Why Thad is on the verge of being retired

I remember as a college student back in the 80s having to attend an honors forum at USM where the featured speaker was Strom Thurmond. Man o man was that old geezer senile and yet there he was, still a US senator. The times are changing and the following from The Atlantic yesterday is devastating to Thad Cochran:

I followed Cochran from the square to a local diner, Jean’s Restaurant, where patrons swiveled away from plastic plates of boiled okra and corn fritters to shake his hand. On the wall were two framed photographs of Chris McDaniel. The restaurant’s owner, Diane Trammell, told me McDaniel had visited twice and stayed for an hour each time. “I don’t recall the last time I seen Thad,” she said. She’d always voted for Cochran in the past, but now she wasn’t sure.

Cochran didn’t pose for any pictures during his brief sweep. As he made his way toward the exit, the senator held out his hand to me. I had met and interviewed him less than half an hour before.

“Hello, how are you doing?” he said with a kindly smile. “I’m Thad Cochran.”

I can’t see a Cochran path to victory in the upcoming June 24, 2014 runoff.

Stay tuned.

48 thoughts on “Why Thad is on the verge of being retired”

  1. Probably good for the public safety that Cochran has a driver.

    If this report is accurate then the decisions of Cochran’s backers who know him best are about to be publicly examined.

  3. They took Thad’s tweet down congratulating the AWOL coward Bergdahl for service to his country. I guess the handlers finally saw it. Cochran knows not what he does.

        1. I just retweeted someone that grabbed a screen capture. The user is @danriehl

  4. Thad Cochran wanted to retire from what I had heard months and maybe years ago.

    But the powers that be behind the Republican Party in Mississippi were not sure that had a strong enough name to defend McDaniels, therefore they enticed Cochran to stay on and run was the story heard.

    And yes, rumors of his ‘slipping’ had been going on for months.

    The old adage of ‘Be careful of what you wish for’ may be at the Republican Party’s front door in Mississippi. All those robo calls from ‘everyone and his uncle’ may have backfired.

  5. When you step back and think about it, it’s actually astonishing how deeply embedded the roots lie in the Republican Party in Mississippi. It’s even more astonishing to see how they attempt to manipulate all areas if the field in state government.

    1. Think McDaniels will use Frontier Communications go forward. One of the insightful missives I saw on Twitter last night dealt with the money train implications of Thad losing. Can’t imagine the runoff is being seen in a positive light over on million dollar row.

      1. Josh Gregory and Frontier will get part of the blame for the name change from Thad to Thud. As an Ole Ms. cheerleader Sen. Cochran he had lots of energy. Now, even his cheerleaders and consultants who are dragging ass have failed him in what should have been an easy re-election. After seeing his tweet about the AWOL soldier and reading about his lack of knowledge about many things including who the Tea Party is, I for one, am convinced he can not and will not prevail in a runoff. Million Dollar Row just ain’t what it use to be. Will we see more “For Sale” signs soon? Lets hope so.

        1. I hear you BB. I cannot validate the current condition of the Frontier-Miller-Bryant pipeline but it would not surprise me if it was brought back online when things simmer down with the DMR–if that actually happens. LOL

        2. A cynical man would say the seeds of Jones County’s newest million dollar row were planted yesterday.

          Thad was that out of touch. Many in Mississippi and most on the outside do not understand the dynamics at play that got Chris McDaniels to this point but the bottom line is Thad was that out of touch. I rather suspect the dirt poor retirees in Stone County that Gene ended up helping are feeling a bit better about things today.

          He knew better than to run and he let Boss Hogg and company talk him into it. They wanted Thad not because it benefited Mississippi, they wanted Thad because it benefited them. Too many people saw through it.

  6. There is a website to search for politicians deleted tweets. Politiwoops, a project of the Sunlight Foundation apparently.

    They have this deleted tweetin their collection.

    Here is another deleted Thad Cochran tweet Politiwoops reports:

    Senator Thad Cochran (R) @SenThadCochran
    Quickly burn off 2+ inches of stomach fat while losing up to 30 lbs of fat in less than 28 days with http://t.co/D43TGrEc9l
    Deleted after 8 hours at 7:35 AM on 17 Sep, via web.

  7. I doubt that Sen. Cochran is the person who actually posts the tweets in his name. Some staffer does that.

    1. Does not matter Brian. Perception is reality in politics. Whoever did this damaged Thad even more than his not speaking to his supporters at most functions he has attended. The news was full of stories about the Taliban sympathizer long before the tweet was sent out. His campaign, which has been run in most part by the Barbours, has been as successful as a lead balloon.

  8. Doug,
    Have you heard this theory: The head honchos in the state GOP put Thad up to run one more time so he could serve a while, and then resign or retire, like Trent did when things were getting rough on Dickie, and “you know who” could appoint someone to serve out the rest of his term and then be the new incumbent.
    I don’t think it ever occurred to Cochran’s handlers ( you know he cannot be running the show anymore) that they would not only be in a run-off, but running second to a virtual unknown.
    This guy sure surprised me, and I think he has them reeling too.

  9. The TEA Party are probably laughing all the way to the bank and maybe changing their name to SEA which means Screwed Enough Already. It appears they pulled a fast one over the present regime. People did not want Barbour to choose Cochran’s replacement is the consensus of voters. Can you blame them? Hell no!

  10. No, I don’t blame them, I was just wondering if anyone else had heard of this plan. It would sure make good campaign material because it would be one aspect of the campaign and election that is probably true and not just some silly flier material.
    Thad should have stepped down with dignity and he could have if he were handling his own business. That’s is one of the saddest things about politics, the longer you are in the more people own you. Hope McDaniel is more independent than that. Don’t know ’cause I’ve never heard of him.

    1. After his associations with Kay Webber became public I ceased worrying about Thad pulling the same stunt Trent Lott pulled back in 2008. If he gets elected I think he’ll serve the 6 years or die trying.

      Neither Senate candidate let the press get very close during the campaign according to the Twitter journalism community. McDaniels is a private practice lawyer that serves in the legislature. His peeps in Jones County know him well but in Jones County everyone knows everyone, but that is not unusual in Mississippi.

      If Thad does not withdraw, which is a real possibility, I suspect you’ll get a chance to see McDaniels first hand somewhere close by on the Coast. He was in Diamondhead, for example, very recently.

  11. Doug,
    I read the Sun Herald article about the “independence” of the Piney Woods and their anti-government history, then I looked up the major employers in the free state of Jones:

    1. Howard Industries, manufacturer of transformers & technology equipment, mostly private sector clients (utility companies) but $20 million in computer etc. sales to the VA and $12 million to the Army in recent years
    2. South Central Regional Medical Center, community hospital where Medicare & Medicaid beneficiaries account for the majority of revenue
    3. Ellisville State School, state mental health facility, depending heavily on federal mental health, special ed, and Medicaid funds
    4. Jones County Schools
    5. Sanderson Farms, poultry processor
    6. Wayne Farms, poultry processor
    7. Laurel School District
    8. Wal-Mart, would love to know how much of their grocery sales in MS are food stamps
    9. Jones County government
    10. Masonite, door manufacturer, still surviving after coming out of bankruptcy & restructuring in 2009
    11. Jones County Junior College
    12. Mississippi Industries for Individuals with Disabilities, affiliated w/Ellisville State School
    13. Southern Hens, poultry processor
    14. City of Laurel government

    So, they don’t have a military base or large Defense contractor, but more than half of their largest employers are either public or dependent on public funds, but since they don’t get a check directly from the federal government they see no connection.

    The poultry processors also benefit indirectly from some government programs – school lunch program & food stamps especially account for a lot of chicken products. They used to write Gene complaining about OSHA, EPA, the Dept. of Labor, etc., and then ask for an increase in school lunch funding.

    1. I agree Brian. Sometimes people need to take a drink of their own Kool aid. It is on display in St. Tammany with fracking as the drill baby drill set there does not want it in their own back yards.

      So, if Senator McDaniels helps defund education programs like those that benefit JCJC in the name of austerity so be it, they’ll adjust like everyone else.

    2. I’ll also add the racist loons like Sam Bowers that burned out and killed Vernon Dahmer all slithered out from Jones County over to Forrest to perpetrate the heinous crime.

      It’s an interesting place.

    3. Brian,

      That is a very good point and analysis. I have read before that the state of Mississippi is extremely dependent on the federal government and actually returns the least based on what they receive. In fact I think someone made a similar comment about that recently. I have also read that Mississippi has one of the highest state government worker to citizen ratios.

      I may do some digging tonight and pull this data if I have time. I know when I read it I found it quite comical on how the radical regime is always pushing smaller government when they are creating and supporting this mess before our eyes. It could be considered a form of “backdoor socialism”

      As far as creating and bringing in jobs from the private industry, the regime has really failed the citizens of Mississippi. The talk around town is how Diberville is growing and where the next Walmart will be located. This is actually the creation of welfare in my opinion.

      1. I used to track that figure every year. Mississippi generally received somewhere between $1.60 and $2 for every $1 in federal taxes, but then we had Katrina followed by the recession and stimulus dollars and we went up to $4 for every $1. That was a combination of getting billions of federal dollars while also paying less in federal taxes. The ratio should be coming back down now, especially since the state declined the Medicaid expansion money.

        One thing people don’t appreciate is that Social Security and Medicare are huge subsidies to a poor state like Mississippi. People who had relatively low earnings did not pay that much in payroll taxes, especially in the years before Reagan raised the payroll taxes, so if they live into their mid-70s and later, they and/or their spouses get back a lot more than they paid in. All those widows in their 80s and 90s have received multiples of what they and their husbands paid in. Medicare also pays much more in benefits than low and moderate income retirees paid in payroll taxes and premiums. Cancer treatments and hip surgeries and by-passes add up quickly. And more and more of Medicaid is going to nursing homes.

  12. This is called splitting hairs. Hypocritical is another terminology. So like the fellow with all these bumper stickers on his vehicle declaring “Do Away With Taxes”, “Ban the IRS”, “Impeach EPA”, etc. Yet, he wants to drive on public, hard surfaced roads, wants clean water, wants to eat less pesticides in foods, wants health care, protection by law enforcement and the list goes on. But he does not want to pay for it. How stupid and radical can one be!

    If McDaniels is elected, and I have no doubt he will, he will be ineffective since the majority of Congress will not go along with his far out, radical schemes.

  13. This is a deleted McDaniels tweet. Since he is vehemently on the record against the farm bill I am not sure why it was deleted. I didn’t check to see if a similar tweet replaced it.

    RT @CMForUSSenate Recent Farm bill is another example of Big Government waste. RT if you are tired of congress wasting YOUR money! http://t.co/UNwwOE6hPU
    Deleted after 3 minutes at 5:49 PM on 21 Feb, via TweetDeck
     http://politwoops.sunlightfoundation.com/tweet/436995321290186752 via @SunFoundation

    Brian Martin has already already pointed out some of the ways Jones County is on the federal teat. The federal farm bill is one source of Jones County subsidies to the sometimes well off and well connected.
    The farm bill serves as the conduit for direct payment of various forms of federal tax dollars direct to “farmers” for various programs. The best source of information on federal farm program subsidies that I know of is Environmental Working Group. Once one learns how to navigate that site then a few clicks gets one information like this:

    Recipients of Conservation Reserve Program from farms in Jones County, Mississippi totaled $6,302,000 in from 1995-2012.

    According to the EWG this is the list of the top 20 Jones County recipients of the Conservation Reserve Program (just one part, but in Jones County by far the largest part of) federal subsidies. Hey look! Five of the top 20 have a Laurel MS location in the records. I suppose the next step is to satisfy my curiosity by looking for possible large recipients of subsidies with McDaniel supporters and donors.

    1 Haynes Family Limited Partnership ∗ Ellisville, MS 39437 $253,834
    2 Jones County Board Of Education Ellisville, MS 39437 $253,646
    3 John M Christian Laurel, MS 39441 $253,122
    4 Tl Investments Lp C/o Jeffrey Jam ∗ Laurel, MS 39440 $173,539
    5 James Wendel Turner Ellisville, MS 39437 $170,633
    6 Robert Sullivan Purvis, MS 39475 $142,465
    7 William L Thames Laurel, MS 39440 $115,834
    8 Joe Ned Nester Laurel, MS 39440 $115,149
    9 Charles E Turner Ellisville, MS 39437 $95,491
    10 Mulloy Family Limited Partnership ∗ Laurel, MS 39441 $76,802
    11 M L Williams Moselle, MS 39459 $76,039
    12 Mary Ann Murray Taylorsville, MS 39168 $73,884
    13 Billy Joe Landrum Laurel, MS 39441 $72,128
    14 Olin A Valentine Murfreesboro, TN 37128 $70,645
    15 Charles W Pickering Sr Taylorsville, MS 39168 $68,415
    16 Jerry R Newberry Moselle, MS 39459 $66,552
    17 D R Anderson Ellisville, MS 39437 $65,046
    18 Meek Timber Co LLC ∗ Eupora, MS 39744 $64,407
    19 J R Nicholson Estate Richton, MS 39476 $63,944
    20 Lorene Shows Ovett, MS 39464 $61,378

    1. Once you learn to navigate the EWG site provides subsidy listings by Congressional District.
      Here is what Palazzo’s 4th looks like:

      4th District Of Mississippi (Rep. Steven M.Palazzo) Summary Information
      “$133 million in subsidies 1995-2012.
      $44.4 million in commodity subsidies.
      $68.7 million in conservation subsidies.
      $19.4 million in disaster subsidies.
      Mississippi ranking: 13 of 50 States
      59 percent of farms in Mississippi did not collect subsidy payments – according to USDA.
      Ten percent collected 66 percent of all subsidies.
      Amounting to $87.8 million over 18 years.
      Top 10%: $7,156 average per year between 1995 and 2012.
      Bottom 80%: $292 average per year between 1995 and 2012.
      Program
      (click for top recipients, payment concentration and regional rankings) Number of Recipients
      1995-2012 Subsidy Total
      1995-2012
      1 Conservation Reserve Program
      2,089 $38,963,155
      2 Disaster Payments
      2,882 $19,411,894
      3 Cotton Subsidies**
      172** $18,261,467
      4 Livestock Subsidies
      2,536** $9,975,573
      5 Peanut Subsidies
      33** $6,894,897

  14. If my memory correct, wasn’t Howard Industries recently cited for one of the biggest scandals involving the employment of illegal aliens and wasn’t its attorney or someone connect to HI implicated as knowing about the abuse aforehand?

    Also, I disagree that Cochran intends to serve his full term. I concur and believe that if he retains his seat, he will retire come the Christmas break/holidays and allow Bryant to name a replacement, just as happened with Wicker’s replacement of Lott. And, while it may appear that the corrupt conspirators have baited Auditor Pickering with the prospect of Cochran’s replacement, I’m betting Bryant would name his ole pal, Billy Hewes, ’cause Hewes’ doesn’t have the support to win anything more than a state legislative seat or the Gulfport mayor’s race.

    And, which agency do you think has the integrity and clout to expose the depth of corruption that has permeated MS? Can you imagine the turmoil that would result, if we saw indictments of Gov. Bryant, Attorney General Hood and staff, State Auditor Pickering, U.S. Attorney John Dowdy, et al.?

    The same mentality and level of corruption that murdered the 3 civil right workers and shot Medgars Evers in the back and then laughed and joked about it for years is alive and well in MS. And, its roots are vested in Jones County – home/origin of the Klan in MS.

    1. One connection at Howard is none other than State Auditor Stacey Pickering, who was their governmental relations director there.

      1. The Pickering surname and Jones County go together like the white on rice. I believe Judge Pickering was the guy that delivered the MS Southern Baptist Convention to Trent Lott, thus the close subsequent associations between the families.

        You may remember, when Trent stepped down that Rep. Chip Pickering’s name was prominently mentioned to fill the slot before Roger Wicker’s name ever came up. Rep. Chip resigned after Boss Hogg named Wicker if memory serves – he could not be appointed to the Senate seat as he was carrying on an adulterous relationship up in DC. A very nasty divorce ensued in Madison County.

        You gotta figure there has been a tense moment or two in the Free State of Jones between McDaniels and Stacey Pickering based upon the political alliances at play in the Senate race.

        1. lol
          Here’s a MS political trivia question. Who did Thad Cochran defeat in the Republican primary to replace Senator James Eastland in 1978?

          1. MS political trivia question #2. His involvement in what criminal case led to the arguably led to to the defeat of Charles W. Pickering Sr. in his run for MS House?

          2. None other than Boss Hogg himself. Next question:

            An independent candidate ran for the US Senate in the ensuing 1978 general election that according to rumor and lore, was paid to run by Thad Cochran. Name that candidate.

            1. In 1978 the independent candidate who split the vote (to Cochran’s obvious advantage) was Charles Evers, brother of the late Medgar Evers. He later was a strong critic of the critics of judicial nominee Charles Pickering Sr.

            2. In 1978 Cochran defeated Charles W. Pickering Sr in the primary for Eastland’s vacant seat.

        2. And to this day Chipper gets free cellphone service with unlimited ? from Cspire !!!

          1. He took the phrase being in bed with the lobbyists to literally.

            RFP I guess I have too much Boss Hogg on the brain today.

      2. Was he not the compliance officer for government programs while he was employed at Howard?

      3. Was Stacey not the Compliance Officer for government programs and affairs while at Howard. He left just before this investigation began.

  15. Do not know what is going on but every time I try to reply to some ones comment it shows up at the very bottom instead of under the comment I am responding to. Oh well I guess I am having a Thad night. I need to go to bed and not take the podium again.

  16. Crow, I do not think any of us have anything to worry about in reference to Barbour appointing his crony to fill Thad Cochran’s seat when he decides to step down in a few month. It won’t happen! Whether we like it or not, McDaniels will be the next senator and the Republican have no one to blame but themselves. They were licking their chops while they thought they would wait for Cochran to exit and it ain’t gonna happen. The longer this story plays out, the less effective Cochran is looking.

Comments are closed.