"Mr. Bryant, leadership is far different from simply jumping in front of a mob."

Rickey Cole, former chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party, announced the creation of "Taxpayers for Fair Representation" at a Capitol press conference. His statement is dynamite, and I've included it below the jump. But here are the highlights:

But both solid plans are endangered. Good legislative work grounded in fair play, compromise and collegial respect is being shot down. Why?

Because Phil Bryant is running for governor, and for two years now he has been pandering to a constituency within his party that demands politicians either give them everything they want or blow the whole place up trying. I would say to Mr. Bryant, sir, leadership is far different from simply jumping in front of a mob. It is time for the adults in this Capitol and in Mississippi politics to stand up and demand cooperation, respect, and compromise.

So the Lieutenant Governor’s two sticking points are really that a Republican speaker couldn’t get elected under the House plan and that all three Senate seats in Hattiesburg should be Republican. Here he is running for governor, but apparently he would really rather be chairman of the Republican Party. All the taxpayers pay him, but apparently only the Republicans count.

But maybe not even all Republicans count. Suburban Metro Jackson and Desoto County, both areas where Republicans do well, have grown in population and are currently underrepresented in the Legislature. Bryant’s stalemate would deny them full representation for at least another year.

It is a shame that with all their ideas, organization, political power and money the Republicans under Phil Bryant failed to field strong candidates for the Legislature in vast majority of the African American majority districts. If the Bryant faction has faith and confidence in the strength of their ideas and organization, why don’t they field candidates in all fifty-two senate seats and all 122 House seats? Sure, it's hard to elect a Republican speaker when the Republicans concede about 1/3 of the seats before the election even starts.

You know, today is Ash Wednesday. I challenge Phil to give up demagoguery for Lent.

The full statement is after the jump.

STATEMENT BY RICKEY COLE AT THE CAPITOL PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCING THE FORMATION OF TAXPAYERS FOR FAIR REPRESENTATION

March 9, 2011 (11:15 AM)

Thank you all for coming. It has been a while since I’ve spoken at the Capitol. I have been enjoying my semi-retirement from the public side of politics. As you may know, I served twenty years on the state Democratic Executive Committee, but left the committee in 2008. Unless you do something really bad, they will let you out of Parchman after twenty years. So today I am not here representing the party or any candidate, although many legislators and candidates are my friends.

I’m here today because of the approaching stalemate on legislative redistricting.

I’m here today because the taxpayers cannot afford litigation and special elections.

I’m here today because population has shifted a lot in the last ten years, and all the people deserve one person/one vote representation in the Legislature.

I’m here today because we as Mississippians cannot afford to abandon our historic broad consensus that the Voting Rights Act has been good for democracy and fairness in Mississippi.

Because of my longtime involvement, many friends have called and emailed me for months with concerns about redistricting. I was a candidate for the state house in 1991 during the redistricting fiasco of that year, and I was chairman of the state Democratic Party when we failed to redistrict our Congressional seats in 2002. In the current political climate, with divisiveness at an all-time high, I speak from experience when I say we cannot afford a repeat of those troubled times. We cannot let a few people divide our state against itself.

So yesterday I decided to put out a call to set up a grassroots group that would urge the Legislature to complete the redistricting process in a fair way in time for this year’s regular elections. The taxpayers cannot afford costly court battles and special elections, and I frankly believe that in these stressful times the voters should not have to bear a constant barrage of political campaign rhetoric and advertising for the next twenty months.

Based upon what I have observed, I believe that if left to do their work, the House and Senate will do a fair job of redistricting legislative seats. The process is never painless, but the relevant committees have spent months traveling the state collecting input from the people—not just the lobbyists and politicians here at the Capitol, but The People. They have used some of the best mapping technology money can buy. The committee chairs, members and staff are experienced and knowledgeable. The two major concerns of the people, split precincts and increased African American representation, are well addressed in each committee chairman’s plan. How ever you slice up Mississippi, it is still Mississippi, and somebody somewhere won’t like it. Some win, and some lose.

But both solid plans are endangered. Good legislative work grounded in fair play, compromise and collegial respect is being shot down. Why?

Because Phil Bryant is running for governor, and for two years now he has been pandering to a constituency within his party that demands politicians either give them everything they want or blow the whole place up trying. I would say to Mr. Bryant, sir, leadership is far different from simply jumping in front of a mob. It is time for the adults in this Capitol and in Mississippi politics to stand up and demand cooperation, respect, and compromise.

Mississippians don’t all agree on everything. But I am convinced that most Mississippians don’t want Washington-style gridlock in our state government. We are not Wisconsin. We know firsthand that divisiveness is destructive. And Mr. Bryant, we will not go back to those bad old days.

Mr. Bryant has chosen to hang his hat on the notion that the Voting Rights Act need no longer apply in Mississippi. His irresponsibility in making such a statement knows no bounds. The Voting Rights Act, extended by his hero Ronald Reagan in 1981 and again by his intellectual peer George W. Bush in 2006 has done more to make democracy real for every Mississippian than its authors could have ever imagined. I wish the Congress would apply the Voting Rights Act to every state and territory. I’ve seen it do a lot of good here in Mississippi to keep our elections fair, and it ought to apply in New York and Illinois and Ohio and Wisconsin and all over the country. American democracy would be the better for it.

So the Lieutenant Governor’s two sticking points are really that a Republican speaker couldn’t get elected under the House plan and that all three Senate seats in Hattiesburg should be Republican. Here he is running for governor, but apparently he would really rather be chairman of the Republican Party. All the taxpayers pay him, but apparently only the Republicans count.

But maybe not even all Republicans count. Suburban Metro Jackson and Desoto County, both areas where Republicans do well, have grown in population and are currently underrepresented in the Legislature. Bryant’s stalemate would deny them full representation for at least another year.

I would be remiss if I ended this statement without lamenting the failure of one of our great political parties to field candidates for some of the most important offices on the ballot this year. It is a shame, but in looking over the qualifying forms, I saw dozens of state offices left uncontested in the general election. It is a shame that with all their ideas, organization, political power and money the Republicans under Phil Bryant failed to field strong candidates for the Legislature in vast majority of the African American majority districts. If the Bryant faction has faith and confidence in the strength of their ideas and organization, why don’t they field candidates in all fifty-two senate seats and all 122 House seats? Sure, it's hard to elect a Republican speaker when the Republicans concede about 1/3 of the seats before the election even starts.

Could that be their real reason for Bryant’s discomfort with the Voting Rights Act and for his unwillingness to support an African American majority senate seat in Hattiesburg? African Americans currently compose nearly 40% of the population of our state—more than any other state in the Union. Until Republicans become competitive among African Americans, some Republicans like Phil Bryant will continue to try and gerrymander the legislative districts to dilute African American voting strength so as to maximize Republican numbers. Bryant and his faction’s willingness to so brazenly violate the Voting Rights Act is proof positive that the Voting Rights Act is still greatly needed.

The House has passed their plan. The Senate should show collegial respect and pass it without amendment. Chairman Burton has crafted a Senate plan that will comply with the Voting Rights Act. The Senate and House should pass it as crafted by Senator Burton’s committee. Then the Legislature can get on with the people’s business, and Phil can concentrate on what he does best: go out on the campaign trail to the county fairs, backyard beer parties and big-dollar cocktail parties to shake hands, slap backs and collect big checks in his race for governor. You know, today is Ash Wednesday. I challenge Phil to give up demagoguery for Lent.