McDaniel came out of the gate and locked up serious national endorsements very quickly. Bright totally failed in this regard despite holding a very similar position to McDaniel (a prominent state legislator conservative), and I can only put that down to poor presentation and retail politics on his part.
National groups clearly hoped someone better would come along. GOA for example waited until a day before the election to settle on Bright.
This was exacerbated by Bright’s financial problems which involved an underwater trucking business that was facing foreclosure as well as a lawsuit for late payments.
Well, there’s a difference between lack of success and bungle. Sometimes the cards are just stacked. For one thing, Cochran is no where near as good a campaigner as Graham. It’s not even close. His team stinks too.
And Bright did get some good early endorsements…..all gun groups but NRA, the National Republican Liberty Caucus (Cruz and Lee related group), most local TP groups in SC. But no big names would come in and endorse. Talk radio did not get involved. (rumors that LG and Laura had a thing once…)
Consider this: Bright was outspent by everyone but Dunn (who got 1%). He still doubled up his nearest competitor. With a push from talk radio or some outside money, he could have countered Grahams clever Obama Care ads, and hammered amnesty. That would have kept Graham under 50. But he had zero help from national talkers or PACs.
I believe that the fact that there were so many challengers running scared the national organizations away from picking one to back. I presume they held their gunpowder to see if any got to a run-off. Not Bright's fault at all imho.
This was exacerbated by Bright’s financial problems which involved an underwater trucking business ...
Bright addressed these issues and didn't shy away from it. He was elected to the State Senate with these financial problems as a part of his history.
Another thing….Graham did a lot of behind the scenes stuff to prevent endorsements. This is a powerful powerful insider, and he “has ways” to make “offers people can’t refuse” - if you know what I mean.
There are 2-3-4 people you thought might challenge Graham, and who would endorse Bright - who didn’t. There’s a story behind all of them.
Cochran carries no such sway in Miss, and/or did not use it. Graham did immediately.