An Upset Brewing in Dixie

By a margin of 405 votes, would-be House Democrat Travis Childers missed scoring a huge upset last night in a special election in Mississippi, even as most of the news media was breathlessly covering the much more predictable 10-point victory by Hillary Clinton in rust-belt Pennsylvania’s presidential primary.

Childers leads the Republican, Greg Davis, by a vote of 49-46, and will now face off against Davis one more time in a runoff on May 13. Childers, a conservative Democrat, is seen as more likeable than Davis, who used heavy negative advertising to win his party’s nomination and to try winning the special election.

But now, Childers has to be considered a slight favorite in that runoff for this R+10 congressional seat vacated by now-Senator Wicker (R-MS). Indeed, in every ballot the two men have been on this year (including special election primaries, regular primaries, and runoffs), Childers has received slightly more votes than Davis at every opportunity.

So while Hillary was, predictably, dragging this race out for little reason than her own ego (the math makes it next to impossible for her to win at this stage), the mainstream media missed an even bigger news story – the upset that appears to be brewing in Dixie, one that does not reflect well on House Republicans.

UPDATE: I should also disclose that I have just contributed $25 to the Childers campaign. This is my first donation of the 2008 campaign. (I have not given to Barack Obama, who I’ve also endorsed, simply because my $25 is not going to help someone who’s raising over $1 million a day. Likewise, Mark Warner, who I’m cheering on as he runs for U.S. Senate, is not going to need my money or help winning his seat.)