Call it what you will, state Senator Chris McDaniel blinked. Despite his
earlier caustic rhetoric, he will not challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Roger
Wicker in the Republican Primary. Instead, he will compete in what he hopes
will be an easier pathway to the Senate, the special election to fill retiring
Sen. Thad Cochran's seat.
Assuming his billionaire funders stick with him, McDaniel may be right
about the pathway, but he displayed some cavalier opportunism in ducking Wicker.
The November 6 special election works almost like an open primary.
Republicans, Democrats and independents run together. If no-one gets a majority, a run-off
occurs two weeks later.
Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and Congressman Mike Espy will
likely pull a large Democratic vote. McDaniel is counting on his base to put
him ahead of any other Republican candidates to get in a runoff with Espy. He
then hopes usually reliable GOP voters stick with him to beat Espy.
Espy must be hoping many moderate Mississippi voters will turn against
the ultra-conservative McDaniel and choose a moderate Democrat, as they did in
the recent Alabama special election.
All that, of course, hinges on McDaniel beating the Republican that Gov.
Phil Bryant will soon name to fill Cochran's seat until the special election.
Who
can beat McDaniel is the overriding concern facing the Governor along
with other state GOP leaders. Bryant might be toughest for McDaniel to
beat. Many have encouraged him to go for it, including President Donald
Trump. But Bryant told the Clarion-Ledger last week, "I'm never going to
run
for office again."
Another strong candidate would be former Gov. Haley Barbour. While
unlikely, a Barbour vs. McDaniel contest would resemble the extraordinary race
four years ago between Cochran and McDaniel.
Another interesting race would be Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves vs. McDaniel.
There is no love lost between these two. Reeves has kept McDaniel in a box in
the Mississippi Senate.
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann would have a chance. Others, such as
House Speaker Philip Gunn and Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Cindy
Hyde-Smith, would have to
build name ID and run hard to catch McDaniel.
And, if more than one strong Republican gets in, they would split votes
needed to beat McDaniel.
Bryant has now made it clear he will appoint someone to
Cochran's seat other than McDaniel. "He is not on the list," he told reporters. And, he wants someone who can stay
in the Senate multiple decades to build seniority. Of the names mentioned, only
Reeves at 43 really meets that criteria. Gunn at 55 would be next. Maybe the Governor
has a surprise candidate?
Commenting on McDaniel's switcheroo, Bryant said, "This
opportunistic behavior is a sad commentary for a young man who once had great
potential."
This came after a rally by Tea Party leaders at the Capitol pushing on
Bryant to appoint McDaniel. Bryant's office issued a response saying, "The Governor believes Sen. McDaniel should focus his
energy on the campaign to which he is committed."
McDaniel,
who regularly bashes the GOP establishment, then announced his pending
switch and unabashedly called for all Mississippi Republicans to "unite
around my candidacy and avoid another contentious contest."
Not likely.
24 comments:
An opportunist to say the least. He will wind up costing the Republicans the
seat.
A little late, Captain Obvious.
Just say no to a contentious election. Says the guy who defined contentious elections.
The Gov would be a fool to appoint either Barbour or Reeves.
Mr. Pardon and Tater the alt-right's puppet would be result in Senator Espy.
But, since Phil isn't going to run again, Barbour would be a good choice for his future financial security.
If CM didn’t come across as absolutely desperate he might have had a legit argument for the appointment or at least a legit shot at winning the election. But taking pot shots at Wicker the last several months and then trying to make friends only when it helps his cause reeks of insincerity.
They have been bashing the GOP establishment pretty hard since 2014. It's earned it's share of criticism over the last few years but they are forgetting one thing. If you are going to engage in a hostile takeover of the party, take it over. They didn't do so and are now asking the same establishment they bashed for four years to give them a plum of a plum. That's not going to happen.
The McDaniel crowd raised good points in the Cochran battle. The senator was indeed both aging and moderate. But now the McDaniel crowd is showing what a cult it really is. They are losing their minds at the thought that ANYBODY in the universe might have the gall to say they are a better candidate than McDaniel.
Just because he made good points against an elderly senator does not make him the second coming of the messiah.
We don't need 'the second coming' or 'the messiah' to hold down a seat currently held by either of two impotent pretenders.
It's time you fake conservatives stopped talking about the Cochran of the 90s. Those days are, well....the 90s. Anybody could replace Cochran and anybody other than Steve Holland can replace Wicker.
Dems who have switched to the republican party will not vote for McDaniel over Espy. And it will be to prove they don't want a radical who can't work with anyone.
" He will wind up costing the Republicans the
seat."
Yep - another unforced error by the Repubs. The sad part is, in the entire state, they don't have one impressive candidate.
This will result in one less vote for Trump's next SCOTUS nominee. Sad!
A vote for Epsy would be pretty smart, at least we would have a senator in the majority.
... another unforced error by the Repubs.
Scamming the 2014 primary kicked it all off. MSGOP owns the mess and the problem doesn't go away with (more) heavy handed tactics to hand pick winners and losers.
McDaniel could not beat a senile 80 year old that never even made public speeches. But now somehow the cult claims he is more deserving than any other conservative in the state.
Mike Espy or Dennis Sweet for Senator
Espy is in bed with some very unsavory characters in Hinds and Madison County. One was recently convicted of an election crime a couple of years ago in the Madison County Supervisors race.
Obvious solution. Bryant should appoint either Hughes or Guest for Cochran’s seat.
I do not believe McDaniel can even pretend to think he is a serious candidate. He is a poor sport to say the very nicest thing I can think of. Mississippians do not like poor sports. Espy will not win. Whomever Bryant appoints for a few months is not an automatic incumbent. We are still a Trump state with some elitist Republicans.
Hughes or Guest would still split or at least fracture the Republican vote, leaving the seat Espy. The GOP has an almost impossible task at hand - find a candidate that the entire GOP AND McDaniel supporters will vote for. I think Tate is the answer. Republicans may vote for Hood over Tate for Gov, but they would definitely support Tate 100% over McDaniel and especially Espy.
Here we are nearing the cocktail hour and bedtime (6:30). And the McDaniel bashers are about to hand off the baton to the next group appointed by the 'true blood republicans' to flood the blog with the same rhetoric. How obvious it is.
McDaniel is an opportunist; however, Wicker has chosen the path of least resistance behind Mitch McConnell. In the meantime, who in Congress represents the voters.? No one.
5:19...'Mississippians do not like poor sports'? What about Revrunt Hugh Freeze, the Darling of Oxford. Everybody loves him.
McDaniel would do well to try and earn the support of the Republican "establishment" rather than demand it.
5:19 pm You are probably right, but I remind you we were Eastland's Blue State for a while even after he was dead and his minions still were duping the citizens who vote party lines rather than try to determine whether the guy running is competent or honest. And, then there are the ones who vote for someone just because they casually know of them.
I'd also remind you that there were an unusual number of people who punted in the Presidential election simply because they couldn't stomach either Presidential candidate and who punted in Alabama and Pennsylvania.
Unless Espy has changed, he was a moderate to conservative Democrat and presentable. The GOP faithful may not vote FOR him, but they might not be willing to vote for someone they've come to despise and just not vote.
That moron McD has not removed his name from the Wicker election yet. Don’t be surprised if he swaps again if Bryant names a far right tea party palatable appointee.
He is just sad.
Post a Comment