For what it’s worth — and my endorsement may be perceived as more curse than blessing — Hob Bryan is, by far, the person in the Mississippi legislature I respect most. Now in his 41st year in the Senate, the Amory native is the one Democrat that commands the attention of the Republican-dominated legislature.

He’s a smart cookie, finishing near the top of his class at the University of Virginia Law School, long recognized as one of the top law schools in the nation. That he keeps winning elections in a solidly-conservative district proves his political chops.

That’s why I was shocked to hear Bryan’s objection to Senate Bill 2650. The bill would provide Mississippi voters a searchable database of campaign contributions to people who are running for office.

Mississippi has a well-earned reputation for having among the nation’s weakest campaign finance and ethic laws, so creating a system that would allow voters to see from whom a candidate is getting campaign donations seems like an idea whose time has come. In fact, it was an idea whose time had come 20 or so years ago.

I do not doubt Bryan’s integrity, so his opposition is a mystery. What is even a greater mystery is the reason for his opposition, as reported by Mississippi Today.

“There are people who are not sophisticated running for public office, and you shouldn’t have to be sophisticated to run for public office,” Bryan said, arguing that candidates should not be required to use a computer to file campaign finance reports.

“That’s not helping transparency,” Bryan said. “That’s laying booby traps for someone running for the first time.”

Maybe, but how else are you going to catch a boob without bobby traps?

Are our standards really this pitifully low?

Say it ain’t so, Hob.

I would not have been more surprised if Bryan had been quoted saying he preferred crumpets to cornbread. It’s entirely out of character.

For starters, I do not share Bryan’s fear that elected officials in Mississippi will ever be too sophisticated. This is especially true in the legislature. To borrow a quote from Blazing Saddles, “You’ve got to remember that these are just simple folk. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new South. You know… morons.”

It also seems to me that asking someone we entrust running our governments to be able to use a computer is not unreasonable. After all, it’s been 50 years since the arrival of personal computers. At some point, most folks acquired some basic computer skills. Even old people like me who may not be skilled in the latest technology should be able to create a PDF or learn how to do it easily enough. If the candidate can’t figure it out, he’s bound to have an 8-year-old kid or grandchild who can meet that requirement.

If you can read and understand the complex language of any bill in the legislature but can’t use a computer, you’re not unsophisticated. You’re Rain Man.

So, please, let’s not be prisoners to the old ways of doing things. A candidate who licks his pencil as he fills out campaign finance reports does not inspire confidence. I want my elected officials to be people who have stuck a toe into the 21st Century.

It should surprise no one that most states have already implemented searchable databases for all kinds of public information. How that could be a bad thing is a great mystery. Citizens should be able to access public information easily and quickly. It’s the best tool we have in keeping our elected officials accountable.

In recent election cycles, the state has seen millions of dollars of dark money flow into campaigns and PACs and what would appear to be flagrant violations of what few laws and limits there are have gone unchecked.

But state lawmakers have generally been loath to pass major campaign finance reform.

I think that’s because so many lawmakers in our state are scoundrels not sophisticates.

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].