A Republican's Lament

Bill Crawford thought his modern-day Republican Party would lift Mississippi off the bottom, a notion born of Gil Carmichaels vision for good government conservatism. A Republicans Lament tells of Crawfords dedicated efforts to implement Carmichaels vision, his keen observations of Mississippis struggles, and his critical commentaries over the past half century. For more than fifty years, few people have had a better view or a wider variety of roles in the ups and downs of Mississippi and its communities than Crawford. The Canton native has been a daily newspaper reporter, a crusading small-town weekly editor, a Republican Party leader, a reform-minded Republican state representative, an influential Institutions of Higher Learning Board trustee, a successful banker, a community college administrator, a state economic development official, a community development leader and nonprofit founder, a mentor of developing community leaders, and a syndicated political columnist. From Gil Carmichael's vision for good government and Haley Barbours pragmatic conservatism to starve the beast and truth management politics, poverty and the Cycle of Prosperity, Faulkners curse and other behavioral shadows, the Ayers case, and more, Crawford weaves a unique and eventful story about his home states enduring dilemmas and a clarion call for its better possibilities.