Another Tea Partier Goes Down...

[rubato]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/pos ... y-and-gop/

Boehner: ‘There’s not that big a difference’ between tea party and GOP

Do you think Boehner understands that when he admits this he is asserting that the GOP has not learned a damn thing? It's just a power struggle ?


yrs,
rubato

[RayThom]

The Politician's Strategy :

1a) Do WHATEVER it takes to get elected... as long as it's not illegal.

1b) If found to be ILLEGAL... deny, Deny, DENY!

1c) If INDICTED, take immediate, and full, responsibility.

1d) If CONVICTED... appeal, Appeal, APPEAL!

2) When found absolutely GUILTY... wait one election cycle, or until released from prison, and run again. Blame everything on the immoral and ruthless tactics of the opposing party and sidestep all questions regarding the conviction.

(Repeat)

[Lord Jim]

Blame everything on the immoral and ruthless tactics of the opposing party

Or substance addiction...

[Lord Jim]

BIG loss for the Tea Party and The Club for Growth:

Cochran win in Miss. a blow to tea party movement

WASHINGTON — The Washington establishment delivered a punch to the gut of the tea party movement Tuesday as Mississippi Republican Sen. Thad Cochran, a mainstream conservative with more than 40 years congressional experience, narrowly turned back a challenge from state Sen. Chris McDaniel.

Unsuccessful in earlier Republican primaries in Kentucky, Georgia and North Carolina, outside conservative organizations and tea party groups had invested millions in Mississippi in hopes of knocking out six-term Sen. Cochran. They fell short Tuesday night after a nasty, costly primary, and have few chances to reverse the trend in the remaining contests before November's elections.

The results left the movement's leaders fuming.

"Unfortunately in Mississippi, nefarious campaign tactics seem to have won the day over ideas and a bold conservative vision," said Taylor Budowich, executive director of Tea Party Express. "We thank Senator Chris McDaniel for courageously standing up to the political machine. In politics, the righteous are not always victorious, but Americans across the country appreciate the values that his campaign was built upon."

In another setback for the tea party, two-term Rep. James Lankford of Oklahoma won the GOP nomination in the race to succeed Sen. Tom Coburn, who is stepping down with two years left in his term. In the solidly Republican state, Lankford is all but assured of becoming the next senator. Part of the House GOP leadership, Lankford defeated T.W. Shannon, a member of the Chickasaw Nation and the state's first black House speaker, who was backed by former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, two stalwarts of the right.

The Republican establishment blames the tea party movement and outside groups for costing it Senate seats — and majority control — in 2010 and 2012. Leaders in Washington were determined to avoid the same fate this election cycle, when they have a legitimate shot at netting the six seats to control the Senate. Cochran's win goes a long way to helping the GOP achieve its goal.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/us ... y_movement

[RayThom]

It was a great political strategy that so many Democrats and other minorities voted for old Thad as the lesser of two evils. The Dems sure know how to rally when faced with a tough challenge.

However, in November they will now have to correct "the error of their ways" and show up in droves to vote for their party favorite, ex C-man Travis Childers. Ring out the old, ring in the new. This will surely be a state the nation will be watching 'thisclose' on November 4th.

God bless American.

[rubato]

Republicans try to disenfranchise black Republican voters!

Because?

June 23, 2014
Chris McDaniel and Ken Cuccinelli Would Really Rather That African-Americans Do Not Vote: Live from La Farine CCIII: June 24, 2014

Home The American Civil Rights UnionThe interesting thing about McDaniel, Cuccinelli, and Adams is that they are not only conducting a Rehnquist-style "ballot integrity" project, but think that it is good for them to call up the New York Times and tell the New York Times that they are conducting a "ballot integrity" project to try to reduce African-American votes in a Republican primary in Mississippi.

They think not only that it is to their advantage to do this, but that it is to their advantage to be broadly seen to be doing this...

This is waving the Neo-Confederate bloody shirt with a vengeance.

And, of course, the New York Times reporters do not ask them: "Why are you telling us this? How do you expect to benefit from the story we will write?"

This is journalism with a vengeance...

Josh Marshall comments:

Josh Marshall: Gonna Get Real Nasty: "We normally think about the 'vote fraud' bamboozle...

...and attempts to intimidate and disenfranchise African-American voters coming in contests between Democrats and Republicans. But here we have it within a GOP run-off. The McDaniel campaign and the standard gang of 'vote fraud'/voter suppression types are sending 'election observers' down to Mississippi to patrol heavily African-American precincts in Tuesday's run-off...

And the New York Times reports:

Conservatives Plan to Use Poll Watchers in Mississippi - NYTimes.com: Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, president of the Senate Conservatives Fund... backing Mr. Cochran’s Tea Party opponent, State Senator Chris McDaniel, said in an interview on Sunday that his group was joining with Freedom Works and the Tea Party Patriots in a “voter integrity project” in Mississippi. The groups will deploy observers in areas where Mr. Cochran is recruiting Democrats, Mr. Cuccinelli said. J. Christian Adams, a former Justice Department official and conservative commentator described the watchers as “election observers,” mostly Mississippi residents, who will be trained to “observe whether the law is being followed”...

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2014/06/c ... ne-24.html


yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

This was a very interesting situation...

Ordinarily, when voters cross over to vote in the primary of the other party, it's to vote for the weaker candidate...

(I did that myself in an election in Virginia a number of years ago)

Here, we saw something happen that I have never seen before...

Voters crossing over to vote in a primary, (which is perfectly legal since Mississippi has an "open" primary system; you don't register to vote by party) to help the stronger general election candidate win the nomination...

This shows a level of sophistication on the part of those voters that one rarely sees...

The fact of the matter is, that while McDaniel was the "weaker" opponent, given the overall political dynamics in the state he still would most likely have won in November over former Democratic Congressman Travis Childers, (albeit by a smaller margin)...

This is a state Mitt Romney carried 56-44. The 35-40 thousand Democrats who crossed over to vote for Cochran may very well vote for Childers in November, but he's still going to lose by a wide margin, (Childers was only talked into getting into the race because was persuaded that McDaniels was going to knock Cochran off; he would never have even run if he had known Cochran would prevail) and those folks knew that. But they found the prospect of McDaniels becoming the next senator so detestable they did it any way.

And they had good reason to find McDaniel detestable; another shrill, sneering radical randian wingnut promising to never compromise and flat out stating that if were elected he would do nothing for his state or constituents. (When the hell did people start thinking that would be a winning message? "Vote for me and I promise to work hard to make sure nothing gets done, and I'll do absolutely nothing for you" )

And of course since election night, McDaniel has been busy giving new definition to the term "sore loser" essentially throwing an ongoing temper tantrum because he got out maneuvered. He's making himself look like a mean spirited bratty fool with his spoil sport whining. (which I guess is appropriate for him)

The one possible wild card here is that there's some talk that he may run as a write-in candidate, (under Mississippi law he can't get on the ballot) which could conceivably cause Cochran problems. But if he does that, he'll be doing it without the big money Tea Party support groups, who have congratulated Cochran and made it quite clear that they want no part of any such effort.

The financing of McDaniels' campaign was almost entirely borne by outside groups like the Club For Growth; he raised very little money on his own. On top of this, while a lot of his supporters may be hot now, by November the vast majority of them would see a McDaniel write-in campaign for exactly what it would be; a spiteful vindictive attempt to punish Cochran with no realistic prospect of actually electing McDaniel. A vote for McDaniel would be a vote for Childers, and most of the electorate would understand that.

As an under financed write-in candidate McDaniel would be lucky to get 3-4 percent of the vote, which wouldn't be near enough throw the election to Childers.

And of course if he did make this doomed attempt, he'd also be tanking any prospect of having a political future. But he may be a nasty enough little moronic prick not to care.

[RayThom]

It appears that a "political fixer" may have paid the surreptitious shutterbug, Mark Mayfield, a visit a few nights ago. So was this a real suicide, or a murder to like a suicide?

Cochran just picked up the "sympathy vote" bloc. I think it's time for McDaniels to concede defeat and go back to chasing ambulances.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/ ... icide.html

[Lord Jim]

Yeah, that was a particularly ugly episode in what was frequently a very ugly campaign...

Initially, Cochran really looked like a goner. Unlike folks Like Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham, who learned the lesson of Dick Lugar and started planning for a Tea Party challenge two years ago, Cochran got caught flat footed, and was running a pretty lackluster, inept campaign...he was trailing in just about every poll...

Then the nursing home incident seemed to breath new life in to his campaign, and he seemed to start coming on a lot stronger...(I believe he picked up some new consulting folks) he had raised a lot of money, and finally started spending it intelligently...

But even with the improvement, after he came up short in the first round, it still looked like he was circling the drain...The energy was still on the McDaniel side and Cantor's defeat in Virginia was expected to energize his supporters further, in what was expected to be an election with an even smaller turnout than the first round...

But a funny thing happened on the way to the runoff...

The Cochran team hit on the brilliant strategy of actually expanding the turnout, by going after constituencies that were really afraid of what kind of Senator McDaniel would be. They made alliances with some political movers and shakers in the African American community; they ran ads highlighting what Cochran had brought for the state, and featuring comments McDaniel had made about how he wouldn't try to do anything for the state. They sent out targeted emails, and had targeted robo calls made.

And they were able to thread the needle and do all of this outreach without alienating their core GOP voters. The result was that the number of voters actually went up by 60,000 votes of which about 35-40 thousand are estimated to have been African American. (They've been able to come up with this number by looking at turnout in minority community precincts)

I can understand why McDaniel might feel miffed at this, but tough titty. It was all perfectly legal, and as I'm fond of pointing out, politics ain't bean bag. Cochran hasn't survived in Mississippi politics for four decades by being an idiot. McDaniel has behaved in an ungracious, counter productive, (for himself) and crass manner. Being pissed is one thing; letting it get to you to the point that you seem obsessed makes you look like a crank. It's past time for him to stop being a cry baby, man up, put on his big boy pants, admit he lost and then STFU.

ETA:

In addition to the talk of a write-in campaign, McDaniel has been making noises about launching some sort of "legal challenge." (Though he hasn't said anything about that publicly for several days) I'm not sure exactly what it is that he would "challenge"...

Perhaps this will come as news to Mr. McDaniel, but it's not illegal for black people to vote in a Republican primary, even in Mississippi...

The election was reasonably close, but it wasn't a cliff hanger, (7,000 vote margin) he's not going to get a recount, and anything else he wants to pursue will be on his dime.

[Grim Reaper]

And from the "you can't make this stuff up" file, we have Oklahoma Republican Timothy Ray Murray (human) who plans to contest a recent primary election on the basis that his Republican opponent, Frank Lucas, was executed three years ago and has since been replaced by a body double or a robot.

[BoSoxGal]

[Lord Jim]

“He was the Democratic nominee for Congress two years ago. This time, he chose to run as a Republican,”

Well at least this guy's a former Democrat...

And they actually nominated him....

ETA:

Here's a link to his website; he's quite a fellow...

Claims he was appointed some sort of "Lifetime Ambassador" by Gerald Ford...

http://www.timothyraymurray.com/Amb._Hon.html

[RayThom]

I think I posted this in here before but, once again, it seems to fit. #1a. is a direct quote by my Political Science professor from oh-so-many-years-ago. The others I added as political science evolved into political reality.

1a.) "Do WHATEVER it takes to get elected... as long as it's not illegal."
...................................................................................
1b.) If found to be ILLEGAL... deny, Deny, DENY!

1c.) If INDICTED, take immediate, and full, responsibility.

1d.) If CONVICTED... appeal, Appeal, APPEAL!

2.) When found absolutely GUILTY... wait one election cycle, or until released from prison, and run again. Blame everything on the underhanded and ruthless tactics of the opposing party and sidestep all questions regarding the conviction.

[rubato]

The interesting counter-example is George Wallace who made a full, complete and honest confession about his racist crimes, and was forgiven.


yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

This guy is determined to totally embarrass himself:

'We Kicked His Ass, And He's Mad About That' — The Nastiest Election In America Is Still Going Strong

More than one week after the polls closed in Mississippi's hotly contested Republican U.S. Senate primary, the campaign many have called this year's nastiest political fight shows no signs of letting up.

Chris McDaniel, the Tea Party-aligned candidate in Mississippi who refused to concede after losing in last week's GOP primary runoff against incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran, is digging in further. In an email to supporters Wednesday, McDaniel announced he is building an "Election Challenge Fund" to contest what he called a "corrupt" election.

A source on the Cochran campaign fired back in a conversation with Business Insider Wednesday, in which the source dismissed McDaniel as a "clinically diagnosable narcissist" and a scam artist.

"The guy is basically Joel Osteen," the source said of McDaniel in a phone interview Wednesday morning. "He's such a phony, and he's taking advantage of these people to stay in the spotlight. This is such a publicity stunt. He can't stand the fact that he lost."

McDaniel, who is a state senator, surprised many local and national political observers when he refused to concede in a blistering, election night speech last Tuesday. More were surprised McDaniel, who many view as having a bright political future in Mississippi and potentially beyond the state's borders, is mounting this challenge amid the risk of losing support of the national Republican Party.

Official results after last week's election showed McDaniel lost to Cochran by 1.6 percentage points. But McDaniel, who won a plurality of votes in the initial primary on June 3, has contended Cochran ultimately came out ahead after courting Democratic and African-American votes — suggesting everything from illegal vote-buying schemes to illegitimate voter targeting.

Mississippi election law, which mandates runoffs between the top two candidates if no candidate in a primary earns over 50% of the vote, bars people from voting in one party's primary and then crossing over to vote in another party's runoff. Though there are few procedures to enforce this, the law says only people who voted in the Republican primary or didn't vote at all were eligible to vote in the June 24 runoff.

Though he has produced no hard evidence thus far, McDaniel has argued Cochran took advantage of the lax enforcement and encouraged Democrats, whether they voted in their own primary or not, to enter the GOP fray and deliver his slim margin of victory.

The Cochran campaign source attributed these concerns to McDaniel being what they described as "the sorest loser I've ever seen."

"What he's mad about is the fact that he got outsmarted and outworked," the source added. "What happened is, he's been doing a victory lap since June 3, and he thought he was going to be coronated. We went back to work. We kicked his ass, and he's mad about it. He's the sorest loser I've ever seen."

The Cochran campaign may not be taking him seriously, but McDaniel clearly intends to press on with his election challenge. He outlined his plans in a fundraising email to supporters Wednesday.

"We have a long fight ahead of us. I know exactly how long and frustrating court battles can be, but I believe this will be worth it. There is too much at stake to back down from this fight," McDaniel said.

"The problem is that court cases are expensive, and we don’t currently have the resources to mount the legal challenge that this case deserves. Please, take a moment to contribute to the Election Challenge Fund to help me contest this corrupt election."

McDaniel's campaign has also detailed some specific allegations. Team McDaniel has claimed it has found more than 3,300 voting "irregularities" by examining voter rolls in 38 of Mississippi's 82 counties. Cochran's margin of victory was about 6,700.

"That’s just not true," the source in the Cochran campaign told Business Insider of the supposed number of "irregularities." "Chris McDaniel is a trial lawyer, and he’s acting like one. He’s throwing out false flags and things that just aren’t true, and trying to get them into the news stream."

Indeed, some of McDaniel's claims do appear questionable. For example, at one polling location, the Fondren Presbyterian Church, the McDaniel campaign claimed it found about 200 "irregularities." However, only 37 people voted there in the Democratic primary, meaning the maximum possible number of illegal votes would be 37.

The Cochran campaign has no problem conceding there could be a handful of mistakes and clerical errors on both sides. But the Cochran campaign source said the "idea there is some sort of widespread fraud is just not true."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdaniel ... z36Peet1bb

There's a good reason McDaniel has to send out a fund raising letter for this:

National supporters leaving McDaniel to his own fate

During his run for U.S. Senate, McDaniel benefited greatly from a national presence bolstered by conservative PACs and personalities who were stars in the tea party movement. He was dubbed the tea party's best chance at winning a U.S. Senate seat, and it was his campaign — not that of incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran — that attracted the eyes of the national media.

When he led the primary vote heading into the runoff, conventional wisdom was that he was the heavy favorite to win the nomination.

Chris McDaniel was about to become the next national sensation of the tea party movement.

There's a lot yet to be written about what happened to his campaign during those three weeks. While Cochran's campaign picked up the pace and changed strategies, McDaniel's campaign never seemed to reach the velocity it had heading into the primary election.

McDaniel was understandably shell-shocked Tuesday. His non-concession speech was red meat for his supporters, but it played poorly on the national scene where most were quickly agreeing that this election was over.

FreedomWorks and the Tea Party Express issued statements that night acknowledging the race was done. The next morning, Club for Growth bid farewell to the Mississippi Republican primary for Senate, followed shortly by the Senate Conservatives Fund. By the end of the day, the Tea Party Patriots — arguably the most emotionally invested of any outside group — had issued their statement and moved on.

Even Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday congratulated "Thad" on his victory.

As I wrote yesterday, McDaniel has a lot of political capital from this race, and he could be a force in 2015. However, the state senator seems to be underestimating exactly how costly drawing out the proposition of an election challenge is to his political future. Instead of bowing out gracefully Wednesday, he issued a statement only slightly less vitriol than his non-concession speech, again raising the specter of massive voter fraud and an election challenge.

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/dail ... /11402881/

There's some speculation that this all about raising money to retire his campaign debt....

[Econoline]

Perhaps this will come as news to Mr. McDaniel, but it's not illegal for black people to vote in a Republican primary, even in Mississippi...

Yes! That says it all.