Schadenfreude in Mississippi (Senate election)

Politics & Elections
1

Now that that election has been called, there is a delicious example of Schadenfreude. In 2022 Biden nominated Scott Colom for a judgeship in northern Mississippi. This was supported by Senator Roger Wicker, the current governor of the state and two former governors, all Republicans, but blocked (under the “blue slip” rule by Hyde-Smith for essentially bullshit reasons (with a bit of anti-semitism for good measure). So instead of giving him a blue slip, he gave her a red slip. Schadenfreude at its best. Here is a Wiki summary:

"Colom received support from Senator Roger Wicker, who returned his blue slip (a Senate tradition that gives the two senators from the candidate’s state the ability to block or approve the candidate), but on April 4, 2023, it was announced that Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith would not return her blue slip, effectively blocking his nomination.[26][27][28] Hyde-Smith cited as reasons for her opposition that Colom allegedly supported letting transgender students participate in girls’ and women’s sports and that he had received money from a PAC funded by George Soros.[29][30]

On April 10, Colom wrote Hyde-Smith a letter asking her to reconsider her opposition to his nomination.[31][32] In the letter, he said that he had not requested money from the PAC, did not know the money would be contributed, and did not receive money from the PAC when he was reelected in 2019.[33] The letter also said he never discussed his policies or any decisions he made as district attorney with anyone from the PAC or with Soros.[33] It disputed that Colom had ever taken a position on letting transgender students participate in girls’ and women’s sports; instead, he said, he had signed onto a letter with other district attorneys condemning the criminalization of gender-affirming surgery.[33][34] Colom’s nomination received bipartisan support from Thompson, Wicker, and former governors Phil Bryant and Haley Barbour.[35] Nevertheless, on January 3, 2024, his nomination was returned to the president,[36] ending the process.[37] Colom went on to unseat Hyde-Smith in the 2026 U.S. Senate election in Mississippi."

2

That’s a hell of a story he lived with an ending that he wrote.

3

Who was the target of the anti-Semitism?

4

One of her accusations was that he had accepted money from Soros. Standard sit-in for anti-semitism.

5

Colom ran an incredible campaign. He is really a very nice guy. When Trump did a rally in Mississippi, Colom went and talked to the people waiting in line to get in. Unlike his opponent, he did not put out nasty negative ads. I didn’t see this one until after the election, but it is awesome.

6

Reading a little more about this race, congratulations, Mississippi, on your first Black senator since 1875.
Also, what the fuck, Mississippi? What the real goddamn fuck??

7

On the subject of blue slips here is how it works from what I understand.

It used to be that if either senator from a state opposed either a district judge or appellate judge, the majority party would withdraw the nomination.

But in 2017 republicans stopped respecting the blue slip rule for appellate judges. They started appointing appellate judges even when senators opposed them. But they kept the rule for district judges. Since the real power of the federal judges is in the appellate judges (more than the supreme court and district judges) they kept the rule for district judges.

Democrats to their credit kept keeping up the same rules when they took over and didn’t respect red state senator objections to appellate judges.

But basically its only a ‘rule’ because republicans don’t consider it important enough to throw away yet.