"But Cochran’s opponent, state senator Chris McDaniel, and many of his supporters smell a rat."
The fat rat face ... who was behind the two-faced 'victory'.
Posted on 06/26/2014 4:49:56 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross
Just two days before the Mississippi runoff, an African-American state senator from the state’s 13th district, Willie Simmons, sent a letter to his constituents. Simmons himself, according to a report by the Associated Press, had voted in the state’s June 3 Democratic primary and was therefore prohibited from voting in Tuesday’s Republican runoff, but he wrote to urge his constituents to cast their ballots for Republican senator Thad Cochran in Tuesday’s runoff. He touted the “millions of dollars” in appropriations Cochran had secured for Mississippi’s Head Start programs and his support for “Food Stamps programs.”
A mailer distributed in heavily African-American precincts struck similar notes, advertising Cochran’s support for Mississippi’s public schools and his tea-party opponent’s opposition to food-stamps programs. The headline: “The Tea Party intends to prevent blacks from voting.”
“I don’t know who put it out,” former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour says of the fliers. “I can’t imagine the Cochran campaign did that.” Barbour says that support for Cochran among Democrats bubbled up organically and that the six-term senator, who first won a seat in Congress in 1972, has always had bipartisan appeal. “Within a week of the first primary some black churches in Hattiesburg started running ads on the radio in Hattiesburg by raising the money themselves,” he says.
But Cochran’s opponent, state senator Chris McDaniel, and many of his supporters smell a rat. In the midst of the non-concession speech McDaniel delivered Tuesday evening, he argued, “There is something a bit unusual about a Republican primary that’s decided by liberal Democrats.” In Hattiesburg, where a crowd of McDaniel supporters had gathered for what most expected to be his victory party, the candidate was seething, not celebrating: “So much for principle,” he said from the podium.
Less than 24 hours after Cochran seized victory by a little more than one percentage point, his campaign’s decision to woo Democrats is exacerbating the intra-Republican battle between the grassroots and the establishment.
Chris Chocola, the president of the Club for Growth, which spent over $3 million in its attempt to oust Cochran, came out swinging against the powers that be in the GOP. “They say they believe in pro-growth policy,” he says, “but when it comes time to take action, here it’s revealed, probably more powerfully than it’s ever been, that they care more about the preservation of political power and the status quo.”
In Mississippi, Chocola says, the establishment fought for a candidate whose message was “Vote for me and I’ll give you more government.” Throughout the primary and the runoff, Cochran campaigned on his ability to funnel federal dollars to Mississippi, a poor state that has long depended on Washington’s largesse.
“The challenger was saying, ‘Vote for me and I’ll give you more freedom,’” Chocola says. “What’s more reflective of the Republican position? I always thought it was the freedom thing.”
On June 4, the day after the hotly contested and bitterly personal primary election was sent into a runoff, the Cochran campaign determined to expand the electorate by any means possible. Scott Reed, the political strategist of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which was spending $100,000 a day on Cochran’s behalf in the week leading up to the runoff, puts it bluntly: “Our Mississippi runoff strategy was to grow the electorate: base GOPers, independents, and Reagan Democrats.”
For Cochran, that meant burnishing his conservative credentials before Republican audiences. But he also publicized his support for government programs to centrists and Democrats. Austin Barbour, a Cochran campaign hand and Haley Barbour’s nephew, told the New York Times, “We’ve spent a lot of time bringing a conservative message to black voters, as well as to white voters, the old and young, men and women.”
Well, not quite. Though Cochran had throughout the primary campaigned on his ability to deliver pork to Mississippi, he broadened that message during the run-off. The Jackson Free Press noted Cochran’s “stepped-up ad campaign” in newspapers that cater largely to African-American and Democratic communities. The ads touted Cochran’s support for historically black colleges and for food stamps. At the same time, the Free Press said, Cochran campaigners left doorknob hangers on homes in whiter neighborhoods that highlighted Cochran’s support for the National Rifle Association and his opposition to abortion and Obamacare.
Reed and Barbour also say Cochran’s message on education helped tip the scales. Cochran hammered McDaniel for an April interview he gave to the Associated Press in which he said the Department of Education is unconstitutional.
“The word ‘education’ is not in the Constitution. Because the word is not in the Constitution, it’s none of their business,” McDaniel said. “The Department of Education is not constitutional.” The Cochran camp began telling voters that if the approximately $1.5 billion Mississippi receives in federal education aid were cut off, their taxes would skyrocket.
“That started getting some energy in this campaign because people were really concerned about the idea that there should be no federal money for education,” Barbour says. “A lot of people who don’t give a flip about anything else, about government, will fight over their schools.”
While hardly a conservative message, it does seem to have appealed to Mississippi voters. The Club for Growth’s Chocola doesn’t deny that the Cochran campaign strategy worked. “From just a mechanics standpoint, it was effective,” he says. “They did what they needed to do.” The party establishment “hasn’t always been effective at winning elections, but they were here. So it’s interesting to see what gets [the establishment] riled up, and it’s not the [Republican] party platform. That’s the disappointment.”
With the Mississippi race decided — Cochran is considered a lock to defeat his Democratic opponent, former representative Travis Childers, in November — both the Tea Party and the establishment are looking forward. But their visions of the future contrast starkly.
“This now allows us to close this chapter, unite the coalition, and focus on the general elections,” says Reed.
Chocola is thinking along different lines, looking back to 2004, when Pennsylvania senator Arlen Specter narrowly defeated challenger Pat Toomey, the Club’s former president. Six years later, Toomey drove Specter out of the Republican party, and today he is the state’s junior senator. If history follows that pattern, much to the chagrin of establishment Republicans, we haven’t heard the last from state senator Chris McDaniel.
A tipping point has just occurred.
"But Cochran’s opponent, state senator Chris McDaniel, and many of his supporters smell a rat."
The fat rat face ... who was behind the two-faced 'victory'.
Cochran has committed the unpardonable. He needs to lose even at the cost of a Republican seat. He needs to be made an object lesson that using the worst of the sleazy Democrat strategies and becoming the enemy makes him radioactive.
And so does Mitch McConnell. With friends like these, who needs Barbara Boxer.
In a state like Mississippi, I believe a conservative like McDaniel could possibly win the Democratic nomination. He could woo conservative voters and just enough demos to possibly win.
Then he wouldn’t have to answer to the GOPe. He would have more influence this way.
It would also be a nice way of offering the middle finger to the GOPe and the liberal demos that crossed over for Thad.
“.......A lot of people who don’t give a flip about anything else, about government, will fight over their schools.”.......
And the kids will still come out dummies due to “Common Core” and other failed government educational messes. The systems have already been dumb down to the point where most of the kids are unable to read or write now, just wait until the new programs fail them even further.
We shall overcome,,,,,blah blah. With fear mongerings, lies and deceptions. Great inspirational win for your faux and temporary new constituents there GOPe. Enjoy the tainted victory but the tide will turn.
It was not a victory. It was a theft. The Republican Party just proved that it is no different than the Democrat Party.
Are people really that stupid to believe that a Senator controls the flow of education dollars to the state?
I think he will lose. Those Black and Democrat voters will not vote for him in the general election, and neither will a lot of conservatives.
And yet another lesson, discourtesy of the GrOPe on how to NOT win an election.
They lose even when they seemingly win.
Not a rat a hog. Boss Hogg.
Flab head HB already comes two faces as one.
This is the main reason the Deep South continues to have the poverty is does. Blacks there would vote themselves back into slavery if the Slavers claimed the other guy was racist.
It works every time it’s done....every time.
I think everyone has a righteous anger at how blatantly the "Establishment" of the OLD party completely nuked a potential future Republican leader, using the WORST of democRAT racial exploitation strategies.
They saw Ted Cruz II in Chris McDaniel and it scares them to death.
Your thoughts on how best to act upon this righteous anger. Should/can Chris McDaniel run as an independent in November?
I’m undecided as to how McDaniel should respond…maybe the legal challenge of the 35 thou voters.
As for tipping point? Yep, I am convinced fat Haley has no idea what he’s unleashed with this shameful performance. Last night Mark Levin called them “dumb bastards” - and they are.
The issue here is how do we best punish those who unleashed this horrendous betrayal.
How do we deal a blow to them that is substantial without hurting our own cause? How do we get rid of this bunch of rotten apples without crushing our own hopes of stopping or at least impairing the bamster?
One thing for sure, this bunch of GOPers has dug a huge hole for us all. I hope we can find the right balance here, just don't know what that should be yet.
The more I read about Mississippi’s write-in law the more it seems that McDaniel cannot run a write-in campaign. It appears his only avenue is to challenge those 35,000 votes and go through them one by one to see if that person voted in a different primary the first time around.
That said, there is a write-in line on every Mississippi ballot. A name can be written into it. They just won’t count it if it isn’t the official replacement of a name already on the ballot who has been unable to complete the candidacy for reasons of health/death.
So, people can write in a name. It won’t be counted.
Perhaps there is an acceptable independent candidate for whom the tea party conservatives can be encouraged to vote.
1. Call the RNC and your local R office and tell them that if they do not force Cochran to concede to McDaniel, that you and your conservative friends will actively work against them for the foreseeable future. You will not donate to them or their candidates, you will not vote for them or their candidates, you will do your best to bring down what has become a corrupt party.
2. Call, fax and email Cochran's office and let them know how we all feel about them, that they need to concede their wrongdoing, concede the election to McDaniel, or in the same manner we will work to throw them out of office and out of the party.
<>Does this make sense? I have felt ill since I saw the flyer that Cochran's group put out in order to get democrats to vote for him. These people MUST be punished for this grotesqueness.
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