Friday, October 24, 2014

Cochran's Appeal Falls Flat

Senator Thad Cochran attended a rally in Jackson last night to promote his support among black voters. According to eyewitnesses, the crowd was very light, disinterested, and there was a lot of food left over. I would like to proudly point out that Democratic candidate Travis Childers had more people than that attend an event for him in Rankin County several weeks ago.
"I certainly am hopeful I get support from the black community," Cochran said after speaking to a sparse crowd of about 40 at a block party in his honor in downtown Jackson. "… Soliciting votes from all segments of the community. That's what my practice has been since I first ran in '72 (for the House)."
Cochran may have solicited their votes, but when it comes to policy to help black citizens, his record is quite shoddy. Let's keep in mind what has occurred in Mississippi since Cochran has been in office since 1973. In 2005, Cochran refused to sign onto a resolution on behalf of the United States Senate which apologized for lynching to the victims as well as their descendants. Cochran's reasoning: "I wasn't in the Senate when lynching happened." Nearly a quarter of this state is in poverty, and most of this occurs in communities of color. Mississippi has the second highest incarceration rate in the country, and most of those in our state's prisons are black men. Mississippi has the second highest unemployment rate in the country, and most areas of high unemployment come from counties with high minority populations. Cochran still opposes efforts to revisit and modernize key provisions of the Voting Rights Act which were struck down by the United States Supreme Court in 2013.

What is outrageous about Cochran's appeal is that a PAC supporting him has received roughly $200,000 from a predatory loan company whose victims are often poor persons of color. In essence, Cochran and his supporters are saying "Thanks for your vote, but too bad about that cycle of debt this company keeps you buried under." Leave it to the Barbour family to show you how little they care about this tragedy that faces poor families in Mississippi.
"I think this is just people who need an issue and are wanting to stir up the tea party people," Barbour said. "…Obviously that campaign has nothing to talk about, if this is the best they can come up with. It's a laughable comment."
A laughable comment? The state of Mississippi has a poverty crisis, and the Barbour family is laughing all the way to the bank. That's the Cochran/Barbour Republican Party for you; use you then lose you. Folks, Mississippi deserves better than this.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow... So Cochran had a successful event with minorities and the Dems can't stand it huh? So you write a "hit piece" about how it was a terrible event? Yes... bitterness abounds.

Unknown said...

Anonymous would appear to be pretty stupid if he actually thinks a well publicized event with free food and a United States Senator drawing a crowd of forty people has any resemblance to a success.

Anonymous said...

Actually, John SHE is not stupid. She is a well informed voter that could educate you on many policy topics. She's also much more intelligent than the broad in your photo there. Clearly that girl doesn't have a large vocabulary.
But thank you for your WONDERFUL insight! Don't be fooled into thinking that Mr. Childers parading around with a loaf of bread is going to win this race.

Unknown said...

Well Anon,you must be too ashamed to show your identity.

Anonymous said...

Looking the C-L video Crudup must have passed out free samples of Sominex to attendees in advance of Cochran speaking. Yes, a very successful event for 30-40 people if in a library setting.

Anonymous said...

There must not have been any walking around money to pay folks to attend this event. And it's hilarious the Anonymous person attacking John Wasson for stating what is the actual news story, that a sitting US Senator only attracted 40 people to what was supposed to be a campaign rally. This Cochran saga just keeps getting more pathetic.

Anonymous said...

What has Bennie Thompson done to help the Black Community is his district? It remains one of the most poor districts in the entire United States. Moreover, their are constant complaints by the left that the GOP has not reached out to African Americans. When this attempt is made, the left still bashes the GOP. Relativism, much?

Anonymous said...

Mike Chaney posts an article that speaker Pro-tem
Greg Snowden also posts and Mike Chaney is considered to be a supporter of Obamacare??? Mike Chaney is a statewide elected official who is sworn to uphold the law whether he likes it or not. He has tried to find the best way for Mississippi in the difficult situation our state has been put into due to Obamacare. Thank goodness one of our statewides is willing to look beyond partisan politics and recognizes that the people of MS are dangling precariously in midst of it all.

Fred M said...

Actually, Cochran's policy record for poor Mississippians of all stripes is atrocious, but especially when it comes to racial minorities, of course. smh