Here is a round-up of recent coverage on the Senate race:
Rasmussen released a poll that showed both Republican candidates beat Travis Childers by double-digit margins.
Both Republican contenders have a solid lead over former Democratic Congressman Travis Childers in Rasmussen Reports' first look at the U.S. Senate race in Mississippi.
A new statewide telephone survey of Likely Mississippi voters finds longtime Senator Thad Cochran leading Childers by 17 points - 48% to 31%. Registration required
The same poll said State Senator Chris McDaniel beat Mr. Childers by 12 points. However, such news did not make Y'all Politics which instead said the same poll showed McDaniel had an approval rating of 43% while Cochran enjoyed one of 60%. Post Just one problem. That information comes from the Sun-Herald which in turn cited an anonymous source without showing any actual poll numbers.
Then there is the battle of the dueling columnists. Former Governor Haley Barbour had a few things to say about Senator McDaniel and his supporters in a recent column that ended with a killer closing line about geographically-challenged supporters:
Mississippians appreciate Sen. Thad Cochran because he has been so effective for our state and our people. He recognized the federal disaster assistance laws that were in place before Hurricane Katrina were grossly insufficient to deal with the worst natural disaster in American history. Because of the respect he enjoys and the influence he wields on behalf of our state, he led the effort that passed new emergency disaster assistance laws that not only helped the Coast rebuild bigger and better after the storm, but his legislation became the model for future disaster assistance.
This is but one obvious reason Sen. Cochran is so well-regarded here. Another reason, however is that Thad is a gentleman who tells the truth and sticks to his word.
Regrettably, the author of a column in the Sun Herald last week is not bound by the facts. Instead, the op-ed written by former Congressman Chris Chocola is as hypocritical as it comes. I expected as much when I read the headline, "Thad Cochran is a liberal." But with all the out-of-state money being pumped into our state by groups like Chocola's Club for Growth, distortion was to be expected...
Sen. Cochran has stood against Obamacare at every turn: he has voted against its passage, to repeal it, to amend it and to defund it. Over and over again. What Chocola claims as voting to fund Obamacare was actually the fact that Thad Cochran voted to reopen the federal government after the shutdown last October.....
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., whom no one has ever accused of being a "liberal," said before and after the shutdown that it was a tactic that had no chance of success.
Still, Sen. Cochran voted to defund Obamacare when the House sent the bill to the Senate in September. Indeed, he has continually fought and voted against Obamacare, despite the false claims of Chris Chocola.
Sen. Cochran has not only represented Mississippi well in the Senate, he was the giant who stood tall and produced for our state at our greatest hour of need after Katrina. I don't know where we would be today if not for his effectiveness.
The great news is Thad is line to be chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee if Republicans win control of the Senate, as experts say appears increasingly likely this November.
He will again be able to ensure Mississippi and the Gulf Coast are treated fairly and the runaway spending of the Obama Administration is stopped in the last two years of President Obama's term.
Everybody reading this knows Cochran and his record of service. Every one of you can judge his service.
But don't be swayed by some out-of-state phonies who couldn't tell you the difference between Pascagoula and Pontotoc. Rest of column
Not to be outdone, McDaniel campaign manager State Senator Melanie Sojourner penned her own column touting her candidate:
The permanent political class, some of whom have spent more than 40 years in Washington, D.C., have stood quietly by and allowed our nation to accumulate massive debt to the tune of $17 trillion and counting.
Wyatt Emmerich's view that we might have approached a "tipping point" resonates with me, and it resonates with Mississippians all over this great state. I know this because they tell me they feel the same way. The United States is at a tipping point. The current state of affairs that the status quo, go-along to get-along permanent political class has left us is simply not acceptable.
And yet political consultants and career politicians are bold enough to ask for a seventh term in the Senate for Sen. Cochran under the guise of "practical" representation in D.C. If $17.2 trillion dollars of debt is practical, then I guess you can call me impractical...
Sen. Cochran has supported raising the debt ceiling more than a dozen times. He regularly supports bloated budgets laden with pork. And he has never led the charge on a single plan to balance the federal budget or to restrain spending. As recently as two weeks ago, Sen. Cochran was touting his ability to work with the Obama administration on "issues that are important to, you know, not just Mississippi but other -- our region and other states as well." The Bridge to Nowhere or the parking lot in Nebraska, both of which he voted for, are not worth sacrificing our national credit rating.
The game being played in D.C. is all about trading spending favors in one state for spending in one's home state. That's how we've reached $17.2 trillion in debt.
That's not practical, and that's not conservative.
Who benefits from pork projects?
Further, if all the pork and spending Sen. Cochran has managed to bring back to Mississippi were so good for the economy, why is it Mississippi is still ranked last or close to last by so many economic metrics? One begins to wonder exactly who benefits from all those pork projects the Haley Barbours and Thad Cochrans manage to direct to Mississippi..... Rest of column (Read the rest as she delves into abortion and gun rights).
Meanwhile Roll Call reports Thad Cochran may be an underdog:
Forget about Matt Bevin’s challenge to Sen. Mitch McConnell in the Kentucky Republican primary or Milton Wolf’s bid to knock off Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts in that state’s GOP contest. The Senate primary to watch is Mississippi’s.
State Sen. Chris McDaniel has the best chance of any anti-establishment Senate hopeful to knock off an incumbent, and the defeat of six-term Senate veteran Thad Cochran would send shock waves through both the national media and the Republican Party.
Cochran, the first Republican popularly elected to the Senate in the state’s history, is an institution in the Magnolia State and has the support of most Mississippi GOP officeholders, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and former Gov. Haley Barbour. And Barbour’s nephew, Henry Barbour, is running the super PAC established to get the senator re-elected.
Cochran, 76, is in trouble — in deep trouble — primarily because of changes in the Republican Party. But it’s also true that the senator, and his campaign, didn’t start his re-election effort where they needed to be.
It’s not as if Mississippi Republicans dislike Cochran. Even his critics say that his standing in the party is good. But Sen. Richard G. Lugar of Indiana also had excellent personal ratings, even when he was defeated for re-nomination by Richard Mourdock in 2012. Voters liked Lugar and respected his contributions to the state, but they chose not to re-hire him for another term.
Cochran was first elected to Congress in 1972. Six years later, he won a three-way contest (with only 45 percent) for an open Senate seat. In 1984, Cochran faced his last serious race. He defeated former Gov. William Winter, a Democrat, comfortably with 61 percent to 39 percent. That was 30 years ago.
Cochran’s subsequent easy re-election victories won’t help him this year. In fact, they are now a liability.
“Thad is very rusty,” said one sympathetic Republican. “He has no real organization, and he’s lost touch over the years.”
Still, Cochran, whose style is inherently low-key, is running as energetically as he can, and he has a campaign team that knows the state and how to win elections. But that may not be enough. Rest of article
31 comments:
Completely missing from the political strategy amongst these Machiavellian talking heads of political journalism is the Shawn O'Hara factor.. who will Reform candidate O'Hara throw his support to?
Chris McDaniels should never have "rolled his eyes" as he walked passed O'Hara in that courtroom hallway.
Yep, that Rasmussen poll was definitely not good news for Cochran.
And I'm totally ok with that.
I'm only voting for Chris McDaniel if he promises to teach the rest of the US Senate to have a phony knock-off British accent like he does so it sounds more like The House of Lords and KF will post funny links that make my day better....
Can Sojourner make this promise?
"Underdog" helps Thad raise $$$. That's what this is about.
As a life long republican it just makes me sick to even hear mention of Haley "The Snake" Barbour. To pardon as many people as some Presidents have and to buy cars for convicted-premeditated murderers and to have brought us all this wonderful 'Alternative fuel scams" I just don't understand why anyone would want this Scumbag around.
If anybody thinks Chris MxDaniel will have any influence
for the good of Mississippi if elected, they are crazy.
The Federal dollars that flow into the State will slow
to a trickle. There is a time for principle and a time for
practicality. A freshman Senator from Mississippi
won't have any influence except to cut tax dollars
Coming to Mississippi.
If you do not like what is happening in DC, then stand up and change the players.
I will not be voting Cochran.
"The Federal dollars that flow into the State will slow
to a trickle."
I believe that is said to be a feature, not a bug.
@9:17
As bad as I hate to say it, it's the truth. I have many friends who are very well connected in DC, both R's and D's. Thad may be a POS to us voters back home, but in DC, seniority rules. I am a Republican, more libertarian, but MS is a broke state and without the handouts and the special interest projects and monies tacked onto these bills, Mississippi wouldn't have much at all.
9:17,
You are missing the point. I am ok with the state getting tax $$ cut. You should read that sentence one more time.
The federal government cannot sustain itself in its current form.
Besides, your argument is invalid. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't your boy a long, long time ago once a freshman Senator?
I just saw an obituary in "Time" for Fred Phelps, the Minister of Hate. It began, "Fred Phelps, a colossal jerk . . . ." Sometimes such epithets are justified, as when applied to Fred Phelps or 8:56 above. But maybe Haley Barbour is really a demon! That's bad news for the GOP, since a national journalist recently referred to Haley as "probably the most important Republican in the country." The nation is deluded, but here in Mississippi we're on to him. Torches and pitchforks all around.
the tea party kooks can type all they want until the day after the election. then they'll have to find another savior, because McDaniel ain't it.
12:41,
Hai Austin. Got anymore snappy one-liners for a national political magazine? We dumb folk out in Plebsville, MS really love it when you talk down to us.
Love,
Not voting for ya boi
Bwahahahahahahahahaha
1:08, you cracked me up. Well said.
Hai yourself, 1:08. Not Austin. The snappy one-liner was from Carl Bernstein. Don't mean to talk down to anyone, but it is difficult to avoid if I'm having a conversation with someone who is lying face down in a pool of vitriol. Bad for the skin, boi.
Does anyone really think McDaniel has a chance? Seriously? You got to love his whole 'I don't know if I would bring money to the state after Katrina" rhetoric. I can't wait till this race is over and the tea party is silenced once and for all.
The one reason McDaniel might have a chance is that we're the only state that would be stupid enough to vote out the man who is in line to be Appropriations Chairman after November's "Slaughter of the Donkies." If Cochran actually loses, then we deserve whatever consequences we get.
I'm for " changing the players" in Washington , DC.
But competence, both intellectually and mentally, is a minimal requirement.
At this point, 5:37, I'd settle for just a smidgen of common sense and a hefty disdain for our crony capitalist government in Washington.
Thank you Henry Barbour. I bet Thads camp manager wants to stomp you.
Thank you 3:58 and 4:29. Your statements correctly pinpoint one of the major problems.
3:58, Your interest in this election is wrapped around an argument in a political party. Really? My interest is in changing what is happening in DC. Can anyone actually say--well, I'm just tickled to death with DC, don't want to change a thing.
4:29, Your interest seems to be---don't cut off my place in line for money. My interest is in realizing that the budget is astronomical, things must change.
So, a vote for Cochran means I love whats happening in DC, please don't cut off the feed line to Cochran's cronies, and somebody needs to be sure I get some of the money.
Hey, 3:58. Take a look at KF's post "Scumbags gonna scumbag." Take a look at that lovely flyer. Your hatred of conservatives seems to be in absolute alignment with the hard core Dems/liberals.
Damn, imagine that. Now who could have seen that...
What has McDaniel accomplished as a state senator? I'll answer my own question, nothing. So why do you think he will be bale to do anything in D.C. Wake up folks, Chris is not the answer.
9:12 he hasn't done anything. Heck the guy thought Haley was running against some "trial lawyer" from Jackson in the 2003 election. Sorry Chris that was actually Eaves in 2007. He probably didn't remember because he voted in the democratic primary. It's also funny that he attacks trial lawyers when that's how he made his money.
9:12 and 9:57 think that everything is just GREAT in dc. Do everything you can to protect that crony line.
Only vote for Cochran from me--a no confidence vote.
Voting for the other candidate. If he screws up, then we'll vote him out in a few years.
But at this point in time, the one thing I know without any doubt--Changes MUST occur in DC now. We've had enough.
Geo Soro’s event in FL this weekend. Eric Cantor going, even going to be a speaker. What other RepubliCats are on the ‘guest’ list? Should be interesting...
Thank You Very Much, Anderson!
So Haley's for opening the floodgates to immigration?
Eh Tu, Thad?
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words.
Farm Bill? Now, where have we heard about the Farm bill? Oh that’s right….some politician is so very proud of it.
Hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens are getting shocking letters in their mailboxes instead of tax refund checks – nastygrams informing them that the federal government has seized their money to repay debts THEIR PARENTS decades-old debts that they never settled. In some cases, they're debts the parents never knew they had. And no one warned their children. The 2008 FARM BILL included a single line that made it possible, allowing the government for the first time to hunt down individual taxpayers who have owed Uncle Sam money for more than ten years. Social Security Administration is now chasing down adults whose parents cared for them with unintentionally overpaid benefits.
Mary Grice, a 56 year-old Food and Drug Administration employee, told the Post that she received a threatening letter in March advising her that all $4,462 of her 2013 tax refund was seized to compensate the government for overpaying her mother Sadie's Social Security benefits in 1977. The bill came to $2,996, but the government captured Mary's entire refund check. Already 1,200 Americans have filed appeals on seizures of old debts that they say don't belong to them.
And the FARM BILL that passed in 2011 lifted the 10-year statute of limitations on debts owed to the feds.
Thanks, TC, for looking out for, um, well, the feds. Just one more reason to love his Farm Bill.
So, SSA makes an error back in 1968, overpays someone. Well, thanks to TC's Farm Bill, the SSA can now go after the children or grandchildren.
"Social Security officials told Grice that six people — Grice, her four siblings and her father’s first wife, whom she never knew — had received benefits under her father’s account. The government doesn’t look into exactly who got the overpayment; the policy is to seek compensation from the oldest sibling and work down through the family until the debt is paid."
And Grice didn't just have her Fed refund taken, her state money was taken too.
Ra Ra Feds!
Was curious so I pulled the bill.
110th Congress - 2nd Session
Farm bill HR 6124, Sec 14219 “Eliminates the statute of limitations within which a government agency can initiate the collection of an outstanding claim by administrative offset.”
Roll call: Cochran (R-MS), Yea
President vetoed the bill: “At a time when net farm income is projected to increase by more than $28 billion in 1 year, the American taxpayer should not be forced to subsidize that group of farmers who have adjusted gross incomes of up to $1.5 million.”
House floor after veto message, Rep who was against the bill stated, “Here we have the President standing up and saying, this bill is bloated; this bill is far too big; it spends far too much. Yet the same people who were blaming the President for not standing up to spending are voting now to override the President when he says enough is enough. This is wrong…… This bill represents the worst of legislative process: pandering to special interests, dark of night negotiations, airdropped earmarks worth millions of taxpayer dollars, opposition shut out of the floor process, and a $300 billion boondoggle bill…… The President has rightly vetoed this bill not once but twice. We need House Members to stand up for taxpayers.”
I guess the PORK was all that was seen. "we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what's in it”
The children and grandchildren are finding out what’s in it.
The Social Security Administration is now saying they are going to suspend the program for now. I guess it wasn't suppose to be started or at least found out about until after the elections...
Good job to those who voted for this garbage bill. Is the answer that you just didn't bother reading the dang thing OR is the answer that you supported this?
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