, Republican, of Maine.

You know, even a lot of U.S. Senators who have previously been elected to an office had minimal experience. Mississippians deserve the best representation they can get right now and sometimes that’s best realized when new people with fresh ideas are called upon to make a difference. But, if it doesn’t happen, we can still dream … and we can always watch an old movie.



Steve Gillespie is managing editor of

The Meridian Star. E-mail him at sgillespie@themeridianstar.com.