A HOLY-ROLLER DEMOCRAT
John Arthur Eaves baptized three of his four sons in the Jordan
River, an event he highlights in a radio campaign ad. The
candidate for governor of Mississippi thinks Roe v. Wade should
be overturned, calls for reintroducing school prayer and wants
limits on riverboat gambling -- all hot-button issues among
evangelical pastors. A baby-faced trial lawyer with a flair for
self-promotion, Eaves is employing the same tried-and-true
campaign tactics as many Republicans running in the South, the
Midwest and other culturally conservative parts of the country.
But Eaves isn't just any old run-of-the-mill evangelical
candidate -- he's a Democrat. And he's challenging not just any
first-term governor, but Haley Barbour, a former chairman of the
Republican National Committee and a Goliath in the GOP, with
possible designs on the White House. . .
. He attacks Barbour for opposing a "tax swap" that would slash
the grocery tax and raise the tobacco tax and for pushing 50,000
low-income residents off state Medicaid rolls. . . .
A longtime tobacco lobbyist with strong Republican fundraising
ties, Barbour has said he'll raise $13 million for the race.
