Chris McDaniel Pretty Sure Zombie Ronald Reagan Doesn't Think Thad Cochran Won
We stayed up late last night just to make sure we could maximize our intake of sweet Tea Party tears over Chris McDaniel losing the GOP primary to incumbent Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran. McDaniel had proved to be a reliable source of ridiculous, but even with that we will not be sorry to see him go, especially because this entire thing made us feel like we had to defend Thad Cochran, which made us feel like we needed to take a Silkwood shower. We know that Cochran's victory means that he cruises to victory in November, but right now we're just going to laugh ourselves silly listening to all the half-angry/half-sad trombone noises coming from the Tea Party friends of McDaniel.
At the moment, everyone is pretty certain that Cochran only won because he got Democrats -- particularly black Democrats -- to cross over and vote in the primary. No one has actually had time to dig into the data and demographics to see if that is actually so, but sure, let's go with that. Reaching out to not-Republicans (especially the black ones!) to have a Republican win is causing an almost endless stream of consternation. We love it.
Where do we even begin? We're pretty sad that Sarah Palin's appearance on Hannity happened when the race was still too close to call. (By "too close to call," we actually mean "too close to call" rather than a Karl Rovian pretend version of too close to call.) Even predating her darling McDaniel's demise, Sarah was already revving up to explain how she just can't get it up for Republicans anymore if Thad Cochran wins. Form your third party and leave already, woman.
There's also the defiant nonsense that is Joe Walsh's Twitter feed, where he tries really hard to explain how this loss is really a win or something.
Ooh! There's some maximum sadness from Erick Erickson over at RedState, as he whines yet again about how his party has left him behind because they refuse to be as virulently racist and homophobic and just all-around dickish as Erick Erickson is.
Having been an elected Republican and someone who routinely takes the position of supporting conservatives in primaries and Republicans in general elections, the Mississippi race does crystalize for me the desires of many to start a third party. In essence, tea party activists are the RINOs. A Republican Party campaigning on making the Senate “conservative,” used liberal Democrats to preserve an incumbent Republican and defeat a conservative. The actual conservatives are the outsiders with the GOP establishment doing all it could to preserve its power at the expense of its principles.
Good Christ our brain started buzzing as we tried to read that, and it was only the first paragraph. Good job reminding people that once some people were dumb enough to elect you though, Erick.
By far and away the most superior whining, however, is coming from McDaniel himself, who is refusing to concede because something something something black people Democrats something.
McDaniel accused his fellow Republicans of spending millions "to defeat one of their own," and suggested that he would attempt to challenge the runoff results.
"Before this race ends we have to be absolutely certain that the Republican primary was won by Republican voters," he said.
Well, actually, no. Hate to break it to you, Chris old chap, but that is not actually a thing you have to make certain of since Mississippi does not have a closed primary system, but keep on keepin' on. What's that you say, Chris McDaniel? Zombie Gipper is mad too?
He continued: "There is something a bit unusual about a Republican primary that's decided by liberal Democrats. So much for bold colors. So much for principle. I guess they can take some consolation that they did something tonight by once again compromising, by once again reaching against the aisle, by once again abandoning the conservative movement."
"This is not the party of Reagan," he said. "Today the conservative movement took a backseat to liberal Democrats in the state of Mississippi."
Given that the Tea Party would actually run Ronald Reagan and his comparatively mild (by today's standards) policies out of town on a rail, we don't think Saint Ronnie is looking down from heaven and crying over McDaniel's loss.
Now, keep in mind, this is only the derp and sadness generated Tuesday night. Think how much more stupid is to come. #blessed.
Well, to be fair, Reagan forgot all that, too. If he even knew it in the first place.
And he got votes from the 'Reagan Democrats'.