I don’t think Barbour did that. He’s GOPe, but he’s not stupid and would know the serious consequences of driving Conservatives to stay home or vote the Dem in November.
I think he (and Rove) was too smart by half. They wanted just enough Dem votes to provide a margin if the election was close, but not enough to tick off Conservatives.
The margin wasn’t close. Cochrane won by 6,000 in a situation where 35,000 Dems crossed over to vote for him. That means he really lost the GOP vote by 30k.
This isn’t a simple shooting yourself in the foot. This is a nightmare scenario of nuking yourself. We aren’t just talking consequences for this cycle by for many cycles to come. The GOPe played with fire and the Dems were able to exploit it in a way where there’s no way to regain any semblance of trust for the forseeable future.
McDaniel is in the catbird’s seat on this one, I believe. He can demand a recount, fight the irregularities and win. He needs to shame the GOP into demanding that Cochran step down. Barring that McDaniel needs to be loyal to the ideals we stand for and run Third Party/write in/Independent.
Not to be too blunt about it, but what you ‘think’ is beside the point. All that matters is what actually happened:
“The saga began when state Democratic Party chairman Rickey Cole said Murray is part of a group of Democratic operatives being paid to get out the vote for Cochran by targeting Democratic voters and using “walking around money” to incentivize turnout.”
snip
“Cole, the state’s Democratic Party chairman, wrote in a Facebook message earlier this week that Pete Perry, the chairman of the Hinds County Republican Party, “is paying James ‘Scooby Doo’ Warren thousands of dollars to funnel to black preachers and others to get-out-the-vote for Cochran.”
“He is working with Lane (LC) Murray and probably also Greg Brand,” Cole added in his message.
“Large sums of cash are being passed around. These guys are old school ‘walking around money’ vote buyers,” Cole wrote.”
snip
“On Friday morning, black Mississippi conservative radio host Kim Wade of WYAB posted on Facebook that many black pastors throughout the state are “on the take.”
“Ok, here the going rate being paid by the GOP for cross over votes Tues,” Wade wrote. “The bag man is dispensing $5000 a pop. Their contact will pay the pastor $2000 cash if instruction to go out and vote for Thad comes from the pulpit. $1000 cash to the pastor if the pastor allows a 3rd party to make the appeal. Individuals are to be offered $25.00 to vote. Most of that money is usually kept by the pastor and his money contact and they just make the appeal to their members.”
They did nuke themselves.
Spectacularly.
The fallout hasn’t really even reached the ground yet.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/dailyledes/2014/06/17/democrat-black-gotv-cochran/10675595/
The Mississippi Conservatives PAC is headed up by Henry Barbour. Nephew of Haley.
The same PAC, headed by Henry Barbour, put out this robocall. I actually got this call last Friday.