So with eight months to go, I figure it’s time for an updated look at all the 2008 Senate races.  There are 35 seats up for election because of a scenario in Wyoming and Mississippi where both seats are up, due to the passing of Craig Thomas and the resignation of Trent Lott, respectively.  Now obviously, quite a few of the races are considered "safe" for the incumbent.  So I’ll rank these in terms of tiers.  The top tier will be the races where there is a serious challenger to the incumbent (or at least the incumbent’s party, in cases of retirement), where the party holding the seat has a real shot of switching.  The second tier are races that could become top tier races, but are not at this point.  Tier III are ones where a major event would need to happen for the seat to come into play.  And the safe seats?  Well, Mike Gravel has a better shot at winning the presidency than those incumbents have of losing their races.

Follow me below the fold for all the races.  Note: Some of this may seem repetitive, with information you already know.  That’s because I originally wrote this for the Bruin Democrats, many of whom don’t follow the national races like we do.  Consider this a primer for both newcomers and political junkies alike.

This isn't a surprise, but it's lousy news nonetheless: the Mississippi Supreme Court, as expected, has overruled a lower court's decision, and scheduled the special election to fill the seat of retired Sen. Trent Lott for next November, in accordance with Republican Governor Haley Barbour's wishes.

The decision is available here, and I recommend reading it, especially for Justice Graves' dissenting opinion:

GRAVES, JUSTICE, DISSENTING: ¶32. Much of what has been written by the majority in the instant case would be dismissed as mere gobbledygook but for the fact that it is being promulgated by a venerable institution in our democracy, the Mississippi Supreme Court. This majority decision erodes that veneration.

The article under question is Section 23.15.855 of the Mississippi Code of 1972:

(1) If a vacancy shall occur in the office of United States Senator from Mississippi by death, resignation or otherwise, the Governor shall, within ten (10) days after receiving official notice of such vacancy, issue his proclamation for an election to be held in the state to elect a Senator to fill such unexpired term as may remain, provided the unexpired term is more than twelve (12) months and the election shall be held within ninety (90) days from the time the proclamation is issued and the returns of such election shall be certified to the Governor in the manner set out above for regular elections, unless the vacancy shall occur in a year that there shall be held a general state or congressional election, in which event the Governor's proclamation shall designate the general election day as the time for electing a Senator, and the vacancy shall be filled by appointment as hereinafter provided.

The majority has ruled, essentially, that a year can be intepreted as meaning 365 days, rather than a calendar year, and that the meaning of the word "shall" is ambiguous in this context and does not necessarily mean something that will occur in the future.

I agree with Justice Graves that that is a rather ridiculous intepretation, but it is what it is.

Regardless of when the special election is held, we should have, at least, a fighting chance against Senator Roger Wicker (appointed by Barbour to fill Lott's seat temporarily). We have two serious candidates in the race, former Governor Ronnie Musgrove, and former U.S. Representative Ronnie Shows.

Past polling has shown Musgrove competitive for this seat; I have not yet seen any polling for Shows. Musgrove, in particular, would have had quite a bit to gain had the election actually been held in March: his name recognition is near universal, and greater than Wicker's, due to his terms as Governor and Lieutenant Governor.

That advantage will certainly be blunted as Wicker will have, for the November election, nearly a year of incumbency under his belt, plenty of time to campaign in a Republican state, and a presidential election on the same day to spur Republican turnout.

Still, we should have a pretty decent shot in November. The NRSC is starved for cash, so they won't be in much of a position to help Wicker; his polling so far has been surprisingly weak given the Republican tilt of the state, and the Republican brand name is weakened across the board. If we do end up with another Democratic wave in the fall-which I think is entirely possible-it may well carry our candidate to victory in this race.

Race tracker wiki: MS-Sen

The battle for Trent Lott's seat in the U.S. Senate hangs in the balance of this year's election cycle and with it the mantle of Lott's leadership on all things Katrina--especially Insurance Reform. Last year's tumultuous election for the insurance commissioner position  had the 32-year incumbent George Dale screaming all over the place about how hard he had worked on behalf of Mississippi's home owners after Katrina.

Employing the nose test of politics in last year's election, Democratic voters booted out Dale in the primary believing him to be protecting the interests of the insurance industry rather than protecting homeowners. Dale's words and actions didn't mesh. Anyone can talk the talk regarding Katrina recovery and insurance reform, but walking the walk requires passing South Mississippians' nose test.  

We've won the first round in the war over scheduling Mississippi's special election to replace Senator Trent Lott:

A Hinds County Circuit judge ruled today that Gov. Haley Barbour exceeded his constitutional authority by setting the special election to replace former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott for November.

DeLaughter heard about an hour of arguments Monday in the dispute between state Attorney General Jim Hood and Barbour.

Barbour had intended to schedule the special election in November, no doubt because a year of incumbency and a presidential election on the same day (which would no doubt go strongly for the Republican in Mississippi) would help his chosen, GOP Representative Senator Roger Wicker.

Mississippi law mandates that special elections be held within 90 days of a vacancy, except in years in which a statewide election occurs. The vacancy technically occurred in 2007, but after the statewide election had been held; therein lies the controversy.

For the time being, however, the courts have ruled against Barbour:

In his order, DeLaughter said the election should be held "within 90 days of the governor's Dec. 20, 2007 proclamation of writ of election...on or before March 19, 2008.

Hood cited Mississippi Code 23-15-855, which applies to U.S. senator vacancies. He and Barbour have differing interpretations of that statute.

A special election in March may well provide a real opening for Democrats, as Wicker suffers from limited name recognition outside his old district, while at least one of our candidates, former Governor Ronnie Musgrove, enjoys excellent name rec from his stint as Barbour's predecessor. In an earlier piece, I posted the polling data for Musgrove, which certainly suggests that he would be a tough adversary for Wicker, particularly with the DSCC's money advantage over their beleaguered Republican counterparts.

Our other candidate, former Rep. Ronnie Shows, was a popular Congressman who was redistricted out of a seat in 2002. I have no polling data for Shows, unfortunately.

Now, it is very likely that this case will be appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court, and that the court, heavy with Barbour cronies, will overturn the lower court's decision. So I am not optimistic that the special election will actually be held by March.

But for the time being, the news is good for Democrats.

Hat tip to MrLiberal for his excellent diary on this news.

And some interesting background on Bobby DeLaughter, the judge who ruled in this case: he is the man who successfully prosecuted Byron de la Beckwith in 1994 for the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, and he was played by Alec Baldwin in the film based on the case, Ghosts of Mississippi.

Race tracker wiki: MS-Sen

It appears that the US Senate race to replace Trent Lott in Mississippi will be taking place sooner than expected - if Judge Bobby DeLaughter's ruling stands.

Judge: Special election should be within 90 days

Judge DeLaughter had been assigned the case to decide whether Mississippi law would allow Lott's replacement, Congressman Roger Wicker to be up for election in either November of 2008 (which would benefit him) or in a Special Election in March 2008 (which would benefit the Democrats).

His decision, while likely to be appealed, would possibly give the Democrats a 52nd US Senate seat - and a Senate not beholden to Joe Lieberman's beck and call.

Speech below the fold. Musgrove isn't my favorite kind of Democrat, but he has a son in Iraq. And if nothing else, the Senate could benefit from having a few people in that deliberative body with a personal stake in what happens in Iraq.

And finally, our son Michael couldn’t be here today.  He’s a graduate of Ole Miss with one year of law school under his belt, and last May he got married to his wonderful soul mate Maggie who is with us this afternoon.  But Michael is back serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.  He’s a Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps and is stationed at Al Asad in Al Anbar Province.

Melody’s biggest worry used to be whether or not Michael would get injured playing starting center on his state championship high school football team.  The worries are a little different

now … and he’s in our prayers every moment of every day.

Then again, reading the speech, there no further mention of Iraq. it's as if his entire campaign will be a crusade against pork. Has anyone ever won a race on cutting the federal budget? I'd like to say Tom Coburn in Oklahoma, but his race was all about the culture wars, not really about budget cutting.

If nothing else, I hope Musgrove forces the cash-strapped NRSC to spend a lot of money in this race.

And don't worry, the less we like him around these parts, the better it's for him in Mississippi. There's a reason he took a gratuitous swipe against California and New York in his speech. The best way for us to help win that seat is to hate on Musgrove, and I'm sure he'll oblige plenty in the coming 11 months.

Race tracker wiki: MS-Sen

We have a candidate:

Former Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove confirmed to The Associated Press on Friday that he will run for the U.S. Senate.

Musgrove plans to hold a series of news conferences Monday in Tupelo, Jackson, Hattiesburg and Gulfport.

"I'll be announcing, yes," Musgrove told the AP in a telephone interview from his law office in Madison County.

Musgrove, a Democrat, will run in a special election against Republican Roger Wicker, who was appointed this week to fill the job left vacant by the retirement of the GOP's Trent Lott.

Of course, we still don't know whether the special election will be held in the next three months, or on Election Day in November.

I think it's unlikely that another serious candidate steps up with Musgrove in the race, so it's fairly safe to assume that Musgrove and Wicker are the candidates, whenever the election is held.

Musgrove's polling numbers are relatively strong. Research 2000 did a poll for Daily Kos showing Musgrove trailing Wicker, 47-39, although that poll undersampled African-Americans. Greenberg Quinlan Rosner ran their own poll, and showed Musgrove defeating Wicker, 48-34.

Two thoughts about Musgrove's entry into this race:

-Musgrove is a serious enough candidate to force the NRSC to spend real money here to defend Wicker. This is critical in a year when we are not only outraising the NRSC overall, but fielding moderate to serious challenges to Republican held seats in 8 to 10 other states, depending on how things develop. The entry of a legitimate candidate into this race spreads the NRSC's already heavily taxed resources even thinner.

-If Obama is the nominee, and it's certainly looking like he has a good shot at this point, black turnout next November could be even higher in Mississippi than it usually is, which could make the difference in the Senate race.

Update: cali points us to today's AP article in the Clarion-Ledger which indicates that former Congressman Ronnie Shows, who lost to Chip Pickering in 2002 after redistricting made his district heavily Republican, will run for the seat along with Musgrove.

Race tracker wiki: MS-Sen

As promised, Mississippi's Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood has filed suit challenging the date set by Governor Haley Barbour for the special election to replace retired Sen. Trent Lott:

Hood filed a lawsuit today in Hinds County Circuit Court seeking an injunction to require the special election for Lott's replacement to be conducted within 90 days.

On Monday, Barbour named U.S. Rep. Roger Wicker to replace Lott.

In a Dec. 20 proclamation, Barbour set the Nov. 4, 2008 general election as the date for the senatorial special election. If a runoff is required, it will be conducted on Nov. 25, the governor said.

Barbour feels, naturally, that Wicker is more likely to win an election held on the same day as a high-turnout presidential election with a year of incumbency under his belt, than a low-turnout special election. The danger of holding a special election would be increased if a candidate who has the name recognition associated with having been elected statewide (like former Governors Ray Mabus and Ronnie Musgrove) were to run for the Democrats. As a Congressman, Wicker has limited name rec outside Mississippi's 1st.

Here's what Mississippi law has to say on the subject. Section 23.15.855 of the Mississippi Code of 1972 (hat tip to TheBigKahuna), emphasis mine:

(1) If a vacancy shall occur in the office of United States Senator from Mississippi by death, resignation or otherwise, the Governor shall, within ten (10) days after receiving official notice of such vacancy, issue his proclamation for an election to be held in the state to elect a Senator to fill such unexpired term as may remain, provided the unexpired term is more than twelve (12) months and the election shall be held within ninety (90) days from the time the proclamation is issued and the returns of such election shall be certified to the Governor in the manner set out above for regular elections, unless the vacancy shall occur in a year that there shall be held a general state or congressional election, in which event the Governor's proclamation shall designate the general election day as the time for electing a Senator, and the vacancy shall be filled by appointment as hereinafter provided.

(2) In case of a vacancy in the office of United States Senator, the Governor may appoint a Senator to fill such vacancy temporarily, and if the United States Senate be in session at the time the vacancy occurs the Governor shall appoint a Senator within ten (10) days after receiving official notice thereof, and the Senator so appointed shall serve until his successor is elected and commissioned as provided for in subsection (1) of this section, provided that such unexpired term as he may be appointed to fill shall be for a longer time than one (1) year, but if for a shorter time than one (1) year he shall serve for the full time of the unexpired term and no special election shall be called by the Governor but his successor shall be elected at the regular election."

Barbour's argument is that since a statewide Mississippi election was held in 2007, the same year Lott resigned, he is freed from the "90 days" restriction in appointing Wicker, and can hold the next election in November 2008.

But if I understand the law correctly, it states that if a vacancy arises during a general-election year such as 2007 or 2008, the special election is to be held on the same day as the general election, which would have been back in November.

That was before Lott resigned, of course.

The law does not specify, as far as I can tell, what to do if Lott resigns between the 2007 election and the end of the year, which is in fact what he did. But I should think that because it is obviously impossible to retroactively hold the election in November 2007, which is technically what the law mandates, the state must proceed as it would under ordinary circumstances-which is to say, by holding the election within 90 days.

Hood has made good on his promise to take the case to court, so we will see what happens.

Race tracker wiki: MS-Sen

This will probably be the last of the MONTHLY installments of the FTP series, as the election is bound to ramp up with the new year. Perhaps this will become a weekly deal. I am sure that by October, it will be a daily installment. For now, brace yourself for a statistical flood, as there were 67 polls released over the course of this month, covering a total of 44 general election contests.

A few caveats, for those new to this particular corner of the community: I only do general election polls in this diary, and I average the polls for the time period (so, yes, a poll from December 1st gets lumped in with a poll from December 29th).

Follow me past the jump for all of the numbers.

Surprise, surprise:

Mississippi Republican Rep. Roger Wicker will be named today as Gov. Haley Barbour's pick to replace former Sen. Trent Lott, according to sources both in Mississippi and Washington.
Barbour is expected to make the announcement this morning and Wicker has already submitted his letter of resignation from his 1st District House seat.

Wicker will become just the fifth man to represent Mississippi in the U.S. Senate since 1947, after James Eastland, John C. Stennis, Thad Cochran and Trent Lott. Wicker, 56, has served in Congress since 1994, having replaced his former boss, conservative Democrat Jamie Whitten (who had held the seat for 54 years).

Wicker was probably the safest, most conventional choice that Barbour could have made. It’s not bad for us, in that Barbour, at least, didn’t appoint a relative youngster like 32-year old Secretary of State Tate Reeves or 45-year-old Rep. Chip Pickering, both of whom could have held that seat forever and a day, as Wicker’s predecessors did.

What will happen next is not exactly clear. There should certainly be a special election for MS-01 scheduled within 60 days, and the election must take place within 60 days after that. There has not yet been any speculation on who will run for this newly vacant seat from either party. The district is very Republican, R +10, but conservative Democrats are somewhat viable here, having picked up two State Senate seats last fall located within the First District.

As for the Senate seat, Mississippi law mandates that for a Senate vacancy, a special election be held within 90 days...except that on a technicality, Barbour believes he can schedule the special for Election Day 2008:

In an exception to the 90-day rule, the law says the governor "shall designate" the special election for the same day as the general election if a vacancy occurs the same calendar year as a statewide election. Mississippi had a statewide election earlier this month, so Barbour would be setting the special election for the next statewide election in 2008.

The secretary of state in Mississippi is Eric Clark, a third-term Democrat. His spokesman agreed that Barbour was using a technicality.

The Mississippi Democratic Party and Attorney General Jim Hood believe otherwise, however:

The Mississippi Democratic Party, however, said it expects Barbour to call an earlier election.

The law "makes clear that if Sen. Lott does indeed resign during this calendar year, as stated, then Gov. Barbour must call a special election for within 90 days of making a proclamation — which he must issue within 10 days of the resignation — and not on Nov. 4, 2008, as he has announced he intends to do," state Democratic Chairman Wayne Dowdy said.

AG Hood has made it clear that he is prepared to file suit if Barbour tries to avoid the earlier special election, so we will see what the courts do.

The Democratic candidate generally identified as the strongest for this seat, former Mississippi AG Mike Moore, opted out of the race in December. Next up on the list are former Governors Ronnie Musgrove and Ray Mabus. Musgrove has shown a great deal of interest in the race so far, and his polling numbers are fairly good: a Research 2000 poll conducted for Daily Kos showed him trailing Wicker 47-39, but that poll heavily undersampled African-Americans.

Another poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner showed Musgrove defeating Wicker, 48-34.

I haven’t seen any head-to-head polls involving Mabus and Wicker. If both former Governors opt out, AG Hood and former Agriculture Secretary and U.S. Rep. Mike Espy have been mentioned as possible candidates, but there’s been little more than speculation about either of them.

Musgrove should announce his plans fairly soon, and that will certainly give a somewhat clearer picture of what the race will look like.

Of course, we don’t know when the Senate special will actually be held at this point.

Stay tuned.

Race tracker wiki: MS-Sen MS-01

Governor Barbour just announced his choice to replace resigning Senator Lott and, after all this time, he settled on the early favorite anyway,  Rep. Roger Wicker -- now Senator Wicker. First elected in 1994, Wicker will now leave his House seat creating yet another vacancy; he represents a conservative seat that Bush has carried with 62% of the vote, so it should not create too much headaches for the GOP (though it could certainly turn into a somewhat competitive race given the trackrecord of recent special elections).

Cross posted at Campaign Diaries.

Wow, of all the polls I've commissioned thus far, this one has the most surprising results. Moore doesn't get much better numbers than Musgrove, and Pickering -- who is supposedly the most popular politician in Mississippi -- didn't do as well as Wicker, who is likely to be appointed to the seat.

Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 12/10-12. Likely voters. MoE 4% (No trend lines)

If 2008 election for U.S. Senate were held today, for whom would you vote for if the choices were between _____, the Democrat, and _____, the Republican?

Note that Moore said Thursday that he wouldn't be running for the seat. And Pickering has been out of contention as well. Given these numbers, there's little impetus for the K-Street-bound Republican to get pulled into the race. It looks like they've already got their strongest candidate already under consideration.

Full results below the fold.

Update: I just got the racial breakout of the poll, and it looks like African Americans were heavily undersampled:

White 87
Black 9
Other 4

According to CNN's exit poll in 2004, African Americans made up 34% of the electorate.

Now the poll got the R/D/I ratio right, but I'd suspect that a white Democrats would be more likely to vote for a Republican than an African American. From the exit polls, 14% of Democrats voted for Bush, but only 10 percent of African Americans did. So this poll is likely giving the Republican candidates a slight boost.

Race tracker wiki: MS-Sen

Running for national office is a nasty, brutish thing. You're accused of being a horrible person, half the people hate you, and your reward if you win is a trip to Washington D.C.

So while I can't blame him, I sure wish former AG Mike Moore had run for Senate.

The point is I am happy doing what I am doing, my family is happy, and I look forward to making a big difference in my state and nation. I have seriously considered the U.S. Senate vacancy as my friends urged me to do, but I have always known that what I am doing now is good enough for me. I appreciate all the encouragement to run.

That leaves the field open for former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. Musgrove, among other things, is a fan of Alabama's Roy Moore and his Ten Commandments ploy, pushed legislation to ban gay adoptions (and Mississippi still refuses to recognize such adoptions from other states), pushed legislation to require "In God we trust" to be displayed in every classroom, refused to publicly advocate for a state flag without the confederate battle flag, and has spoken about our "Christian heritage" and has trashed groups like the ACLU for pushing the notion of "Freedom _from_ religion".

Guess where he stands on choice?

He's a theocon of the worst kind, seeking to impose his Christian viewpoints on others by force of governmental action. The guy was active in the DLC, but he's WAAAAAY to the Right of even the Corporate Democrat crowd. And what's horrifying about this all, is that the Republican will be even worse.

Mississippi will ultimately decide who represents them. I don't envy their choices. And regardless of who they choose, nationally, it's a lose-lose proposition.

Race tracker wiki: MS-Sen

Here's some disappointing news for people who were hoping that Mississippi, of all places, might be the state to give us the magic 60th Senate seat to clear the filibuster hurdle: former state Attorney General Mike Moore has apparently withdrawn himself from consideration in the run for the seat that Trent Lott is vacating (and that will be filled by interim appointment soon, but will be up for special election in 2008). Moore, as you may know, is the brightest spot on the Democratic bench in Mississippi and has some of the highest positives of any Mississippi politician (despite having been one of the leaders in the AGs' suit against Big Tobacco... that's him making a cameo playing himself in The Insider.) He's popular enough so that he could make a race in Mississippi at least a toss-up (especially if running against an empty suit like Roger Wicker, who seems to be the likeliest appointee).

Well, any political junkie worth his/her salt is currently preoccupied with electing the next POTUS, but as I've stated many times, I'm primarily a congressional nerd. This is my final Senate rundown of the year, so here are things as they stand today, on the brink of the busiest winter politics has ever seen.

Seats are ranked by likelihood of flipping parties. Read below the fold...

Zata 3 (D) (PDF).  11/26. Unweighed adults. MoE ~3.75% (No trend lines)

The pollster notes that these results haven't been weighed yet:

Please note that this is a preliminary report. These figures have not been weighted for age, race, or gender. Additionally, the partial surveys are included here. These raw numbers overstate the opinions of women (62% of respondents) and under represent the opinions of African American voters (14%). Additionally, the survey results understate the opinions of voters under age 50 (18%).

Fewer women means stronger numbers for the Republicans, more African Americans pushes them back our way. And I have no idea how Mississippi's younger voters swing. So tomorrow we'll get better numbers. I've also commissioned an Research 2000 poll of the state, with results coming back in a couple of weeks.

Weird that they didn't poll Pickering...

Race tracker wiki: MS-Sen

Mississippi Republicans are in a bind.

First, Lott wants out by the end of this year so new ethics guidelines that prohibit former members of Congress from lobbying for two years, rather than one. And we all know that Lott is ditching the people of Mississippi so he can cash in on K Street. He admitted it.

So Lott needs to be out by Dec. 31. However, if he does that, Mississippi law requires a special election within 90 days, and a low-turnout special might hurt the GOP. They want the presidential race to boost Republican turnout in a state that leans heavily Republican in presidential elections.

So what will win, Lott's desire to cash out ASAP, or the GOP's desire to maximize their possibilities of holding that seat? Well, if you're a Republican, there's always option 3: lie and obfuscate the law and try to pull a fast one on everyone else:

Pursuant to Mississippi law, specifically § 23-15-855 (1), of the Mississippi Code, once the resignation takes effect, I will call a Special Election for United States Senator to be held on November 4, 2008, being the regular general election day for the 2008 congressional elections.

Further, within ten days of Senator Lott’s resignation’s taking effect, I will appoint a Senator to serve until the winner of the Special Election for United States Senator is elected and commissioned, as provided in § 23-15-855 (2) of the Mississippi Code. My goal is to appoint the best qualified person who can do the most for our state and country.

Ha ha ha, that Haley. Such a joker. The law:

(1) If a vacancy shall occur in the office of United States Senator from Mississippi by death, resignation or otherwise, the Governor shall, within ten (10) days after receiving official notice of such vacancy, issue his proclamation for an election to be held...  within ninety (90) days from the time the proclamation is issued and the returns of such election shall be certified to the Governor in the manner set out above for regular elections, unless the vacancy shall occur in a year that there shall be held a general state or congressional election, in which event the Governor's proclamation shall designate the general election day as the time for electing a Senator, and the vacancy shall be filled by appointment as hereinafter provided.

You get that? The law essentially mandates a special election within 100 days of the retirement. Barbour is trying to argue that the key point is the "proclamation", not the date the vacancy occurs. As election law expert Rick Hasen notes:

[T]he key question is the date of the "vacancy," not the date of the official notice or the date of the proclamation of the special election. If Lott indeed resigns in 2007, the vacancy is in 2007 and the election must occur under the 10/90 day rule described above.

And the Hill reports that MS's secretary of state (a Democrat, until the winners of the 2007 elections get sworn in later in January) agrees.

Gov. Haley Barbour (R) said in a statement Monday that he would schedule the special election for the same day as the November 2008 general election. State law, however, appears to require an earlier date if Lott retires this year, as he said he would.

While Lott sneaks in under the wire for the extended ban on lobbying Congress by retiring this year, the secretary of state’s office said Monday that state law appears to require a special election within 90 days if he does so.

Conversely, if Lott were to wait and retire in 2008, the law allows for the special election to be held the same day as the general. Of course, he would then be subject to the new two-year ban on lobbying his former colleagues, instead of the current one-year ban.

Lott will have a choice to make -- suck it up and wait an extra year before cashing out on K Street, or screw his party over one last time. And if Barbour persists on trying to rewrite state law, he'll have to likely justify his efforts in a court of law.

Update: Email press release:

JACKSON (Monday, Nov. 26, 2007) –Wayne Dowdy, chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party, issued the following statement after U.S. Sen. Trent Lott announced plans to resign from office by the end of the year.

“According to multiple news reports, Senator Lott intends to resign his seat by the end of the year.  Section 23-15-855 (1) of the Mississippi Code makes clear that if Senator Lott does indeed resign during this calendar year, as stated, then Governor Barbour must call a special election for within 90 days of making a proclamation – which he must issue within 10 days of the resignation – and not on Nov. 4, 2008, as he has announced he intends to do.

“We will wait for Senator Lott’s official notice of resignation, when he will undoubtedly announce the exact date he will leave office. But if he does resign this calendar year we expect the governor to uphold the law and call a special election within 100 days.  It is important that Mississippi be represented in Washington by a senator who was elected by the state’s voters as soon as possible.”

Race tracker wiki: MS-Sen

Just when Senate Republicans thought they caught a break with MS Sen. Thad Cochran's decision to forgo retirement and run for reelection, the news hits that Trent Lott will bail out in the nick of time to avoid a new law making it tougher for retiring congresscritters to cash in on K Street.

No reason for Lott's resignation was given, but according to a congressional official, there is nothing amiss with Lott's health. The senator has "other opportunities" he plans to pursue, the official said, without elaborating. Lott was re-elected to a fourth Senate term in 2006.

DHinMI discusses the selfish impulses of the likes of Lott and Hastert, who are throwing "public service" to the wayside as they seek to cash in on their public service.

What about the politics?

The Democrats have an instant Tier 1 candidate in wildly popular former Attorney General Mike Moore, and all current indications are that Moore is itching to get back into public service (unlike Republicans looking to bail).

Republicans have had their Senate heir apparent for some time now -- Chip Pickering. The problem for them is that the popular Pickering recently announced his retirement from the US House, and while the real reason for his retirement is a cushy gig lined up on K Street, his public reason was -- wait for it -- wanting to "spend more time with his family".

I have a window of opportunity to maximize my time, influence and participation in the lives of my five sons now ages 8 to 17. Time is the one element I can never recover or regain. Being a father is one of life's greatest callings.

Would Pickering -- the GOP's strongest candidates for the seat -- decide to deny his children his time, influence and participation, as well as increased financial security, in exchange for a Senate bid? He seems boxed in.

Then again, Trent Lott promised his constituents six years of service just a year ago, and tossed that aside in order to cash in on K Street. So we can't necessarily expect much from Mississippi Republicans.

Now it's time for a Draft Mike Moore effort.

Race tracker wiki: MS-Sen