Questions for the MSGOP; talk of Hyde-Smith, Trump and McDaniel

Gov. Phil Bryant’s pick of Cindy Hyde-Smith as interim U.S. senator and news that anonymous White House wonks told Politico that President Trump might not support her caused some in the state GOP establishment to call for the immediate formation of a circular firing squad.

Heck, it caused the Madison County Journal, in an editorial, to go ahead and call the race, eight months out. According to an article in the Clarion Ledger, the editorial, based on anonymous leaks to Capitol Hill media about an alleged NRSC poll that hasn’t been made public, deemed Hyde-Smith’s campaign “a flop” before it started.

• Would establishment Republicans “rather let a Democrat have the seat than let a conservative win?”
• Does anyone really believe Trump will do what a low-level political adviser tells him?
• If someone switches from the state Democratic to Republican party, can they never be a real Republican, even if they were always conservative and often voted with Republicans in the Legislature? 
• Just how welcome are women in the modern MSGOP?
• Is Mississippi Republican politics still a team sport? 

Geoff Pender, Clarion Ledger 

3/23/2018