TPM Reader RF steps back to look at the big picture on the Mississippi runoff and doesn’t like what he sees …
I read the pieces on the Cochran/McDaniel runoff in Mississippi. The punches and counter-punches we see thrown in this race are laying bare what the GOP really thinks about the intersection of voting and race. As soon as Cochran announced he was hiring someone to focus on getting African American Dems to vote in the run-off, the McDaniel Campaign and it’s allies have been beating the voter fraud drum.
The behavior by both candidates bugs the crap out of me. First off, Cochran has suddenly found a reason to address 38% of the Mississippi population that he didn’t realize existed before. Like most of the GOP, Cochran only finds a need to find common ground with minorities when he needs them to vote for him.Secondly, McDaniel has enlisted some of the most vicious groups as poll watchers. True the Vote and Chris Adams have proven that their definition of voter fraud starts and ends with African Americans. Thirdly, how did McDaniel’s people end up in a locked courthouse in the middle of the night, with the ballots from the primary, or get caught breaking into a nursing home?
The problem I have is the underlying issue of race, and how no one is addressing that fundamental misconception that lies at the heart of the GOP/Tea Party freak out. At 49, I’ve had to live with Driving while Black, Shopping while Black and yes, Voting while Black. That the GOP openly ties race and voting fraud is disgusting. How did McDaniel’s people get into a locked courthouse?
