Mississippi Miscellaneous

-He's been out of office for several years now but Trent Lott might still be the most beloved political figure in Mississippi. 54% of voters in the state have a favorable opinion of him, compared to just 26% with an unfavorable one. His popularity cuts across party lines. Republicans overwhelmingly see him in a positive light (a 74/16 favorability spread) and he's also on positive ground with independents (44/35) and even Democrats (38/32).

The most interesting thing in Lott's numbers might be that 32% of African Americans rate him favorably to only 30% who express dislike for him. That suggests that Mississippi blacks have either forgiven Lott for his comments on Strom Thurmond in 2002 that ended up casting him out of Senate leadership, or that they just weren't all that concerned about the comments in the first place.

-Mississippi Democrats start out with the advantage to keep the one major statewide office they still hold. Attorney General Jim Hood leads Republican challenger Steve Simpson 49-32. Hood is doing a good job of keeping the Democratic base in line, leading 74-12 within his own party, and is picking up an impressive 27% of Republicans while also leading 43-34 with independents. Still, given the recent political winds in Mississippi it seems unlikely this race will do anything but tighten and we'll see if Hood can hold on or not.

-Thad Cochran is one of the more popular Senators in the country with a 52/25 approval rating. Republican support for him is pretty universal at a 67/16 spread and he does well with Democrats (41/28) and independents (46/37). With Cochran, Roger Wicker, and Haley Barbour all over 50% approval Mississippi is more content with its politicians than just about any state in the country.

Full results here