Posted on 06/12/2014 4:18:46 PM PDT by jazusamo
Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-Miss.) primary challenger, Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel, is leading the incumbent by 8 points in a new internal poll of the competitive runoff.
The survey, conducted by WPA Research for McDaniel’s campaign, shows him with 49 percent support to Cochran’s 41 percent support among likely GOP primary voters.
McDaniel’s also got a more solid base of support, with 43 percent of his supporters saying they’ll “definitely” vote for him in the runoff, while 38 percent say the same of Cochran. Ten percent of respondents said they were undecided.
The results align with two other surveys of the runoff conducted over the past week, both of which gave McDaniel a lead. Indeed, runoffs historically favor the challenger, as turnout declines and the candidate with the more enthusiastic following is typically victorious.
McDaniel is getting help from national conservative groups and figures to make sure that happens. The Club for Growth went on air for him on Thursday , attacking Cochran for his votes in office and because he’s trying to “have Democrats hijack the Republican runoff,” a reference to his campaign’s strategy to get Democrats to turn out for him in the runoff.
Josh Duggar, the executive director of the Family Research Council’s political arm and one of the stars of the popular TLC reality show “19 Kids and Counting,” will be at a campaign rally Saturday morning in Pearl, Miss., while former Texas Rep. Ron Paul headlines a 2nd Amendment rally for McDaniel in Hattiesburg, Miss., in the afternoon.
But Cochran is getting some star power of his own — and his is more home-grown.
In a new ad from his campaign, former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) touts Cochran’s work securing funding for job-producing entities in the state, like Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard and the Stennis Space Center.
“Without Thad Cochran, we could lose some of these important facilities,” Lott says, declaring the race is about “jobs in Southern Mississippi.”
Cochran’s campaign is banking on a belief that voters will be swayed to support him in the runoff if they’re aware of how much his power and experience means for the state.
But that message was overshadowed on Thursday as an off-the-cuff comment he made during a speech at a hospital on Tuesday gained notice.
Cochran told the crowd about visiting his grandmother in the area as a young boy and joked that he would spend time in the country “doing all sorts of indecent things with animals.”
The crowd laughed, but national media picked up the comment and it drew jokes on Twitter.
MS Ping
I don’t trust internal polls and I don’t trust the GOPe not to do whatever they have to in order to keep this seat.
Time for the old GOPe guy to go.
Time for Fresh Conservative Blood!
From former Sen.Trent Lott - the kiss of death.
What is it with all these old men?
Be honorable, Cochran: Withdraw.
Last Tuesday it was 49-49. Now McDaniel’s still at 49 while Cochran dropped 8 points. He’s done.
The GOPers will never withdraw. When McDaniel wins this primary watch for the GOPe to do everything it can to harm him in the general.
or
The old timers should be supporting new blood, the GOPe has given 0bummer free reign (not a typo).
Thanks for the links. I can’t believe that is mentioned in this piece from The Hill.
* TW Shannon
* J. Ernst
* Maness
* McDaniel
* Scott from South Carolina
And? Anyone else that I forgot or Sarah might endorse ( Alaska comes to mind and any Alaskan Freeper's out their with an Update? )
Oh yeah! The polls were very accurate in the primary, stating it was too
close to call. And it ended being very close. If this poll is as accurate,
Cochran and Boss Hogg will be not be able to cheat their way to victory
And Hinds County will not be able to gin up enough votes for Boss Hogg.
Why do you think Hinds County quit reporting results for hours and hours?
Whole lot of people gonna lose their meal ticket and access to power when Cochran is gone
Last Tuesday was "BB"
Before Brat.
Go, McDaniel!!
Well he SHOULD be! He just got a windfall with that foolishness from Cochran.
He is non compos mentis, and the coutiers driving him around and propping him up are not going to give up their gig.
Most of the national media and all of the political operatives are twisting the facts of this election to help influence the outcome. The reality is that this race has some very important structural components that makes it very tough for Cochran to come out on top.
First, the Democrat Party in Mississippi is a dysfunctional rump of its former self. Its membership consists of blacks and liberal white professors and the earth muffin types who hang around colleges towns and beaches. The professors have already voted and the earth muffins don’t have any motivation to do so. Those blacks who will go to the polls have already done so, mostly in the Democrat Primary. All of these voters are relegated to the sidelines.
Second. Cochran is an incumbent who failed to get 50%. His supporters showed up for the primary, so how is he going to come up with enough new voters to get over 50%. Very unlikely.
Third. He has never had to campaign and doesn’t know how. Unless he is sent on a fact finding tour of the Galapagos Islands he is going to make more mistakes and they are going to continue to cost him.
Fourth. The momentum is all on McDaniels side. Cantor’s defeat reinforces the populist sentiment that entrenched Washington politicians are not properly representing the folks back home. Cochran is a poster child for that sterotype.
Finally. When you are running in a wave election, it doesn’t help when your record shows that your votes put you squarely on the slide that is about to get swamped. People are now looking at that record and it won’t help him.
Polls aside, I don’t think that Cochran can overcome the things that are stacked against him.
I read where RNC has withdrawn all support, but for McConnell’s little fundraiser of senate republicrats digging up a dollar or two. Thad is not helping himself, and very likely toast.
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