JACKSON –After my first two weeks as chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party, it’s never been more obvious to me that we are on the brink of a major political shift in our country and our state.

From Gov. Haley Barbour’s insistence on funding Medicaid by taxing the sick to skyrocketing gasoline and food prices that have strained family budgets, people all over this state have had enough. Mississippi voters want change.

They are fed up with business-as-usual in Washington and politicians who promise one thing but do something else. And they are tired of the same, old, worn-out Republican rhetoric that has done nothing to solve our problems.

Voters are embracing our Democratic Party candidates for one chief reason: They offer specific, commonsense solutions to current and age-old problems that have held us back and kept our nation and state from moving forward.

Our party’s candidates and officials support providing adequate health care, including a Medicaid program funded by a tax on cigarettes and not on sick people. We support fully funding education because children are our future. We support reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

Rather than continuing the failed policies of President George W. Bush, our candidates for president, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House have outlined how they will put our country and state back on track and improve the lives of everyone.



Momentum grows



If you need proof that more and more Mississippians are embracing the Democratic Party and our candidates, then take a look at how our party’s momentum has steadily increased since the start of this election year.

• Presidential race: Our party’s annual fundraiser, the Jefferson Jackson Hamer Day Dinner on March 6 in Canton, was a huge success. More than 2,000 people attended the event headlined by former presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton.

• March primary: A record 434,110 people – including thousands of new voters – cast ballots in the March 11 Democratic Party primary, which was fueled by a competitive race between Clinton and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.

• House race: Democrat Travis Childers won the 1st Congressional District U.S. House seat in Northeast Mississippi in a May 13 special election runoff, giving our party control of a seat Republican Roger Wicker held since 1995 and overwhelmingly won in 2006.

• Senate race: Former Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove is in a prime position of winning the U.S. Senate seat held by former Sen. Trent Lott. Polls show Musgrove is either ahead or in a statistical tie with Roger Wicker, the interim U.S. senator, heading toward the Nov. 4 election.

Indeed, Democrats are on the move and momentum is in our corner. As I and the other new officers settle into our role as leaders of the Mississippi Democratic Party, I’m confident we’ll see even more progress and gains across the state.



Democratic Values



My hope and vision for the Mississippi Democratic Party are based on a set of simple, yet important, values my parents instilled in me while I grew up in the small, rural community of Mooreville in the northeast part of our state.

My parents worked long and hard for the last 47 years at the Day-Brite lighting factory. They taught me the value of a hard-earned dollar and an honest day’s work. They taught me honesty. And they taught me to be true to my beliefs.

Those values have shaped my life and who I am today. In fact, I’m a Democrat because the Mississippi Democratic Party, our party’s candidates and our party’s officeholders also believe and practice those same values.

And that’s what this year’s elections are all about: Mississippi voters want people who will serve in public office with a sense of purpose; with honesty, integrity and dignity; and with their head in the right place and not their hands lining their pockets.

Our Democratic Party candidates and officeholders are honest, hard-working, sincere people. Each one has a solid track record of dedicated, public service. And each one has performed and done exactly what they said they would.

Simply put: We want to make sure that everyone everywhere in this state and this nation, regardless of their economic or social background, has an equal opportunity to succeed. And we want you to join us in our fight to do just that.



Jamie Franks, an attorney and a former state representative from

Mooreville, was elected July 12 by the Mississippi Democratic Party State

Executive Committee to serve as chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party for the 2008-2012 term.