During this campaign, it has been a real pleasure to travel the district and meet thousands of people. For me, that has been most enjoyable.

You have put your faith in me, and I promise I won’t disappoint you. May God bless you and this great state!

To our supporters, thank you for your hard work and your vote.

Jim Kitchens will be fair to all. He will serve with integrity.

Thank you Central Mississippi. We appreciate your confidence in a good man.

http://601vote.wordpress.com

This is a great resource and a dedicated group of volunteers.

If you have any problems voting, please call 888-601-VOTE.

Track 19: Just a Closer Walk

Track 20: Down by the Riverside

We’ll release two tracks every Monday between now and Election Day.

On Monday, Nov. 3, we’ll release all 20 tracks again so that you can have the entire album to enjoy.

It’s written by a Jackson native now living in Madrid, and it is about Kitch.

Here’s a bit of it:

He begins his speech with his story: a great example of God taking the poor and humble and moving them to great places. Amen to that.

Enjoy. I did.

It can be found at:

http://www.jimsmithuncovered.com

We wanted people to be able to take a close look at Jim Smith’s record while on the bench.

We were careful to make this site focused on the issues, not on personal attacks.

We encourage you to take a look at the site, pass it along to your friends and let the press know what you think of Jim Smith and his dealings on the Supreme Court.

The site — Jim Smith Uncovered — is located at:

http://www.jimsmithuncovered.com

The campaign said the site is intended to help voters get a better look at what Jim Smith has done as a judge on the Supreme Court.

“We have said from day one that this race should be about the issues, about a person’s record and not about personal attacks,” said campaign manager Sam Hall. “Jim Smith Uncovered takes a look at Smith’s record, what he’s done on the bench as a justice. We want to make sure that voters understand what he has done during his 16-year tenure.”

The website looks at:

1. Wasteful Spending. Jim Smith spent more than $23,000 to decorate his “no-frills” office. He has also received more than $175,000 in travel per diems since 2000.
2. Bad Efficiency Study. Jim Smith is taking credit for other people’s hard work by claiming a study from the Chicago School of Law ranks his court as the second most productive in the state. In fact, the study looks at the court under former Chief Justices Ed Pittman and Lenore Prather.
3. Breaking Rules. Jim Smith violated Senate rules when he filmed inside the old Supreme Court courtroom in the Capitol. Despite saying he would not use the material, he’s featuring the footage on his Website, in mail outs and on television commercials.
4. Appointing Judges. Jim Smith is backtracking on his repeated commitment to go to the Legislature and seek a change in the way our judges are selected. You can tell it’s an election year when a politician will say anything to get elected.
5. Donor Protection. Jim Smith has repeatedly refused to recuse himself from hearing cases involving his campaigns’ large financial backers.
6. Campaign Finance. Jim Smith says he wants to throw the moneychangers out of the courtroom, but the moneychangers are financing his campaign through shady special interest groups.

We encourage the press and the voters to take a long look at Jim Smith’s record and ask him the hard questions about why he’s done the things he’s done.

If you would like further comment from the Kitchens campaign, you can contact Sam Hall at (601) 949-3420 or via email to sam@kitchensforjustice.com.

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Jim Kitchens was elected three times as a district attorney. He has practiced law for 41 years. He and his wife, Mary, have five children and six grandchildren. They live in Crystal Springs. Visit his Web site at www.kitchensforjustice.com.

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Track 17: He’s in the Jailhouse Now

Track 18: Your Cheatin’ Heart

We’ll release two tracks every Monday between now and Election Day.

On Monday, Nov. 3, we’ll release all 20 tracks again so that you can have the entire album to enjoy.

It was quite a show. Once again, Kitch was not bashful about drawing contrasts between himself and the incumbent.

Here are some highlights:

1. Kitch made sure that people knew the “efficiency” study Smith goes around quoting actually addresses a period of time before Smith became chief justice. Kitch also said it was easy for Smith to increase the efficiency of the court because he has shipped 90 percent of the cases the court hears to the state Appeals Court.

2. In response to Smith saying, as a judge, he’s a middle-of-the-road kind of guy, Kitch told a story about a time when Smith told him the same thing. “I told his honor that was why he’s running over so many people.”

3. Smith said most of the cases the Supreme Court reverses “are coming from the same handful of judges”. You can believe he meant many of the Hinds County judges. Why? Good question…

Tomorrow, I’ll have a bit more. I’ve got to check a quote, but it’s a doozy!