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In its endorsement of Paul Johnson, the ''Jackson Clarion-Ledger'' urged voters "not to play with fire" and ignite the birth of a two-party system, which would lead to a political division among whites along partisan and economic lines.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Jackson Clarion-Ledger'', November 4, 1963</ref> Johnson called the two-party concept "a political rendezvous with death."<ref name="ReferenceB">''Jackson Clarion-Ledger,'' October 16, 1963/</ref> At a pre-election rally in Jackson, Barnett urged Mississippi Democrats to "push out this Republican threat" and added that he was "fed up with these fence-riding, pussy-footing, snow-digging Yankee Republicans."<ref>''The Hattiesburg American,'' October 16, 1963; ''Time Magazine,'' October 25, 1963, p. 29.</ref>

In its endorsement of Paul Johnson, the ''Jackson Clarion-Ledger'' urged voters "not to play with fire" and ignite the birth of a two-party system, which would lead to a political division among whites along partisan and economic lines.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Jackson Clarion-Ledger'', November 4, 1963</ref> Johnson called the two-party concept "a political rendezvous with death."<ref name="ReferenceB">''Jackson Clarion-Ledger,'' October 16, 1963/</ref> At a pre-election rally in Jackson, Barnett urged Mississippi Democrats to "push out this Republican threat" and added that he was "fed up with these fence-riding, pussy-footing, snow-digging Yankee Republicans."<ref>''The Hattiesburg American,'' October 16, 1963; ''Time Magazine,'' October 25, 1963, p. 29.</ref>

''The Hattiesburg American'' echoed the Democratic contention that the primary beneficiaries of a two-party system would be the then "920,000 Negroes who dwell here."<ref>''Hattiesburg American,'' October 7, 1963.</ref> ''The American'' denounced Republican leaders [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] and [[Nelson A. Rockefeller]] of [[New York]], rivals for the party's 1964 presidential nomination,  for their common membership in the National Urban League and the [[NAACP]]. ''The American'' also criticized then freshman [[U.S. Representative]] Robert Taft, Jr., son of the late conservative U.S. Senator [[Robert A. Taft]] of [[Ohio]], for having remarked that "no segregationist belongs on a Republican ticket or even in the party."<ref>''The Hattiesburg American,'' October 24, 1963.</ref> An advertisement carried in the ''Jackson Daily News'' linked white Republicans with "modern [[scalawag]]s," a reference to southern whites who cooperated with [[carpetbagger]]s during [[Reconstruction]]."<ref>''The Jackson Daily News,'' October 15, 1963.</ref>

''The Hattiesburg American'' echoed the Democratic contention that the primary beneficiaries of a two-party system would be the then "920,000 Negroes who dwell here."<ref>''The Hattiesburg American,'' October 7, 1963.</ref> ''The American'' denounced Republican leaders [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] and [[Nelson A. Rockefeller]] of [[New York]], rivals for the party's 1964 presidential nomination,  for their common membership in the National Urban League and the [[NAACP]]. ''The American'' also criticized then freshman [[U.S. Representative]] Robert Taft, Jr., son of the late conservative U.S. Senator [[Robert A. Taft]] of [[Ohio]], for having remarked that "no segregationist belongs on a Republican ticket or even in the party."<ref>''The Hattiesburg American,'' October 24, 1963.</ref> An advertisement carried in the ''Jackson Daily News'' linked white Republicans with "modern [[scalawag]]s," a reference to southern whites who cooperated with [[carpetbagger]]s during [[Reconstruction]]."<ref>''The Jackson Daily News,'' October 15, 1963.</ref>

Phillips defended the two-party format on the grounds that competition can produce excellence and questioned how competitive general elections would be "dangerous" because white voters had for years been divided in contentious Democratic primary runoff elections.<ref>''The Jackson Daily News,'' October 18, 1963; ''Biloxi-Gulfport Daily Herald,'' September 20, 1963.</ref> Phillips stressed that in the 1850s, when Mississippi Democrats faced competition from [[Whigs]], the state ranked fifth nationally in per capita income. Like Johnson, Phillips felt compelled to denounce the [[Radical Republicans|Radical]] Reconstruction policies of the 1860s and 1870s.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

Phillips defended the two-party format on the grounds that competition can produce excellence and questioned how competitive general elections would be "dangerous" because white voters had for years been divided in contentious Democratic primary runoff elections.<ref>''The Jackson Daily News,'' October 18, 1963; ''Biloxi-Gulfport Daily Herald,'' September 20, 1963.</ref> Phillips stressed that in the 1850s, when Mississippi Democrats faced competition from [[Whigs]], the state ranked fifth nationally in per capita income. Like Johnson, Phillips felt compelled to denounce the [[Radical Republicans|Radical]] Reconstruction policies of the 1860s and 1870s.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

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Gilbert L. "Gil" Carmichael] a Meridian businessman who managed Phillips' 1963 campaign in Lauderdale County and was later the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1972 against [[James Eastland]] and then for governor in 1975 and 1979, said in a civic club debate that he found it:​

Gilbert Ellzey "Gil" Carmichael (1927-2016), a Meridian businessman who managed Phillips' 1963 campaign in Lauderdale County and was later the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1972 against [[James Eastland]] and then for governor in both 1975 and 1979, said in a civic club debate that he found it:​

<blockquote> ... peculiar to defend something I have always taken for granted ... Who, a few years ago, would have thought it possible to have reached the point ... where it is necessary to defend the human right to a choice? ... I fear that the state Democratic Party is unwittingly being used as a tool for the same goals of the national party. ... Today, the majority of whites of this state are not one-party Democrats but true independents -- and they are glad that there is the beginning of a second party -- so they can have a real choice.<ref>''The Meridian Star,'' October 1, 1963.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote> ... peculiar to defend something I have always taken for granted ... Who, a few years ago, would have thought it possible to have reached the point ... where it is necessary to defend the human right to a choice? ... I fear that the state Democratic Party is unwittingly being used as a tool for the same goals of the national party. ... Today, the majority of whites of this state are not one-party Democrats but true independents -- and they are glad that there is the beginning of a second party -- so they can have a real choice.<ref>''The Meridian Star,'' October 1, 1963.</ref></blockquote>