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Froma Harrop: Tea party fueled its own defeat in Mississippi
The Spokesman-Review ^ | June 28, 2014 | Froma Harrop

Posted on 06/28/2014 6:20:08 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

The tea partyers made a serious blunder in Mississippi, costing them a runoff win: They carelessly slipped their magic passion potion to the opposition.

The hard right’s strength comes from the nearly religious fervor that propels its small numbers to the polls at times when the larger numbers are snoozing. In Mississippi, the right woke up the larger numbers.

Hold that thought, will you?

What had been a race between an old Southern pork-master Republican and an insurgent small-government firebrand was turned into something bigger, much bigger.

One sensed Chris McDaniel might be in trouble when Sen. Thad Cochran asked Democrats, black voters especially, to support him. (Such crossover voting is allowed under the rules.) But when the right-wingers went into rage mode, vowing to patrol the balloting, you knew it was all over. They had handed the opposition a crusade to march in.

Just the hint of possible intimidation of black voters sent people to the polls – even though such fears did not seem to materialize. Ballots cast at some predominantly black precincts jumped 500 percent or more in the runoff over the June 3 primary.

The tea party delights in targeting less ideological Republicans, but it does so fair and square. Its people show up for primaries in midterm elections – again, when other voters are scarce.

The secret to right-wing turnout is social. The movement offers members community and a sense of belonging. Fox News offers nonstop entertainment, a daily parade of photogenic celebrities from the right. The soft-spoken Cochran was not made for the dramatics of political TV.

Politics as national spectacle do not linger on local concerns. Note how McDaniel offered his voters not road projects funded by Washington but reflected glory.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said in a campaign stop, “next time Ted Cruz stands on that floor, next time Mike Lee stands on that floor, next time Rand Paul stands on that floor to fight for you, a son of Mississippi will stand next to them.”

Those on the left who try to copy this model on MSNBC and elsewhere fail. These shows tend to be wonky, and yes, lefty big thinkers can take on an air of superiority and exclusion.

Moderates are less likely to vote than partisans of either the right or the left, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. And when it comes to primary elections, far more reliably conservative adults say they always vote than do consistent liberals.

Meanwhile, moderate voters tend to be younger and therefore more distracted by family and work than many on the right. Similar low participation is seen among Hispanics (itself a generally younger group) and single women.

So let’s go back to the thought we were holding. We can discuss the reasons moderates and many liberals don’t bother voting in lower-profile races. But those reasons cannot be excuses.

It’s exasperating to read headlines such as “Hopes Frustrated, Many Latinos Reject the Ballot Box Altogether.” In this New York Times story, an immigrant advocate trying to register 18-year-olds to vote could not get a single positive response.

The activist told the reporter, “They were like, ‘Why? Why would I bother to vote?’ ” The apparent reason was disappointment with both parties over immigration reform.

Thing is, the other side never gives up. The tea partyers lose, and then they’re back. They circle the dates of every upcoming primary on their calendars.

Moderates, by temperament, are generally unsuited to emotion-packed ideological campaigns. Thus, those seeking their votes must make voting itself their great cause.

They were lucky this time in Mississippi. The tea party won’t always be so helpful.


TOPICS: Mississippi; Campaign News; Parties; U.S. Senate
KEYWORDS: cochran; mcdaniel; mississippi; teaparty
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Comments?
1 posted on 06/28/2014 6:20:09 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

It’s like this. Their victories are because we failed. Their defeats are just bad luck.


2 posted on 06/28/2014 6:26:24 PM PDT by muir_redwoods (When I first read it, " Atlas Shrugged" was fiction)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I reject the author’s premise.


3 posted on 06/28/2014 6:26:35 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I am completely and totally pissed. I bet a lot of other conservatives are, too! This will have non-neutral consequences.


4 posted on 06/28/2014 6:27:25 PM PDT by wintertime
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Comments? Are you trying to get me banned? ;- )


5 posted on 06/28/2014 6:28:11 PM PDT by DanielRedfoot (Creepy Ass Cracker)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

It’s like this. They cheated. The voter fraud is now too large to ignore


6 posted on 06/28/2014 6:28:27 PM PDT by Viennacon (Rebuke the Repuke!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

That’s one thing you don’t want to do ... say something that will give adequate “ammunition” that will galvanize the opposition against you. You have to be smart and it’s a fine line there.


7 posted on 06/28/2014 6:28:38 PM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

It wasn’t the Tea Party that woke up the voter fraud, it was Cochran.


8 posted on 06/28/2014 6:30:40 PM PDT by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Puro pedo.


9 posted on 06/28/2014 6:34:34 PM PDT by ViLaLuz (2 Chronicles 7:14)
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To: ViLaLuz
Some folks have to stay up nights in drunken stupors to reach the level of fantasy exemplified by this screed. No amount of stealth was going to allay the fears of the power mongers in DC in their efforts to stir up a hornet's nest of racist vitriol.
10 posted on 06/28/2014 6:40:29 PM PDT by Louis Foxwell (This The author is corrects a wake up call. Join the Sultan Knish ping list.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
when Sen. Thad Cochran asked Democrats, black voters especially, to support him.

He didn't ask for the black vote. He bought - or at least rented - them from their owners on the Democrat plantation.

11 posted on 06/28/2014 6:52:59 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Froma Haridan. . .


12 posted on 06/28/2014 6:54:11 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Pay no attention to the Cochran campaign making vile Robo calls behind the curtain.
It was the TEA party who got the blacks all riled up. /s
13 posted on 06/28/2014 6:56:03 PM PDT by Waryone
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I can’t wait to see Democrat Campaign commercials from MS this Oct/Nov.

“Even Thad Cochrane himself thinks his base is racist”


14 posted on 06/28/2014 7:05:03 PM PDT by Tzimisce
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

If I was a member of the American Left, I’d be writing condescending pieces like this too.

If conservative ideas really are so popular, why isn’t anyone stopping them?

Hell - why isn’t anyone even talking about stopping them?

I’d be laughing if I was a liberal too.


15 posted on 06/28/2014 7:09:40 PM PDT by Tzimisce
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To: 2ndDivisionVet; Lil Flower; Din Maker; Malichi; WXRGina; duffee; onyx; DrewsMum; Tupelo; mstar; ...

MS Ping. I am taking my pinger to the black smith tomorrow to get it sharpened


16 posted on 06/28/2014 7:20:29 PM PDT by WKB
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To: Tzimisce

The liberals have been winning for decades. Yet they are more pissed off now than ever. Liberalism does not engender happy people. Their world view does not comport with reality and that causes angst.


17 posted on 06/28/2014 7:26:10 PM PDT by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

What off-ramp has Harrop taken this time? Delusion must be bliss. It’s been going around a lot lately.


18 posted on 06/28/2014 7:38:25 PM PDT by RitaOK ( VIVA CHRISTO REY / Public education is the farm team for more Marxists coming.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I don’t want to hear talk from politicians. McDaniel needs to file voter fraud charges against the election.


19 posted on 06/28/2014 7:58:45 PM PDT by kaehurowing (FIGHT BULLYING, UNINSTALL FIREFOX)
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To: WKB

Add me please.


20 posted on 06/28/2014 8:05:28 PM PDT by paintriot (On the Conservative Coast.)
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