I don't know about you, but I pretty much ready to wrote off the Mississippi race for Governor. After all, everyone from the MSM to the blogosphere had already delared Haley Barbour the victor. However, this poll discussed on the state blog Cotton Mouth, suggests that this race is not over. Not yet.
A poll done in April for the Mississippi Education Association showed how the state would have voted for Governor had the election had been held that day. The results broke down as follows:
35.4% Eaves
49.6% Barbour
15.0% Don't Know / No Reply
At this time nearly 1/3 of voters still had never heard of John Eaves while only 3% said that they didn't recognize Barbour's name.
So Barbour, with a 97% name ID, can only muster 49% against a guy no one has heard of? Granted, he's nearly at 50%, but what happens if we pay attention to this race and help Eaves make it a race? What happens when people get to know our challenger and the corruption that surrounds Barbour? I am not trying to inject a false optimism, but if the poll is accurate, we should follow Howard Dean's admonishment at pay closer attention. After all, would it be nice if we can somehow pick off a darling of the national Republicans and one of George Bush's best friends? I'll be watching, and so should you.