Mississippi Senate race devolves into racial melee

[DonViejo]

One ad showed Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith with black men in nooses.

By DANIEL STRAUSS 11/20/2018 05:05 AM EST

Republicans hoped to spend the final days of the special election in Mississippi coronating Cindy Hyde-Smith as the first woman to represent the state in the Senate.

Instead, the race has become a bare-knuckle brawl infused with ugly racial politics.

Hyde-Smith’s comments about attending a public hanging and suppressing liberal votes — remarks she maintained were made in jest — have upended a contest that a week ago was seen as a mere formality for the GOP. Democrats and allied outside groups have seized on Hyde Smith’s musings to spur black voters to the polls and paint her as an embarrassment to the state. They’re trying to crack open a narrow path for Democrat Mike Espy — a Cabinet secretary under Bill Clinton who would be the first African-American to represent Mississippi in the Senate since Reconstruction — as a viable alternative.

The California-based PowerPACPlus political action committee released an ad featuring images of Hyde-Smith and hanged black men in nooses. The Black Voters Matter Fund, a get-out-the-vote group, has been organizing in the state to boost Espy. The Senate Majority PAC, a pro-Democratic Senate super PAC, is pouring $500,000 into the state to help Espy.

Hyde-Smith’s remarks “created a lot of indignation among the progressive white community in Mississippi — which is a small but growing group — and it has caused a lot of indignation among African-Americans as well," said Rickey Cole, a former chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party.

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/20/mississippi-senate-race-cindy-hyde-smith-mike-espy-1002739

[gratuitous]

1. Let's see, racist "joker" or former cabinet secretary?

That's a toughie, isn't it Mississippi? What to do, what to do?

[DFW]

2. We can laugh

But in Mississippi, it IS a toughie.

If the lynching "jest" is Hyde-Smith's "legitimate rape," then so be it.

[Renew Deal]

3. I don't know why republicans accept such dull and unprepared candidates

Maybe it’s McConnell's way of keeping power. Or maybe intellectualism is no longer part of the Republican Party since they disparage it.

[OAITW r.2.0]

4. It's a feature, not a bug.

The last thing the GOP wants are intelligent, thoughtful candidates. If their candidates have skeletons in the closet, even better. Anyone who crosses the Party line is subject to being primaried in the next election by someone who is even less qualified to hold the office.