Note: This was first posted yesterday.
My favorite chapter of Nietzche's Beyond Good and Evil is "Epigrams and Interludes". The philosopher chooses to collect a wide array of various thoughts and place them into one chapter. I have decided to post my observations about the Senate race in the same vein instead of writing one big monster column. Enjoy.
The McDaniel campaign has yet to be directly tied to the nursing home scandal. However, the story has moved from the crazy next door neighbor no one really knows to the friends and family cooking out in the front yard. Not in the house but uncomfortably close.
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Speaking of Obama, did either candidate remember Obama is the enemy?
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The Cochran campaign and Y'all Politics shrieks over and over about out of state money supporting McDaniel. What they do not mention is the outside money has actually created some competition in this state for once. The dirty little secret in Mississippi Republican politics is there is a good ole boy network of donors. A sort of cartel of campaign finance. A candidate can't get too far unless he has their money OR can write his own checks (See Lynn Fitch). The self-funded candidates usually do poorly however as they are usually new to politics. You know the drill. Don't know how to organize. Make rookie mistakes. Hence the overwhelming advantage of incumbency in Mississippi. Once you are elected, most of the check-writers line up behind the winning candidate. Mississippi actually got a competitive Senate race this year. Regardless of who wins, Mississippi is the winner. Too bad most politicians think elections should be coronations instead of actual elections.
Speaking of out of state money, did any Republicans complain when Haley Barbour set fund-raising records using out of state money? Did they turn away outside money when Mississippi Supreme Court races were flooded with outside money and faceless PACs? Oliver Diaz, Ronnie Musgrove, and Chuck McRae would like to know.
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The Tea Party started to attack Mayor Mary on Facebook. Good luck with that one.
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Its funny watching Alan Lange, Frank Corder, and the Y'all Politics website decry outside conservative groups and their money. They sure seemed happy in 2010 when such groups helped Nunnelee and Pallazzo. They couldn't wait to post the story when Redstate interviewed Palazzo and published it on the website.
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The sad part about this campaign is the incompetence of both campaign staffs. One silver lining in this political cloud is one staff will taste defeat and will deserve to do so. The unfortunate dark lining is that the other staff will taste victory and will not deserve to do so. Victory will be the reward for the winning side. The truism that victory blinds will be forgotten.
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What is interesting are the different approaches used by the campaigns. The Cochran campaign is old school: heavy tv ad buys. Want to see a Cochran ad? Watch local news. Want to see pro-McDaniel ads? Watch tv OR go online. The McDaniel camp saturated Youtube, local websites, and even sports websites with their ads. Who else followed this strategy? Obama in 2012. That wouldn't work in Mississippi, would it? Naaaaaaaaaahhhh.
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Has anyone turned off or irritated the media (and not in a positive way for his own team) as much as McDaniel Communications Director Noel Fritch? Nothing like a Yankee who thinks he is teaching all of us poor ole dumb rednecks a thing or two. No spear-catcher has managed to turn the media against a campaign as has this carpetbagger. The reporters respond in their own way. They don't slant their reporting against the campaign. They just joke that he watched too many episodes of House of Cards.
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Speaking of Communications Directors, why are the officials from both campaigns fighting on Twitter? Can we say juvenile? Is either side capable of maintaining discipline?
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McDaniel voted to fund Common Core. Cochran voted to fund Obamacare. Commercials never lie, do they? Perfect example of why Senators or Representatives don't become President. There is always some procedural vote or some line in an omnibus bill that got a yes vote and can be distorted beyond recognition.
The truth is the Democrats had a filibuster proof Congress. They allowed little, if any, debate and refused to allow any amendments to Obamacare. McDanield voted for a small line in a big bill. One can almost see the Cochran crowd blasting him for voting against something else in that same bill if he had voted no. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Goal is to say it louder and more often than the other side does.
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Many were surprised at the horrible responses by the McDaniel campaign when Photogate broke. Senator McDaniel, Noel Fritch, Scott Brewster, and Melanie Sojourner all gave different answers the day the scandal broke. Why was more than one person responding to the media? Why didn't they have their stories straight? Why didn't they have a campaign meeting and figure out what to do when this nuke went off that day?
One concern about the McDaniel campaign was the lack of experience among the campaign staff. The Senator never ran for a larger office and thus escaped media scrutiny a statewide official would have expected (see Herman Cain or Sarah Palin). The campaign manager never managed a campaign before. The spear-catcher (Communications Director) is from out of state and is clueless about Mississippi. Perhaps it would have been surprising if the team had performed well that day.
Resumes and experience do not usually lie. The lack of both were completely exposed that day. The candidate's lack of seriousness about the whole affair was exposed in the next week.
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Did the Cochran team engage in overkill in running ads based on Photogate? The enemy is fumbling the response. Can't get the stories straight after a week. The media is pummeling the McDaniel campaign over and over and over about the scandal. Why get in the middle of it? Why give the enemy a target for its artillery?
They gave the enemy a target and fire away it did.
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Did anyone ever think perhaps Senator Cochran needed Kay? Needed as in managing his affairs? Will we find out years later that the real Senator for all of these years was Kay?
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Is Brietbart's Matthew Boyle the national version of Paul Gallo?
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While one side is inexperienced, the other side is experienced but young... and has never lost. See Obama. Always winning too often breeds arrogance. The Cochran campaign expected to win. The staff at times has gone too far in bully campaign tactics and focused on the wrong issues. Beating down Chris McDaniel takes precedence instead of giving people a reason to vote for Thad Cochran. Never losing sometimes means one never learns some much-needed lessons.
Too many Republicans came in with Haley. They never lived in the wilderness. Never starved. Never went thirsty. Never got beat up in the press because they lost. Their anger at Thad losing is due to a fear of losing privilege and prestige. The anger seen in the older generation- the Moungers, the Perry's, the Haley's, the Yergers- are due to a fear of losing the bloody sacrifices they made for decades. They have valid reasons to be angry. The younger ones.... you can figure it out.
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Thad Cochran helped many Mayors during his long tenure in Washington. Some of them were, can we say it, black as well as being actual Democrats. Should the Senator ask them for their support when they didn't mind asking for his help? Using the word "Democrats" in the Mississippi Link is one of the bigger blunders of the campaign. Gave a campaign that had been on the ropes something to rally against in a big way.
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Its funny watching Tea Party member and conservatives bash Thad for not fighting Democrats in one respect. Its easy to shoot your own side when you are in the majority. Where were these people 40 years ago when frankly, there were no Republicans? Thad Cochran fought Democrats when Republicans were not even a minority party. They just did not exist in Mississippi. These so-called activists don't realize how hard it was back then to take on a Democrat establishment. The armchair quarterbacks of course never lose a battle.... they just complain.
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One person on Facebook blasted Thad Cochran for riding around with his Mama as she did something for the Democratic Party. Hmmmm....... someone should ask this clown what party his Mama or Grandmama supported if they are over the age of 70. It is rather amusing to see someone yapping about what a 76 year-old man did when he was 15.
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Columnist Charlie Mitchell recognized the debt problems America faces but extolled the virtues of Thad Cochran. What will happen when the debt dilemma really hits the fan and Mississippi suffers from a solution much worse than the sequester?
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Andy Taggart, Frank Corder, et al are bashing Palin and others for supporting McDaniel. How many of them were out in force for Palin in 2008? Would they say the same thing if the national conservative groups were backing someone to topple Bennie Thompson. Andy Taggart naturally opposes them. His crony capitalist virtues are of course beyond reproach.
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Pictures of most Chris McDaniel events show regular people even if its a small gathering. Those are voters. Pictures of most Thad Cochran events show politicians and Republican insiders.
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Watching people blame the Barbours for the negative tone of the campaign is amusing at best. What it shows is ignorance. The Cochran campaign is run by Kirk Sims and Josh Gregory. One loves to grab contracts, one is in over his head and reacts by bullying others. If there is one person everyone involved with the HMA-Blue Cross-Governor Bryant agreed was responsible for the debacle the Governor experienced, it was then-Chief of Staff Kirk Sims. Everyone complained about his bullying. In fact, they all used that very word. The other one runs campaigns only when he has a candidate who is an incumbent or has a huge fund-raising advantage. Now they are in a real fight, and at times it seems as if they don't know what to do. Numerous staffers and volunteers complained to this correspondent that the campaign often had no direction or constantly changed direction. Cochran supporters can only wish the Barbours were running this campaign.
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Where will the photogate scandal go? No one knows. It doesn't matter whether anyone is convicted. What does matter is exposing who was involved to what degree.
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Chris McDaniel's biggest weakness? 1. An constant inability to recognize serious problems as they developed and respond to them. In other words: pitiful damage control. Major self-inflicted wounds. 2. Hiring an inexperienced staff. Thad Cochran's biggest weakness? 1. Letting handlers keep him away from everyone. 2. Not recognizing how mad Republican voters are at Obama. 3. The failure to tell voters the positive things Thad Cochran has done for Mississippi. 4. A failure to recognize that a sizable number of voters just want a change. See Harvey Johnson.
The weakness of both candidates? Not controlling their campaign staffs.
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Obama attacked "The Great Compromise". A fundemental part of our country and the Constitution. Neither candidate bothered to say how much that "compromise" benefits Mississippi much less defend it. One would expect a candidate who uses the word "Constitution" in every other sentence to say..... something in response to Mr. Obama.
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Obama polarized the Republican Party. Obama has kicked GOP ass for six years. Conservative voters are sick and tired of losing and getting trashed in the media. They just want to see someone who fights. Someone who will stand up and throw punches. We live in the age of political combat, bombast and at times, buffoonery. Everyone is a Facebook tough guy and expects their representatives to be the same. Have the times passed the Senator by? Tuesday will give us the answer.
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While the Republicans and Y'all Politics are slamming the Tea Party, they might want to remember there is a fight for the House and Senate next year. Hard to recruit troops when you've been calling those same troops the enemy and trashing them on a daily basis. Reminds one of when Lincoln asked how come the Union Army was having a tough time after it won the Mexican-American War. Someone pointed out to him that that the army that won that war was the one facing the Union in the current war. Don't expect them to get it. Things are always sunny at Bravo and Char.
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Tom Carey. Check him out. He is on the ballot. Republican.
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Remember, vote early and often tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Senate campaign epigrams and interludes
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44 comments:
Re-reading that chapter of BG&E with politics in mind, I've decided that several of the epigrams work well if "women" is replaced by "politicians."
For ex, "seducing your neighbor into a good opinion of you, and then believing devoutly in this neighbor's opinion" ....
Using the word "Democrats" in the Mississippi Link is one of the bigger blunders of the campaign.
Somebody really screwed up.
It's one thing for the McDaniel staff to make mistakes. But, how Club and DeMint can make the HUGE mistake they have made is beyond me. Specifically, how do you spend millions on a candidate and not insist the campaign hire someone capable of leveraging their millions. If the McDaniel campaign had hired an expert, they would be SMOKING Cochran. It's one thing for McDaniel to make that mistake. It's unbelievable that Club and DeMint made that mistake -- think about that before you contribute to those guys.
Harper has them all fired up! LOL
11:32 AM, doubt Alan Laannnggggeeee will let his dozen or so readers see that video.
Well done, KF
I'm sure people are voting for any Tea Party candidate out of anger and frustration.
Unfortunately, anger and frustration and drawing lines in the sand is venting, not solving.
We don't need people who are good at hissy fits, we need people with ideas on how to make changes and the cool headedness to develop sound strategies.
The TPs in DC have further alienated the voters ( save the 30%) and you are going to have another Democrat in The White House with veto power, with Supreme Court appointments and plenty of tools to keep the bureaucracy from " cooperating" with Congress.
And, you are going to, with McDaniel should he win, have a Senator who likes the limelight enough and speaks without thinking enough so that embarrassing the hell out of MS yet again is a given.
Ted Cruz is MUCH smarter and look at how badly he shot himself in the foot.
Either Tate Reeves or Greg Harper would be far more effective in the long run. It'd be smart to let Cochran win and retire. Instead, we'll shoot ourselves in the foot again.
"You can vote for who we tell you to vote for" is the mantra of the politicos. The Pubs gave us Cochran, the Tea Party gave us McDaniel. The voter must decide based on each candidate's spin. KF's synopsis was right on. Ms. is a small state geographically and population wise. I don't think McDaniel has any political capital to spend on the national scene, as his image and the Tea Party image is suffering. Unfortunately the Ms. politicos have been able to hold a tight rein on this state for years, and I don't see that changing. Lots of negatives, but McDaniel and his one horse show ain't changing anything. It's really a demoralizing situation.
A fair summation, I think. Good job Kingfish.
...we need people with ideas on how to make changes and the cool headedness to develop sound strategies.
Sorry pal. $17+ trillion in debt isn't a sound strategy.
Can Carey throw it into a runoff? Can you believe 3 more weeks of this? Stranger things have happened!
Nicely done, very good, real points. I would only say that this whole good ole boy system needs to be fixed. The class of staff now is simply terrible. Not just in campaigns but in these statewides offices and other political guys. They didn't win the battle to get here and they don't know how to hold it. If Chris wins, I hope Kirk, Josh, Austin are all put out to pasture. They don't know how to win tough campaigns. Good report
Is Brietbart's Matthew Boyle the national version of Paul Gallo?
If memory serves me there was a fellow by the name of Boyle on Trent Lott's staff....is this the same guy? I think the Boyle in question was from Hattiesburg
The Jackson Advocate endorsed Thad Cochran . . . Not Childers.
I happened upon the Supertalk station (aka Cochran headquarters) this morning just in time to hear JT ask a caller if the caller had been getting McDaniel robocalls and how many he'd gotten today. Later this afternoon, I got two robocalls from the Cochran campaign(one from Trent Lott to me personally, it claimed) and zero from McDaniel.
Sorry JT. As usual, you're a dishonest tool, a pawn and a turd. Even when you claim prowess at the BBQ grill. Happy burgering - go light on the salt).
Interesting read, KF.
I will not say who to vote for or against.
All should cast a vote on Tuesday.
The guy from Trent Lott's staff was Brett Boyles.
Why would the Jackson Advocate endorse Travis Childers? He is not running in the Republican Primary.
@ 4:27 They didn't endorse for each primary. They just did one endorsement each race. Why didn't they endorse anyone from the Democratic side in that race then? Check out the article yourself.
Great analysis. Although, every time I read "spear-catcher", my brain initially confuses it for a slightly less politically-correct term.
That is what Rush used to call the Clinton press secretaries
After Tuesday, commenters will find out if their campaigning in the comments section of newspapers and blogs had any impact. I like how this primary season has brought the state's dumbest people to the forefron so everyone knows where they stand.
Fine piece of commentary KF.
Though I find it naive to posit that Haley's hand is not firmly on the rudder of Thad's campaign. Which you seem to be doing.
Haley, either directly or through proxy, runs everything.
I like how this primary season has brought the state's dumbest people to the forefron so everyone knows where they stand.
I am also happy that you will know where you stand.
Johnny Dupree making robocalls for Cochran. Let's see if Gallo, Lange or Corder touch that.
**** sings " HOODWINKED " to the tune of footloose.
Now Dupree denies.
How about the Sunday calls? Are they still illegal?
Looks like that fake Dupree robocall brought the racists to McDaniel's FB page. There are these things called screencaps, and everyone knows Popeyes is better than KFC. Dummies.
Actually Two Sisters but that's just me.
KF, I respectfully disagree about the early impact of " outsider money" in getting the GOP a foothold in MS.
First of all, a few Democratic upstarts and unknowns upset the Eastland boys. Then, Gil came along and demonstrated that a Republican could compete.
Without Eastland himself, those he left behind proved arrogant . They became " easy pickin's".
Add in the Southern Strategy and some very ,very smart early leaders in the GOP and outside money just wasn't needed. Indeed, in those days, it was so minimal as to be insulting.
Saw where Haley was taking about compromise. How Reagan used to compromise. How you must do it. Etc.
I think Haley and Thad, etc. are not paying attention. If the range of possible solutions to a problem is 1 to 100, the republicans might start at say 40. Oboma starts at 97 or 98. Then the Republicans, using their vast political experience, counter with an offer of 45. Oboma moves to 95 or 96. And that is it. Oboma's idea of compromise is not close to the world of solutions that might work, or might be an actual compromise. The the Republicans cave. Over and over and over they give in. Instead of saying 'The constitution says that Congress appropriates the money and we ain't giving you any more. Period." They cave.
World leaders like Putin can see that Oboma is a weak leader. We voters can see that he is weak. Only problem is the Republicans are even weaker. They know what is right, but they want 'everyone to like them'. Sometimes you have to stand up and fire the air traffic controllers. Do what you know is right, don't try to win a popularity contest every feekin day. That is what Oboma does and you see how awful he is at his job.
Another thing about compromise - When Oboma says 'I will gladly pay you on Tuesday for a hamburger today' You know that Tuesday will never come. So you cannot make any deals that involve trusting him to do anything in the future. A six year old kid knows that people who lie often, have a difficult time in life because no one will trust them. Somehow, the Republicans cannot stand up and tell the American people - one reason we cannot make a deal with this guy is he lies constantly. Here are examples to prove it..abc def xyz.
Spoke with some kin in Leflore County today. They reported that state Sen. Lydia Chassanol is making robocalls on behalf of Cochran in Leflore, Carroll and Montgomery counties (areas within her district). She is popular there and there is a substantial tea party presence, so her calls for Cochran could help persuade some fence-riding tea parties. In her call, she said McDaniel has the worst record for missing votes of any state senator.
11:47p: EXACTLY! and what a good description Hegel-Ian dialectics in action, i.e. continual compromise diluting principles and laws until the result is what the "organizer" wants, and not what we-the-people who believe in a govt of laws, not men,seek to uphold and adhere to....
this is why Thad, Haley, et al, must go....in their greed, they have very nearly killed the goose that laid the golden egg which is EXACTLY what the alinskyite obamaphiles want...
that is all....
BOTH the obamaphiles and the mis'sippi repub machine have become what George Washington warned against......
"All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests."
"However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which CUNNING, AMBITIOUS, AND UNPRINCIPLED MEN will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp (george washington farewell address, 1796)
Comprise is the reason for our woes.
The worst legislation and most spending has always come when compromise was UNNECESSARY!
Lobbying groups don't just give money to ONE party or one politician!
If you want to fix government, step 1 is knowing how it works!
Step 2 is to stop forming opinions based on spin and emotional triggers before the facts are known.
@7:45
History is suffused with lessons for the present.~Unknown
If Thad loses today he can look to the day he hired Sims as his campaign manager as the day he lost the race. Sims had to bring in Gregory and he has no idea how to do anything except get rich by contracting with state government.
Let's just say Sim's blood outweighs his abilities.
...in their greed, they have very nearly killed the goose that laid the golden egg which is EXACTLY what the alinskyite obamaphiles want...
BINGO
"Don't believe any of the shit nor most of the sludge you read on blogs."
Thomas Jefferson
Voted early in Rankin County, saw two overall guys digging into a pouch of beach nut.
They were from Simpson county and they had McDaniel signs!
10:55, I've been known to wear overalls and chew tobacco, sometimes simultaneously. What, exactly, is your point?
7:23 ~ What the hell is a Hegel-lan dialect?
10:55 ~ You're lying and we all know it. But you got published here, in spite of the mustard on your T-Shirt.
It's too bad that McDaniel didn't borrow from the genius of Enoch Sanders and fly the American flag upside down at the townhall meetings. McDaniel should've hired Enoch to run his campaign PR..camo fatigues and all.
Don't think Encoch Sanders wouldn't have put Master on Thad!
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