Booneville attorney Joey Langston gave Hood over $100,000 in direct campaign contributions and $100,000 to the DAGA.

In 2007, Hood got $400,000 for his campaign from DAGA in the same year that Langston and Scruggs gave DAGA $400,000.

As Hood said, he has been “following the law as it exists presently” and there exists no evidence that any of the Scruggs or Langston contributions were obtained illegally.

But Hood’s close political and legal ties to Scruggs and Langston are ties of Hood’s own choosing. Attempts to distance himself from Scruggs and Langston at this late date seem at best contrived.

Campaign finance reform should be a nonpartisan issue. But Hood’s efforts to change the political subject when he’s under significant fire himself aren’t the ideal circumstances in which campaign finance reform legislation of this nature can best succeed.

Contact Perspective Editor Sid Salter at (601) 961-7084 or e-mail ssalter@clarionledger.com.