Do Dems Have A Shot In Mississippi If The Tea Party Candidate Wins?
Democrats are watching with baited breath on the outcome of the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Mississippi on Tuesday: if state Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-MS) pulls off a win over incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), the state could suddenly be put into play in a very tough year for Democrats to hold control of the Senate.
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Currently, the race between Cochran and McDaniel is neck-and-neck. Both a Republican pollster and a Democratic pollster recently found Cochran and McDaniel locked in a tight race. If McDaniel pulls off a victory, the general election suddenly becomes an open seat, and McDaniel would bring plenty of baggage to the general election.
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Democratic pollster John Anzalone, who's polling firm will be doing work for Childers' Senate race, said he expected "a lot of Cochran supporters, politicos, funders
to flock to Travis Childers if McDaniel does this and it's going to send a real signal to the community that this race is real." Anzalone said the race is similar to the 2012 Indiana Senate race where Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly was able to take advantage of tea party favorite state treasurer Richard Mourdock beating Sen. Richard Lugar in the GOP primary.
"It's kind of the Joe Donnelly effect," Anzalone said. "I mean Mourdock knocks off Lugar and Donnelly's stock rises because you're dealing with someone who's on the fringe who exposes vulnerabilities and contrasts and at the same time has beat up on someone who's very popular."
Democrats plan to campaign aggressively in Mississippi in the general election but that's only if McDaniel wins the nomination. The likely Democratic nominee has been dropping hints of his approach in interviews he's given recently.
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