Precious Memories, Part II.
Chris McDaniel concedes only that the Beltway establishment purchased the Republican nomination for Thad Cochran with epic spending for media and get-out-the-crossover-vote efforts. Team McDaniel uses stronger verbs like "stole" in fundraising emails. For insurgent McDaniel, and even more so, for his true-believer supporters, the loss is great.
"Denial" is the traditional first of five stages in dealing with loss.
Midsummer Mississippi: Working Through the Five Stages of Loss
Team McDaniel claims to have evidence of illegal and fraudulent voting. The campaign offers 15 rewards of $1,000 each to anyone providing convicting evidence. Litigating Cochran's ballot disqualification and implementing a "write-in" remedy is an exceptionally tall order. The legal wrangling will, however, buy McDaniel's supporters and his fundraisers time to process the election loss.
As "anger" is a second stage of dealing with loss, some of McDaniel's strongest backers have pledged a revenge-crossover in the general election to defeat Cochran. After all legal maneuvers are exhausted and reality sets-in, a majority of McDaniel supporters will be primed to vote for ABC (Anybody-but-Cochran). The ballot alternative is independent-minded, conservative Travis Childers.
In early autumn's "bargaining" stage, Team McDaniel will likely start negotiations for a new round of big money to immediately mobilize a 2015 gubernatorial campaign and then launch a 2018 challenge against Sen. Roger Wicker.
Meanwhile, undeniable concerns about Thad Cochran's mental clarity will lead to increased demands for Cochran to finally debate. The stage four "depressing" truth will emerge about the six-term incumbent's incapacity.
On November 4, 2014, Democrat Travis Childers will be elected Mississippi's next U.S. Senator. And, all America will know that the electoral process sometimes works, in the final stage, "acceptance."
Mississippi Smoldering: "Indecent Things with Animals," and Debating Mental Clarity/Dementia
The extended primary season set the stage for the upcoming general election: Shameful nursing home videos and veiled accusations of infidelity, a campaign staffer's tragic suicide, and a Senator's bragging of youthful animal buggery.
Thad Cochran's fond Christmas memories of bestiality remain burned in the public's psyche. As relayed in Precious Memories Part I, Cochran intentionally reoffended by slandering his constituents -- asserting that some shared knowledge of youthful animal indecencies.
Sen. Cochran claims to have no memory of having made the bestiality (video-recorded) comments. Who is to judge whether Sen. Cochran's unconditional denial is a repeat of prior episodes of mental confusion, or is an intentional prevarication?
Mississippi voters are charged with being be both judge and jury: Is he mentally confused or a flat-out liar. It is a binary choice.
It is relevant to that Cochran refuses to participate in any "hokey, high-school-looking debate." When pressed, Cochran defensively states that "there is nothing to debate" and that his opponents are "trying to make me look bad."
Sen. Cochran appears to believe that Mississippians would not be able to appreciate any level of Lincoln-Douglas senatorial debates. All they need to know is that Thad will bring home the bacon with help from his Republican establishment friends.
In pushing pork, Cochran relies exclusively on massive ad buys. Journalists continue to ask for a genuine debate of the issues; example an editorial from exceptionally-authentic Deep South Daily.
Thad Cochran will be 83
Ronald Reagan, often referenced as the GOP model, loved a good debate; he insisted on it when he was paying for the microphone. Thad Cochran is almost the same age as was Ronald Reagan - when President Reagan ended his time of public service at 77.
It is not unkind to note that Cochran, who is asking for an extraordinary seventh term, will be 83 before the end of six more years.
As Texas Governor Rick Perry discovered in the last Republican presidential debates, mental clarity is an important component of the more general competence concern. The concern is not unique to elected officials; it is increasingly raised with our life-tenured federal judges. It is a relevant issue for all of us blasting past the double-nickel.
Without debate, Cochran's reputation continues to be clouded by reasonable doubt that he is a Stu Stevens promotional success (unlike Romney), and that Cochran will be a vote-puppet of generous GOP establishment bosses.
Tea Partiers Declare Independence by "Crossing Over" to Elect Democrat Travis Childers
Chris McDaniel also became dependent on the financial kindness of Beltway strangers - including those placing debate-demand ads. These groups now pressure McDaniel to endorse Cochran.
Rank-and-file McDaniel supporters are pledging a revenge-crossover to the Democrat nominee. Disgusted with establishment bosses, many Mississippi Republicans will execute an en masse vote for Childers to defeat Cochran in the general election. (This is just the sort of disruptive innovation celebrated by my new civic engagement endeavor, DisruptiveJustice.org.)
Travis Childers Deserves National Financing; Alabama Deserves a Senate Choice
Former blue-dog House member Travis Childers can win the Senate seat. Childers is both independent-minded and conservative.
But Travis Childers needs a substantial increase of national financial help. The GOP establishment bosses will double-down on their Thad Cochran bet.
Mitch McConnell raised $825,000 for Cochran in one blowout Washington, D.C. night - which proved just enough "walking-around-money." Harry Reid and the DSCC should do nothing less for Democratic nominee Travis Childers.
Reid should celebrate that the two-party system is alive and well in Mississippi. Not so in neighboring Alabama. Oxford now has a big one-up on Tuscaloosa.
In a special 'Bama tribute to George Orwell's concept of "doublespeak," Alabama citizens will also be allowed to vote for their next U.S. Senator - but only if that ballot is cast for Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III.
For the first time in history, Alabama Democrats failed to field a candidate for the U. S. Senate. Why?
Alabama Republican State Officers Hobble the Alabama Democratic Party
Alabama Republicans have taken control of all statewide offices and a supermajority in the state legislature, using that power to hobble the Alabama Democratic Party.
In January, 2014, the Republican Secretary of State arbitrarily moved-up the major party filing deadline from April 2014 to February 7, 2014 - surprising the struggling Alabama Democrats.
The GOP legislature also gerrymandered legislative districts to disenfranchise minority voters - resulting in pending Supreme Court cases. And Republicans are zealously enforcing a new discriminatory voter ID requirement.
As I referenced in Part I, and will detail in future posts, on June 3, 2014, I timely filed a Ballot Petition and legal challenge with the Secretary of State to run as an Independent against Sen. Jeff Sessions. If Alabama GOP state officials continue to stonewall my ballot access, I will have no alternative but to sue to give Alabama voters their Seventeenth Amendment right of senatorial choice.
As with the Travis Childers movement in Mississippi, all Alabamians must declare independence from the partisan establishment bosses who would steal their vote.
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Victor Williams is an attorney in Washington D.C. and clinical assistant professor at Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. Victor Williams founded the American Institute for Disruptive Innovation in Law and Politics -- DisruptiveJustice.org.