Neshoba County Democrat on Landrum's Vote Record

Neshoba County Democrat - Jim Prince, Editor & Publisher - At the Catfish Opry - The event with Republican candidates Gregg Harper, Charlie Ross, David Landrum and John Rounsaville focused almost predictably on illegal immigration, the Iraq war and the economy. Harper and Rounsaville were the most impressive. Rounsaville, a former aide to Pickering as well as Barbour, clearly has the best grasp of policy and would hit the ground running in Washington. Harper is a conservative's conservative.

Scott Boyd, the editor and publisher of The Beacon in Macon and one of three panelists, asked who Landrum voted for in the 2003 gubernatorial election since he gave money to Musgrove, drawing laughter from the audience.

"Well, my vote is for Gov. Barbour," Landrum told the crowd. He never said, "I voted for Gov. Barbour," and that raises a question in the minds of some.

Records at the Madison County Courthouse show that Landrum voted most recently in the Nov. 6 general election. Prior to that, records indicate the last time Landrum voted was in November 2000. Madison County Circuit Clerk Lee Westbrook said, however, there's no guarantee that Landrum didn't vote between that time because records may not have been entered accurately.

Neil Forbes, Landrum's campaign manager, said on Monday that Landrum and his wife moved back to Hinds County in 2002, and in 2003, Landrum and his wife thought they had registered to vote, but an error occurred in the registration process and their affidavit ballots in November did not end up counting because they were not on the rolls. Forbes said that Landrum has voted in other elections between 2000 and 2007 in Madison County, but has been unable to locate records.

Landrum acknowledged making the Musgrove donation at the request of friends and business associates interested in tort reform. Of course Musgrove's tort reform was enacted in 2003, but that special session was in 2002.

Landrum suggested Boyd's line of questioning was a distortion of the facts, noting that "my friend Phil Bryant" ran a "contentious" primary campaign for lieutenant governor.

Boyd's questioning was not out of line.

A person who has potentially not voted in a decade does not deserve to be near the United States House of Representatives.

Men and women have died and are dying to protect that freedom and that's something I can get fighting mad over since two of our own soldiers came back from the Iraq war in flag-draped coffins.

And that does not even begin to touch on the liberation of Europe and all those souls that rest in peace, among other places, at the Normandy American Cemetery, which overlooks Omaha Beach, as well as those veterans who came home maimed and disfigured and have never so much as complained.

Interestingly, Westbrook, the Madison County clerk, said a newspaper reporter was about the ninth person to call and ask about Landrum's voting record, including a woman she believed to be impersonating a 14-year-old girl, who said she was doing a "school project."