We might learn that Chris McDaniel is
correct. No one disputes the voters who put Sen. Thad Cochran over
the top in the Mississippi runoff (after he lost the primary) were
Democrats. McDaniel contends they are indeed ineligible voters,
having already voted in the Democratic primary.
Other chicanery is being looked into as
well. If that's true, then ultimately the election should be reversed
and some people should even be prosecuted.
But if it's not true, then
conservatives should stop howling about the outcome.
We know for a fact that Cochran and his
establishment Republicans allies used what amounted to race baiting
to draw minority voters and scare tactics to draw seniors. As a
practical moral matter, we ought to be outraged by this. We ought to
be even more outraged that a Republican senator wins by promising to
spend more money. I mean really, we can't even get a solid
conservative in Mississippi of all places.
As political scientist Aaron Wildavskysaid, “A negative campaign is one in which the wrong candidate
loses.”
Whining about the campaign tactics of
the winner is unbecoming of conservatives. It's what the left does
when they lose. It's actually what the left does even when they win.
Conservatives have to live to fight
another day. That's not to be confused with always settling for the
lesser of two evils. Nor is this a “let's rally around the nominee”
pep talk. I'm not even sure Cochran deserves his party's support in
November if he's so certain he can win without them. Mississippi
conservatives might understandably sit this one out in November.
But this is politics. Cochran is an old
bull who is going to cling to power and perks for as long as
possible. He embodies all that is wrong with Washington. And he is
unfortunately a Republican. It would be nice if he went out in a
gentlemanly manner realizing his time is up. But that's not what
these guys do on either side of the aisle and no one should be
expecting that politics is suddenly going to turn into a high minded
debate about ideas when these incumbents have so much to lose.
Under Mississippi law, primaries are
open to voters in both parties. As long as the voters were eligible,
Cochran won it fair and square by the laws of the state. He didn't
“cheat” by getting Democrats to vote for him. He worked the rules
in his favor.
As for McDaniel, no one should blame
him if he has sincere concerns about voter irregularities. Given the
closeness of the election and unusual circumstances, any candidate
would have these same concerns. But he must be careful to avoid
looking like a “sore loser.”
He nearly pulled off a miracle and
could have a great future. If after a thorough review (assuming there
is one), Cochran's win is proven legitimate, he should suck it up and
endorse the GOP nominee, paving the path for a future McDaniel
campaign.
