That's right, Bill Minor, the voice of the Mississippi Democratic Party decided to take sides with white Jamie Franks (a trial lawyer colleague of his son Paul. Paul by the way is appealing his conviction for bribing judges this week).
He calls the Blackmon's black (no pun intended) faction a "rump" which I suppose is his way of saying "Blackmon got back."
A rump group of state Democratic Executive Committee members led by Vice-Chair Barbara Blackmon, who is black, held a special meeting on March 21 with a goal of ousting several previously-chosen white leaders of the state party- a move that had classic signs of driving white Democrats out.
Removal of state Democratic Chairman Jamie Franks was in the air, but the group decided only to sack their other target, state party director Sam Hall, and replace him with Blackmon's hair dresser.
Franks immediately disavowed the rump meeting and its actions.
Franks attributed the rump session to a "small faction" on the committee that, for whatever reason, "didn't want Sam Hall, or me for that matter." Later, Franks said, "we hope we've gotten the party straightened out." Still, he announced that a meeting of the full 80-member executive committee will be held April 4.
Rumblings of a revolt by the Blackmon faction against Jamie Franks' leadership of the party bears ominous signs of a new, self-destructive party split.
Not only would it be senseless for black Democrats to threaten a new party split at a time when Democrats have the best opportunity ever to finally build a viable state party organization, but renewal of fratricidal warfare within the party could endanger rural white Democrats holding on to their critical seats in the Legislature.
Marshall Ramsey said it best when he said
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