Thad Cochran’s victory in the Republican primary yesterday has some big implications for the landscape of American politics.
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There was big political news out of the Magnolia State yesterday when current Republican Senator Thad Chochran was able to successfully turn back a challenge in a second round primary runoff from fellow Republican and Tea Party favorite State Senator Chris McDaniel. Since it seems almost certain that whoever won this primary will win in November (Mississippi is a very conservative state with a very racially polarized electorate) this development means a lot. And by that I mean this election in Mississippi will also impact those of us who don’t live in Mississippi.
The fact that the Senate has only 100 members and is set up to stress consensus building over strict majority rule means that any one Senator can have a great deal of influence. So while it may have seemed like a contest between two boring conservative white dudes from another state, and it did seem like that at times, it really is important who won this election, even if the overall balance of power between the two parties in the Senate doesn’t change.
It’s common these days to hear about a Republican “civil war” between “the Tea Party” or “insurgents” and “moderates” or “the establishment.” In my opinion this gets it really quite wrong. Everyone in the GOP basically agrees on the issues, and this runoff in Mississippi is a great example of this. Both Cochran and McDaniel are opposed to immigration reform and climate change legislation. Both want to repeal Obamacare. Both want lower taxes on the rich and less government overall. The difference is how they approach these issues. McDaniel wanted a highly confrontational, some might say radical, style of politics and promises to do things like shut down the government and take the world economy hostage via the debt ceiling, while Cochran seems much more skeptical of this. So a win for McDaniel could have meant a greater chance of things like President Obama being impeached over baloney charge or yet another government shutdown, Cochran’s win doesn’t mean these things won’t happen, it just means that a chance that they would be more likely has been turned back.
A big thing to remember about politics is that there are few, if any, permanent allies or enemies, instead there are just interests. This helps explain one of the more curious facts about Cochran’s win. That is it appears that he was pulled across the finish line by black voters. Mississippi’s primary rules are complex, but essentially Democrats who didn’t vote in the first round of primaries could “crossover” and vote on the Republican ticket. Cochran’s campaign did a lot of outreach to black voters over the last few weeks, at it appears to have paid off. Cochran also argued that McDaniel is an extremist and while African-Americans might not like his politics, they are much better than McDaniel’s. This just goes to show you that politics can make some pretty strange bed fellows.
But even though McDaniel lost, he still will have a big impact. Remember politicians are pretty paranoid about losing elections, so the fact that a conservative like Cochran almost lost will be noticed by his fellow Republicans. Not wanting to risk a similar fate it’s likely that Republicans will continue to embrace the most extreme and hardliner policies available. Remember it’s not enough to oppose Obamacare and vote against it these days, in order to be a “true conservative” you’re supposed to shut down the government over it as well. So while McDaniel might not be going to Washington, his hardliner style of politics will continue to infect the GOP.
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Photo by J. Scott Applewhite, AP
I think you are wrong John. Did you hear the comments from the people. They voted on what they thoughjht they heard. To a person, all of them said, “I heard he, McDaniel was tasking away my food stamps” or other freebies. John, we as a whole are the most uneducated voter block, and all of us pay dearly for that. Both parties are lying to you as best they can and will, and don’t get me started on trumped up bogus charges on Obama. He is probably one of the most incompetent presidents we’ve ever had, and that’s going… Read more »