PHILADELPHIA – Republican Alan Nunnelee told a Neshoba County Fair audience Wednesday that his campaign to upend Democrat Travis Childers is part of an effort akin to an earlier generation’s rising up to win World War II.

After a long litany of items he opposed, such as the new health care law, illegal immigration, excessive spending and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Nunnelee said, “Will history record that those who had the most to lose did the least to save our liberty, or will we, like the Greatest Generation, answer freedom’s call?

“I believe we will because I believe America is worth saving.”

Nunnelee, a state senator from Tupelo, made his comments before a small but noisy crowd under the Founders Square Pavilion, surrounded by the unique fair’s cabins.

Nunnelee, as well as five third-party and independent candidates, ventured out of the 1st District, which encompasses much of north Mississippi, to speak at the historic fair in central Mississippi.

Incumbent Childers did not speak at the event, citing congressional business in Washington.

Asked after his speech about whether his campaign was of the same importance as World War II, he said that in the 1940s, Americans “stepped up to defend freedom.”

He added now “freedom is in danger and we have people stepping up to defend freedom.”

While Nunnelee attacked Childers for his vote to elect Pelosi as House speaker, the other five candidates who spoke Wednesday criticized both of the major party candidates.

Wally Pang, an independent from Batesville, said Nunnelee and Childers “are part of the political machine that has brought America to its breaking point.”

The other 1st District candidates speaking Wednesday were independent A.G. Braddley, Reform Party candidate Barbara Dale Washer, Constitution Party candidate Gail Giaramita and independent Les Green.

Nunnelee, a state senator and chair of the Appropriations Committee, asked the fair crowd, “Will we continue to shake our heads as we passively observe the dismantling of our liberties, or will the misguided policies of Washington motivate us into action?”

Nunnelee told the crowd, many wearing T-shirts identifying themselves as members of the Madison County Tea Party, that he would fire Pelosi as speaker on the first day.

“So today, I ask you to join me,” he said. “This is not a campaign of one man for an office. This is a crusade to save America.”

Contact Bobby Harrison at (601) 353-3119 or bobby.harrison@djournal.com.