A wild campaign finally winds down

A black church burned in the Delta. Someone spray-painted “Vote Trump” on its side.

Some Donald Trump supporters speculated it was a plot by the opposition to make their candidate look bad.

White nationalist and former Klansman David Duke debated at historically black Dillard University in New Orleans. The scene quickly turned ugly. Duke had to be escorted from the building surrounded by law enforcement officers.

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann felt obligated to come to the Coast to assure voters the Russians couldn’t steal their votes.

“A guide to not getting arrested when you use your cell phone on Election Day,” read a headline in the Huffington Post.

And Trump suddenly calmed down and didn’t lob any of the incendiary remarks that had become the hallmark of his stump speeches.

The race tightened.

And that was just the last week before Tuesday’s election. Voters were already trying to decrypt a cryptic letter from the head of the FBI alluding to an investigation into emails that may or may not involve Hillary Clinton.

That issues-oriented campaign voters have always longed for? As the Cubs used to say, “Wait till next year.”

And many people are openly afraid the election won’t in fact be over Tuesday even if a winner is declared.

This question was posed on Facebook: Anyone going to be sad to see this election season end Tuesday?

The answers ranged from the usual social media gallows to a few people who seem genuinely worried. Their responses trended toward “I’m terrified.”

Some just sad

“The sadness that I feel comes not from the end of this season of tragi-comedy, but from a realization that the rest of this country has regressed to Mississippi,” wrote Biloxi attorney Billy Miller. “I’ve lived here all my life so I’m nearly inured to ignorance, but now I see the spread of know-nothingness has nearly covered America. That is what makes me sad, my friend. I’m living in a world where Donald Trump is taken seriously and may well win the election.”

Clearly, he is not on the same side as Gov. Phil Bryant, who was campaigning for Trump late into the week.

“Our country simply cannot afford another four years of the failed and reckless policies of Barack Obama, which is exactly what we will get if Hillary Clinton is elected,” the governor wrote in an email asking for donations. “We must ensure that undecided voters get the facts and are not hoodwinked by the liberal mainstream media”.

For the record: Republican Donald Trump, Democrat Hillary Clinton, Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Jill Stein are on the ballot. Trump is the heavy favorite in Mississippi.

Congressional race

There’s also a congressional race. Incumbent Republican Steven Palazzo has taken some heat from two challengers —Libertarian Ric McCluskey and Democrat Mark Gladney. McCluskey started it by accusing Palazzo of being AWOL from the Mississippi National Guard, a charge Palazzo denied through a spokeswoman. Reform candidate Shawn O’Hara, who says he’s running his 50th race, has been silent on the matter.

Gladney, who retired as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army, has been criticizing Palazzo for refusing to debate and basically avoiding the people of his district.

“He’s offered no solutions,” he said. “And people are now tired of that.”

The latest move, though, came from state Rep. David Baria, the head of the Democratic caucus in Jackson who isn’t on the ballot, when he asked for an investigation into Palazzo’s service. Baria had yet to receive a response Friday afternoon.

“What do you expect from a liberal Democrat who’s supporting his liberal Democratic buddy?” Palazzo told reporters at an event at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula. “The National Guard is on record as saying Sgt. Palazzo has met his service obligations.”

Other than that encounter with the media, Palazzo for the most part has stuck to conservative talk radio to make his extended case that he had made it to all his required Guard drills. And to bash the media, particularly the “liberal news agency” on the Coast.

This story was originally published November 6, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "A wild campaign finally winds down."