Forum Posts

• September 6, 2018 7:02 PM PDT

  in the topic You GOTTA vote for Chris McDaniel for Senate! in the forum Mississippi

  This is a special election to replace Thad Cochran.  It is a free for all general election with multiple Republicans and a Democrat on the ballot. Democrat Mike Espy once held the house seat that is now held by Bennie Thompson.  Espy left that seat when Slick Willy appointed him Secretary of Agriculture.  One of the Republicans is the conservative Chris McDaniel who models himself after Mike Lee of Utah. The other is Cindy Hyde-Smith who is the moderate Democrat who changed parties to run for a statewide office.  Our "Republican"  governor appointed Hyde-Smith as interim until an election could be held.
  
  
  There is some dirty politics going on that is akin to blackmail.  Our governor has a personal grudge against McDaniel so he appointed the moderate.  He intentionally set up the situation where voters are afraid that if they vote for a Republican not endorsed by the Grand Old Party it will cause a split and give the race to Espy.  For that to happen he would have to take more than 50% of the total vote which is not likely, but the fear is still there. The top 2 will go to a run off and Espy would stand no chance against either one of them.  
  
  Our "Republican" governor has lied to President Trump and made him believe that endorsing the conservative would help Espy.  I understand the logic behind his endorsement of a swamp rat but I also believe he would rather see the conservative elected.    

  This post was edited by Cliff Brown at September 6, 2018 7:02 PM PDT
• August 14, 2018 7:46 PM PDT

  in the topic Is there a way to share a post directly from Facebook? in the forum Support

  I still use that other service because that is where the people I communicate with still are hanging out.  I see a lot of good posts there and sometimes write good ones myself.  Is there a way to share them directly to PAO?

   

• August 1, 2018 8:08 PM PDT

  in the topic This is a confusing political year in Mississippi in the forum Mississippi

  Our state has a lot of elections.  We hold our federal elections for house, senate and POTUS every 2 years just like all states.  We hold our state and county elections in one of the middle years between federal election years and we hold some of our municipal elections in the other middle year.  Doing that causes us to be able to vote for or against something or someone every year.  
  
  Our normal scheduled elections are usually a 5 stage process.  4 of the stages are open and the other is secret.  There is a primary and if necessary a primary run off.  There is a general and if necessary a general run off.  Those 4 stages are held in public.  The secret one is when the executive committees of the parties decide who they will support and who they will shun during the primary races.
  
  This is not a normal year and those 5 stages we are used to do not apply.  I already did my best to explain the source of some of the confusion in a different post.  Thad Cochran resigned to cause an open seat which was filled domino style.  Someone was pulled from a cabinet level position to fill Cochran's seat and someone was pulled from the legislature to fill that cabinet seat.  That is what set up the special elections. Cochran timed his resignation so it would be passed the deadline for candidates to qualify, so the special election for the house seat that I ran in had to be held after the regular primary race for federal house and senate.  
  
  Here are some more causes of confusion.  Most of us know that the US senate is divided into 3 classes in a way that no state elects both of its senators in the same year.  The only exception to that rule is what is going on this year.  We are electing both in the same year but in totally different kinds of elections.  Nearly everyone in our state knows that Chris McDaniel is a candidate in one of those senate races but it seems that almost nobody knows which one.  
  
  Chris McDaniel signed up to run in the regular scheduled election against RINO Roger Wicker.  Just after he qualified for that race Cochran resigned.  McDaniel dropped out of the race against Wicker and filled his petition to run as an independent in the special election for the vacant seat.  The primary race for the regular scheduled senate race has already happened and the incumbent easily won.  In November there will be the regular general election for senate and on the same day the special election for the other senate seat.  Three weeks later if necessary there will be a run off to decide who represents our state in DC.  
  
  Confused enough already?  Here is where it gets even more strange.  Some of you may have heard that Cindy Hyde-Smith was a Democrat in the state legislature with a less than conservative voting record.  Some of you may even know that she admitted to voting for Obama and for Clinton.  She saw a chance to run for state commissioner of ag and commerce but knew she had no chance to win a statewide election in a red state if she admitted she is really a Democrat, so she ran as Republican and won.  That Democrat is who our "Republican" governor appointed to fill the empty seat until a special election could be held.  He then waited all the way to November to schedule the special election even though he could have done it the same time as the special election for the state legislator race.  We have a special election and regular election on the same day.
  
  The rules for special elections are different.  There is no primary.  All candidates are required to run as independent.  Regardless of how many run they are all on the same ballot.  There are several who self identify as Republicans and some who identify themselves as Democrats.  The only 2 candidates the press is using ink on and the only 2 with a reasonable chance of winning are Chris and Cindy.  
  
  Clear as mud?  I think that confusion is something the left and establishment GOP is banking on.  If you are still confused just comment on this post and I will try to answer.  

• July 31, 2018 6:52 PM PDT

  in the topic July 31 is election day in the forum Mississippi

  The totals are in.  In an area as large as a state legislative district, a total of only 2703 votes were casted.  The establishment candidate beat the conservative candidate by 63 votes.  If you are one of the 63 people who live in that district and "wished" the conservative would win but did not vote, his loss is your fault.  

• July 30, 2018 8:32 PM PDT

  in the topic July 31 is election day in the forum Mississippi

  It is not a presidential election and US congress is not on the line.  There is not even a state governor running.  Those elections are very well publicized.  It is also not an election for anybody's local sheriff or school board member.  Those local and county elections are close to home and get a lot of notice.  The election in Mississippi tomorrow is a special election to fill a vacant seat in the state legislature.
  
  Big elections involving presidents and governors get attention and local elections do too, but for some reason that middle level is one people, other than the candidates and their mothers' do not seem to care about.  This being a special election doubles the apathy.  Special elections with only a single race on a ballot is hard to draw voters to and a well financed and well connected candidate can round up his own contacts and take elections like that one.  
  
  I was actually one of the 5 candidates running for that vacant seat so I have some special insight into that race.  I have a business to run and did not put in the effort it takes to hang with the establishment insiders and did not make it to the run off.  The turn out on July 10 was pitiful and I suspect the run off tomorrow will be worse.  It really is a shame that such a tiny group of voters can win a special election and create an incumbent who becomes intrenched the day he swears in.
  
  Let me give you some back ground for this race.  We have a situation here in Mississippi that is closely watched nation wide.  This race is a little part of that whole situation.  It started when RINO Thad Cochran was too sick to even campaign but segregates promoted him and he was elected to another term in the US senate.  Soon after winning he resigned and our RINO governor appointed a Democrat to replace him until a special election could be held.  The Democrat he sent to the senate was the state Commissioner of Ag and Commerce so that appointment left another vacancy to appoint someone to.  Our formerly respected "Republican" governor moved one of the most solid conservative representatives out of the state legislature and caused another opening.  That opening in the state house of representatives is what this special election is about.  Next year there will be a race for Ag and Commerce and in November this year there is the special election for US senate.  (I will have a lot more to say later about that special election for US senate.  For now all I will say is the name Chris McDaniel).
  
  Here is that special insight I learned from being inside this one.  In a special election all candidates have to run as independents.  All 5 in this race have either run for other things as Republicans or have appointed positions in the GOP.  That fact plus the fact that the vote was in the summer made it feel like a primary race but it was actually a general election.  
  
  The establishment wing of the party fielded 3 candidates but rallied around just one to make sure they had one of their own in the run off.  The conservatives fielded 2 and I was one of them.  I saw that the other conservative had a much better shot so I kept my powder dry.  The run off is between an establishment Republican and a Conservative Republican.   Now the establishment wing is doing exactly as predicted and dumping tons of cash into a race to serve only a single session in the legislature.  They really want to replace the conservative that the governor pulled out with one of their own.  Here is the problem that the establishment faces.  The conservatives are also unified and the conservative candidate is rich enough to self finance his own campaign.  To top that off he actually has connections.  This race is getting exciting but it is a shame that nobody will actually vote in it.
  
  
  If you are in that one district in Mississippi vote for Hayes Patrick.  He is the conservative remaining in the race.  Also remember his name because that young man is destined for something big some day.