Good point. I’m not advocating a third party. But I do think people will be inclined to vote 3rd party if the GOP starts acting this badly.
I imagine myself being a long-time loyal Republican voter in Mississippi, who supported McDaniel.
Could I possibly hold my nose and vote for Thad Chochran, after his despicable election tactics? I honestly do not think I could. I believe I would vote third-party, write in or abstain on that race. Probably vote third-party, as I think it shows up as “protest vote” most clearly.
So, if a bunch of RINO conservatives starting acting out like this, playing the Race Card on the Tea Party, then I think more and more voters will reject them in favor of some alternative.
I suppose the most mature adult thing to do is say: so, he’s still better than the Democrat alternative.
But, if he wins the seat the tactic will be justified, and we’ll see more of it, and the Tea Party will be harmed. (So, I still think the correct tactical thing to do as a disgruntled GOP voter is make Thad loose. In fact the most effective way to do that is to vote for the Donk! So, maybe I would do that.
This behavior (Cochran campaign) needs to stop now! If we can’t win back the GOP we can’t win back the Country. We can’t win back the GOP if our own entrenched old fools start using Democratic cheating tactics in primaries, and getting away with it.
If I were in MS, I’d be watching the polls for other Senate races going into November and if it looked like Cochran wasn’t going to be needed for a 51 seat majority, I’d certainly consider voting for Childers, for all the reasons you stated, and I’d be hoping he won so as to send a huge message to the Haley Barbour’s of the GOPe.
But if the Senate majority is up for grabs and it could depend on Cochran holding his seat, then I’d hope that McDaniel’s voters would hold their noses and vote for Cochran, or else just stay home. Otherwise, you’d risk letting Haley Barbour cause you to let Harry Reid stay in charge for another two years. That price is way too high to pay for the satisfaction of sending a message.
Hopefully, McDaniels will find enough double voters to get a judge to order a remedy. It would be a hoot to see the judge haul a few of the Republicans who coordinated the effort into court and threaten them all with jail time unless they could convince Cochran to concede. After all, under MS law, voting in the GOP primary when you intend to vote Dem in November is technically illegal, so those operatives were encouraging massive illegality that goes beyond the clearly-illegal double voting issue.