In Mississippi, A Tea Party Challenger Takes On A GOP Institution
hide captionMississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel speaks to supporters in Jackson on Thursday. He is challenging Republican Sen. Thad Cochran in Cochran's bid for a seventh term.
Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel speaks to supporters in Jackson on Thursday. He is challenging Republican Sen. Thad Cochran in Cochran's bid for a seventh term.
The Tea Party Express bus tour made a recent swing through Mississippi, stopping on the lush grounds of the state Capitol in Jackson.
It's a strategic stop to rally support for a state senator who is giving longtime Republican U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran the re-election battle of his career. The Senate primary here is the latest episode in the national GOP power struggle between establishment forces and Tea Party upstarts.
"The conservative movement is starting its life again," challenger Chris McDaniel says to the small crowd gathered under sprawling oaks and magnolias. "And it's happening right here in Mississippi. Right? A revival."
hide captionCochran, shown here at a Pearl, Miss., Chamber of Commerce banquet, makes no apologies for bringing government largesse to the state.
Cochran, shown here at a Pearl, Miss., Chamber of Commerce banquet, makes no apologies for bringing government largesse to the state.
At 42, McDaniel styles himself as a fighter in the model of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, ready to take on the powers in Washington, D.C. But first, he has to unseat a powerful and popular incumbent.
"I like Thad Cochran," he says. "When he went there in 1973 [to the House of Representatives], Richard Nixon was your president. It was a different era then," says McDaniel. "Perhaps at the time it was fashionable to spend money recklessly. But those days have passed."
To show just what an institution McDaniel is up against, take a walk around the University of Southern Mississippi campus in Hattiesburg, where the student union building is called the Thad Cochran Center. You can find something named for Cochran in just about every county in Mississippi.
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In Mississippi, A Tea Party Challenger Takes On A GOP Institution