OXFORD — It makes sense that President Donald Trump picked Tupelo as the site of a campaign rally to fire up Republicans four days before the Mississippi general election.
After all, Tupelo is the largest city in northeast Mississippi, an area that is a key base of support for Democrat Jim Hood from nearby Houston. Why not bring in the big name where it’s needed most? Also, Tupelo has an airport big enough to land Air Force One.
According to the Associated Press, the Republican president’s reelection campaign announced plans for the rally at the BancorpSouth Arena on Nov. 1. The wire service noted that the Trump statement made no mention of the gubernatorial showdown between Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and Democratic Attorney General Hood. However, Republicans have been hoping for a visit from Trump to boost turnout, and Reeves eagerly greeted the announcement.
Reeves probably needs the support of the president more than the other Republican nominees, all of whom are expected to win by comfortable margins.
If the president is true to form, the rally will be more about himself than Reeves or the other Republican nominees, but there isn’t much doubt that Trump will draw a huge crowd — maybe even the Tupelo mayor, an open supporter of Hood, if they’ll let him in the door.
I’m not sure how much weight political endorsements carry. Some probably more than others, and in Mississippi being pro-Trump is an obvious advantage among many white voters.
In this race, though, a non-endorsement might be just as telling.
Bill Waller Jr., the former chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court who lost the second primary race to Reeves, has declined to endorse the Republican nominee.
How the Waller voters turn out and vote in the general election could be more significant than Trump’s support of Reeves, which the lieutenant governor already had regardless of the visit.
Dunagin, who lives in Oxford, is a retired longtime Mississippi newspaperman.
