In the Phillips-Morse campaign, Yerger was frequently ridiculed as "Squirt" Yerger by the Democratic State Chairman [[Bidwell Adam]], a lawyer from Gulfport who served as lieutenant governor himself rom 1928 to 1932 during the administration of staunch segregationist Theodore Gilmore Bilbo (1877-1947) Adam and outgoing Governor Ross Robert Barnett (1898-1987) employed harsh anti-Republican rhetoric in their determined support for the Democrat Paul Johnson. The pair accused Phillips of being a "turncoat" and then questioned Phillips loyalty to the GOP. Johnson called his rival Phillips "a [[Adlai Stevenson]] liberal in Republican outer-garments."<ref>"Challenging the Status Quo," p. 244.</ref> Adam accused Phillips and Morse of omitting the word "Republican" from campaign literature in a ploy to confuse voters.<ref>"Challenging the Status Quo," p. 245.</ref> | In the Phillips-Morse campaign, Yerger was frequently ridiculed as "Squirt" Yerger by the Democratic State Chairman [[Bidwell Adam]], a lawyer from Gulfport who served as lieutenant governor himself rom 1928 to 1932 during the administration of staunch segregationist Theodore Gilmore Bilbo (1877-1947) Adam and outgoing Governor Ross Robert Barnett (1898-1987) employed harsh anti-Republican rhetoric in their determined support for the Democrat Paul Johnson. The pair accused Phillips of being a "turncoat" and then questioned Phillips loyalty to the GOP. Johnson called his rival Phillips "a [[Adlai Stevenson]] liberal in Republican outer-garments."<ref>"Challenging the Status Quo," p. 244.</ref> Adam accused Phillips and Morse of omitting the word "Republican" from campaign literature in a ploy to confuse voters.<ref>"Challenging the Status Quo," p. 245.</ref> |