We interrupt our coverage to bring you this special report.
The Chris McDaniel natives remain restless . . . and largely anonymous.
Exhibit A is the “Republicans of Jones County”. Bless their heart, their little plan didn’t work out like they wanted. Y’allPolitics exposed their letter over Labor Day where they attempted to strong arm four statewide elected officials and Joe Nosef with a letter requesting they show up to explain themselves about the June 24 runoff. They had a list of questions solely focused on “party raiding” and “inflammatory tactics” and reforming the Republican Primary system.
Remember this?
“(We) acknowledge and realize the potential for disturbance, open discord, and vocal outburst in this setting. We will provide additional security.”
It’s now pretty obvious that they didn’t want their original letter out there. Notice that there appeared to be no coordination with the actual Republican Party apparatus in Jones County. After posting essentially a rebuttal presser to the Y’allPolitics piece about their original letter, WDAM last night ran a story about the back and forth. Again, bless their heart, they (whoever they are) didn’t want to speak on camera for fear of confirmation about how small a group of people they really represent. For the record, Y’allPolitics was never contacted for comment.
Now the anonyblog MS Conservatives Daily (that appeared shortly after McDaniel came on the scene and will depart shortly after the funding spigot shuts off) started taking swipes at Hayes Dent as a proxy for the establishment. Their back and forth is entertaining, but it is part and parcel of a small group of people who are deathly ashamed of who they are and what they believe trying to agitate and intimidate. And it is the relative silence of people who generally sympathize with their ideas yet don’t publicly decry their tactics that enable them to keep going. There are a lot of respectable, right-thinking people who voted for McDaniel that fit in that category. I know several die-hard McDaniel supporters that were vocal and public about their support and worked hard for him that privately wince at how all of this reflects on them and the circus atmosphere that has been allowed to fester. There are good, smart people who have unwittingly been co-opted by a group of wild-eyed extremists who are using them as leverage through these tactics.
Frank Corder did a piece a while back on “Confrontational Conservatism”. He was right on. It is that in-your-face attempt to generally co-opt the Republican Party. In fact, the South MS Tea Party is promoting “Leadership classes” put on by the Foundation for Applied Conservative Leadership. These classes list McDaniel comms guy Noel Fritsch as the contact person in MS. This group is so shady about what they’re doing that they kicked a Roll Call reporter out of their class. Again, sunshine and exposure are not their friends.
Here’s the deal folks. These people are small in number and but for social media they’d remain relatively quiet and on the fringe. They’ve absolutely figured out that they don’t have the numbers to be elected on their own merits. The electoral math just does not work on their slate of ideas on a statewide or national level. They NEED the Republican Party as a vehicle to co-opt to get elected and do what they want. Instead of doing the hard work of party building, negotiating and coalition building, they just want to take it because they think they’re right. Anonyblogs, folks like Charles Johnson saying making wild, unsubstantiated claims, and a general willingness to burn the house down are all key ingredients in the recipe. But it’s absolutely professionally planned and professionally funded by people who don’t care one whit about Mississippians.
Job one for any political party is build coalitions that can get elected. And it’s hard. And it’s messy. The TEA Party locally and nationally have provided energy to the conservative effort, and on balance that’s a good thing. But no one ever gets everything they want. Recognition of that is called being an adult.
These extremists are small in number and need to be exposed for who and what they are. If they’re anything like the Republicans of Jones County, they’ll remain faceless and scurry like roaches when exposed. MS GOP leaders need to recogize what they’re dealing with and be willing to call it out.
And make no mistake. This all lies on one man . . . Chris McDaniel. He and his inner circle and support group is encouraging and funding this every step of the way and every nickel that gets funneled into the effort keeps this madness alive.
That’s the way it was – Day 78 of the McDaniel Hostage Crisis.
Good day Mississippi – and good luck.
Magnolia Tribune
