Editor, Commonwealth:
I am a lifelong, active and staunch Republican voter. I am vigorously supporting Chris McDaniel for the U.S. Senate.
I keep hearing about the Republican establishment supporting Sen. Thad Cochran. I have resided in Mississippi for 40 years and have been an active and unwavering Republican all that time. This was not easy to do when we had virtually no Republicans in elective office in Mississippi.
As an early supporter of Ronald Reagan, I served eight years (1980 to 1988) as Bolivar County Republican chairman and 20 years (1984 to 2004) on the state Republican Executive Committee. I believe that I have considerable insight into what type of Mississippian we need in the U.S. Senate. Chris McDaniel is that person.
I believe that Sen. Cochran is very disengaged from most Mississippians and has increasingly catered to wealthy donors, lobbyists and large organizations. It recently was revealed that based on his voting record, he is the second-most liberal Republican in the U.S. Senate, right behind Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. It is time to make a change and elect an energetic and highly engaged U.S. Senate candidate who is willing to debate issues.
I have been directly involved in agriculture in Mississippi, the United States and globally for 40 years. I believe Chris McDaniel will work very well with farmers and the general agricultural community.
Recently, according to news reports, Sen. Cochran’s PAC, Conservatives for Cochran, accepted a $250,000 contribution from the former New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, a very rich ultra-liberal who is the most vocal gun-control advocate in the United States. He also backs comprehensive immigration, which, in practical terms, translates into open borders. He also believes he knows better than we do on how to live our lives and pushed through a New York City law regulating the size of cups of soft drinks one can buy. No one contributes $250,000 to a campaign without expecting a payback in Senate votes.
It has been reported that the Cochran campaign has reached out, in desperation, to Democrats who did not vote in the first primary, asking them to cross over in the second Republican primary to vote for Sen. Cochran. This is insulting to loyal Republicans who have worked for conservative causes over the years. It should give everyone in Mississippi a true vision of the lack of ideology in Sen. Cochran’s office.
Harry B. Collins
Scott
