Mississippi Voters Haaate Gov Tate Reeves But Too Afraid They'll Catch Democrat Cooties

Did we mention Brandon Presley is Elvis's (non-kissing) cousin?

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is awful, and most Mississippi voters know it. A Mississippi Today/Siena College poll from late April showed that the number of voters who'd prefer "someone else" to the incumbent cold mashed potatoes impersonator had grown from 57 percent to 60 percent. That should be good news for Democratic challenger Brandon Presley, who last we checked is "someone else." Unfortunately, he's also a Democrat, and Mississippi is Mississippi. The same poll showed Reeves, who has a 42 percent approval rating, expanding his lead over Presley, who has Elvis blood in his veins. In January, Reeves had a slim four-point lead against Presley with 14 percent of voters undecided. Now, Reeves is a full 11 points ahead, with just six percent of voters unsure if they should stick with the gross racist who imagines himself as a modern-day Clint Eastwood shooting brown people. 

“We’re back. #msgov”

— Team Tate! (@Team Tate!) 1683060657 

PREVIOUSLY:

 The Good, The Bad And The Tate Reeves, Who Isn't Very Good 

 Mississippi Might Just Oust Gov. Tate Reeves For Elvis Presley* (Technically His Democratic Cousin) 

 Brett Favre Diverted Frivolous Mississippi Welfare Funds To Very Serious Volleyball Stadium 

 Jake Tapper Very Through With Idiot Mississippi GOP Gov. Tate Reeves 

According to Morning Consult, Reeves is the fourth most unpopular governor in the US and the least popular governor in the entire South. The Mississippi primaries are August 8, and you'd think ambitious Republicans would line up to challenge such a reviled incumbent whose face is stupid. House Speaker Philip Gunn and Secretary of State Michael Watson noped out of running so Reeves's only competition are fringe losers such as the anti-vaccine "Doctor" John Witcher and Army veteran David Hardigree.

Reeves is better at fundraising than he is imaginary sharpshooting, so that might've scared off serious contenders. Meanwhile, Presley, a public service commissioner, is struggling with low name recognition — probably because "Presley" itself isn't a big draw. Even the recent movie about the King was called simply Elvis .

However, Presley has started going on the offensive. This week he launched his WAR ON CORRUPTION. This is a good way to distinguish between himself and Reeves, who is saddled with a corruption scandal.

“Brandon Presley officially launches his WAR ON CORRUPTION after years of Tate Reeves and his corrupt circle of insiders ripping of working people in Mississippi #MSGov”

— Sam Newton (@Sam Newton) 1684251090 

Reeves was accused of helping former Gov. Phil Bryant and his wife Deborah cover up their involvement in the Brett Favre welfare scam. Reeves fired state attorney Brad Pigott when Pigott subpoenaed Favre's athletic foundation for communications with the Bryants.

Presley has calledReeves “a man with zero conviction" (true) and "maximum corruption” (that is also true). He said he wants to “build a Mississippi where we fight corruption, not embrace it." Presley is also hammering Reeves on last summer's Jackson water crisis, yet another catastrophe that occurred on Reeves's watch.

 From The New Republic:  

After Reeves’s State of the State address in January, Presley delivered his response from inside a shuttered hospital in Newton, a town of roughly 3,000 people.

"When Tate Reeves finally wakes up and asks why hospitals in Mississippi are closing, he should look in the mirror,” he said. Presley noted that the state could keep such rural hospitals open by choosing to expand Medicaid—an option created for states under the Affordable Care Act, but which Reeves opposes even as some Republicans have proposed a voter referendum.

Reeves constantly prioritizes petty politics over struggling Mississippians. He's announced that the state will treat student loan relief as taxable income, which hurts his constituents with limited upside. He still resists expanding Medicaid through what he calls "Obamacare," and presumably white people will shrug off how he's screwing them. He said last month, "Adding 300,000 additional people to welfare in our state is not the right path for Mississippi.” Apparently, Republicans only approve of spending welfare funds when they're building volleyball stadiums. 

Republicans bemoan so-called "identity politics" while treating their political party as a rigid identity. They don't even like the boorish, incompetent Tate Reeves, but they simply can't consider an upgrade if the candidate's a Democrat.

 ABC News / New Republic / Mississippi Today 

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