PICAYUNE — The Republican nominee for governor, Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, praised a Picayune firm for helping to lead the country, and Mississippi, into new uses of cleaner technologies while campaigning in Pearl River County and Picayune on Friday, and tried to tie his opponent to the Obama administration. He told supporters that the Nov. 8 Mississippi gubernatorial race is the first chance for voters to say no to a second term for the Obama administration by voting no for DuPree. Bryant’s opponent, Democrat Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree, picked up the endorsement of the South Mississippi Sun-Herald last week, and a spokesman for his campaign in Jackson said he is supposed to campaign in Picayune on Monday evening after hitting Biloxi Monday morning. DuPree’s supporters were touting the endorsement on his campaign website and at campaign stops. Bryant had no comment on the endorsement during his Friday morning here, but he didn’t mince any words on casting DuPree as an Obama ally. Bryant met supporters and local officials at the train depot, and was planning on a noon luncheon at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, before heading north to scheduled events in Marion County. His remarks concerning DuPree and Obama came about like this: “We’ve got to get the vote out,” he told supporters. “I shudder when people tell me, ‘Phil, you got it made’.” “What will happen if my opponent is elected is that MSNBC and ABC and all the liberals will be giddy with excitement. They will say that America loves Obama because his close friend and protégé was elected governor of Mississippi,” said Bryant. “Think about that; it would change the complexion of the next presidential election,” he added. “The Democrats sent their national committee chairperson to Jackson, Debbie Wassermann Schultz, to campaign for Mr. DuPree. Have you ever seen or heard her? She is the liberal’s liberal. She will make your hair stand on end. She makes Nancy Pelosi look like Ronald Reagan.” Bryant continued: “Her coming to Mississippi to support a gubernatorial candidate has never happened before. She said, ‘We are going to win this for Mayor DuPree and President Obama, and the road back to the White House passes through Mississippi.’ I have nothing against my opponent. He is a fine man. But he is on the wrong team which has the wrong ideas for our country. I want to make sure that we are the first to say no to Obama by saying no to Mayor DuPree.” Then he moved on to other topics. “We were just out at Heritage Plastics, and it is amazing what they are doing. They use stone and granite out of the ground to make plastics, so they are getting away from the oil-based products. Now they are making a clean product right here in Picayune and selling it all over the world,” said Bryant. He toured Heritage Plastics Friday morning before the get-together at the train depot. Heritage Plastics is located at 1002 Hunt Street in the city’s Industrial Park. Bryant traveled to Picayune from the Gulf Coast where he helped Gov. Haley Barbour dedicate a new liquefied natural gas plant. He said Mississippi is becoming one of the leaders in energy nationally, and that the new plant is an important part of that. He also said he planned to tour the new site of the Highland Community Hospital, under construction in North Picayune. He said energy related industries and health care are two basic industries upon which he plans to help build a new industrial base for Mississippi when he is elected governor. Bryant is considered the front-runner in the race for governor. Bryant said his wife’s birthday is on Nov. 8, and “I am hoping to give her a nice birthday present by winning on Nov. 8.” Dane Maxwell, Bryant’s field representative for the six Coastal counties, said Bryant’s last week of campaigning is set up for a nonstop schedule, from the Tennessee-Mississippi border in the north to the Gulf Coast in the South. Maxwell said Bryant plans to be back through Picayune several times before the Nov. 8 election. “He will be going back and forth from the north to the south,” said Maxwell. As of Friday there were 10 days left until the election. A spokesperson for the DuPree headquarters in Jackson said that DuPree will be in Biloxi on Monday morning and then drive up to Picayune to campaign on Monday afternoon.