Celebs dip into Thad Cochran vs. Chris McDaniel Republican runoff battle for Senate
JACKSON, Mississippi — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre pitches his support for Sen. Thad Cochran in a new TV ad paid for by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
It’s the latest in a string of celebrity endorsements in a hard-fought and often bizarre race in which a tea-party backed candidate, state Sen. Chris McDaniel, is trying to unseat the former Senate Appropriations chairman in a Republican primary runoff next Tuesday.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending $500,000 for TV ads to support Cochran, including the Favre spot that started airing Thursday.
“I’ve learned through football that strong leadership can be the difference between winning and losing,” scruffy-bearded Favre says in the ad. “And when it comes to our state’s future, trust me: Mississippi can win and win big with Thad Cochran as our strong voice in Washington.”
Former GOP presidential candidates Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul have been to Mississippi to campaign for McDaniel, as have the parents from the reality show “19 Kids and Counting,” Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, and their oldest son, Josh Duggar, director of the lobbying arm of the conservative Family Research Council.
Chuck Woolery, who hosted TV game shows such as “Love Connection” and “The Dating Game” and is now a prolific conservative on social media, is scheduled to campaign for McDaniel as part of a Tea Party Express bus tour that starts Friday in McDaniel’s home county.
Republican Gov. Phil Bryant and former Sen. Trent Lott have done TV ads for Cochran, and the incumbent’s campaign says Sen. John McCain will stump for Cochran on the Gulf Coast on Sunday.
The celebrity endorsements add another twist to a campaign characterized by bizarre happenings that have nothing to do with governing. In mid-May, four McDaniel supporters were arrested and charged in what police describe as a plot to illegally photograph Cochran’s wife in the nursing home where she has lived for years with dementia; a photo was briefly posted online in late April in an anti-Cochran video. That case awaits grand jury consideration.
After the June 3 primary, three McDaniel campaign representatives became trapped in a locked county courthouse in the middle of the night, hours after officials had stopped their initial vote count. No criminal charges were filed.
Gulflive
6/19/14
Magnolia Tribune
