Jere Nash on Landrum, Harper

Jere Nash: "David Landrum, one of the Republican candidates for the Third District congressional seat, has a new TV ad. The ad begins with Landrum looking into the camera, saying: “I am not a lawyer, politician, or a bureaucrat.” I always wonder about candidates like Landrum who apparently feel the only way they can promote themselves is to disparage the occupations of others. And I guess it doesn’t matter to Landrum that Haley Barbour is a lawyer or that he qualified for "bureaucrat" status when he served on the White House staff as political director for President Ronald Reagan. Besides, the minute any person qualifies for an elective office, he or she becomes a politician. That’s the definition of the term. Landrum may not like it, but he became a politician when he signed up to run for this political office."

Jere Nash: "There is a reason voters are jaded about most of the ads political candidates run on television. Take the latest ad by Third District Congressional Candidate Greg Harper. It is all about Harper being "tough on immigration" and includes these promises by the candidate: "secure the borders, enforce existing laws, oppose amnesty, and oppose taxpayer benefits for illegal aliens." It is very easy and painless for a candidate to make these kinds of promises. And voters know this. What voters want to know is: "Mr. Landrum, how will you accomplish all of what you are promising?" Beginning in 2001 and ending in 2006, Republicans controlled both houses of Congress and the White House. And, yet, for six full years, they couldn't accomplish what Harper is now proposing he can accomplish alone. Voters know the federal government has failed to adequately enforce immigration laws. They want to know how candidates for Congress are going to fix that problem."

UPDATE: TAGGART RESPONDS FOR HARPER

Andy Taggart: "I have previously disclosed that Gregg Harper was a college classmate and remains a close personal friend of mine. I have also disclosed that I am supporting him in his race for Congress. To that end, my wife and I and several other couples are hosting a reception for him in our home this coming Tuesday night. Y'all come. Now, having offered full disclosure, I need to offer a brief observation in response to Jere's punching on my guy. How can any candidate ever fairly be criticized for saying that the laws of the United States ought to be obeyed and enforced? That's the sort of stuff we learned pretty early on, no matter where we grew up. And how can any fair criticism be based on the fact that the law has not been enforced in the past? Good gracious, I think Harper's pretty good, but he's not good enough to make the federal government do his job when he's not even up there yet. And finally, how can any candidate really be criticized for saying that he wants to see changes made in the way things are now being done? Isn't that exactly why any concerned citizen is willing to sacrifice his professional time, his family time and his privacy and offer for public office? Gregg Harper, along with other candidates who are willing to undergo the rigors of a campaign for Congress, is a patriot. Some might disagree with his politics or his tactics. None may legitimately question his motivations."

Jere Nash: "Let the record show that I was not questionning Gregg Harper's motivations. I was questionning his choice of media consultants. There have been plenty of candidates who have been motivated to run for all the right reasons who have put sorry commercials on the television."