Cochran’s campaign probably set this up to smear his opponent. These political dinosaurs will do anything to hold on to power. Exhibit A: Dirty Dewhurst’s campaign for Lt. Gov. In Texas.
Seeing how the campaign is being run by the Barbour Gang (who can't shoot straight), Henry and Austin Barbour, the nephews of Haley Barbour, the former Mississippi governor who is himself an integral part of the sophisticated political operation seeking to quash Cochran’s primary opponent from the GOP’s right flank, this is a very plausible explanation.