If you want to see Chris McDaniel in the US Senate there’s only one vote you can cast in November that helps achieve that goal… a vote for Thad Cochran.
Here’s why…
If the Mississippi Supreme Court sides with McDaniel, or if it doesn’t and he files a federal challenge of some nature, the proceedings will not conclude before the November 4 general election. The system just doesn’t work that swiftly.
Should McDaniel be successful in obtaining a new primary election it will be after the November general election has been certified and conceivably perhaps after the winner is sworn into office.
If by some happenstance the Democrat challenger Travis Childers pulls off the upset over Cochran, the Republican nominee, the likelihood of any court ordering a new GOP primary and subsequently a new general election is slim to none. It could be argued that the general will of the people had shifted ideologically away from the GOP nominee so why then order a new primary for a party that lost.
In this instance, Childers and the Democrats would cry foul and file their own legal challenge (as they should), setting up a scenario only political anarchists would find amusing.
What you would see is McDaniel supporters who crossed over to vote for the Democrat Childers to spite Cochran and other Republicans trying then to topple the winner they helped elect in favor of McDaniel. Talk about flip flopping for political expediency.
If Cochran wins and McDaniel is somehow successful in his never ending pursuit, a court may look more favorable on ordering a new primary and new general election given the overarching implications as it pertains to the general will of the voters being in flux.
Additionally, apart from any legal challenges by McDaniel, if Childers wins and performs well for the state the likelihood of him being reelected is significant. Excluding former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, Mississippi doesn’t have many examples in recent memory of not reelecting statewide officials once they are in office. Everyone knows Cochran will retire in six years; Childers will seek reelection and his war chest will be far deeper come 2020.
So while it is still tough to fathom McDaniel being successful at the Mississippi Supreme Court or in a federal challenge, if you are one of the last remaining die hards who believe he will win and should be in the US Senate, you should cast your vote for Cochran in November to give your boy a better chance down the line.
