Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

mississippi

Tea hee hee!!

A few weeks ago, post-primary Wednesday morning found gleeful Democrats celebrating the double-digit loss of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA).

Last night there was another set of primary elections, most notably in Mississippi where there was a runoff between incumbent GOP Senator Thadd Cochran and tea party challenger state Senator Chris McDaniel.

Early in the evening, BWD spoke for me:

But the result was much better than expected … Cochran won, unleashing the hounds of hell, specifically, an angry tea party activist named Amy Kremer:

@amykremer If Cochran wins this #mssen race, the GOP is done. They teamed up with Dems to steal a race. Kiss the base goodbye.

@amykremer

Sad that GOP establishment has to reach out to the Dems to help keep the Barbour lobbying business profitable. That’s politics ppl. #mssen

Base kissing? Very unsanitary. But the idea of angry Republicans boycotting the November election and opening the door to a Democratic pickup? Please proceed, tea partiers, please proceed.

And a bonus! The former vice presidential candidate and half-term governor of Alaska will not stand for this …

More below …

Why Does Mississippi Vote Republican?

This post will attempt to explain why Mississippi is a Republican stronghold today.

But before doing that, let’s describe another state – call it State X. Looking at State X is very useful for analyzing why Mississippi votes Republican. I invite you to guess what state it is.

Here is a description of State X.

Demographically, State X is very rural and very white. There are no major cities in the state; one has to cross state lines and drive more than a hundred miles to find the nearest metropolitan area. Racially, the state is homogeneously white; indeed, it is the second whitest state in the entire nation.

State X has almost always been a one-party stronghold, and that party has generally been the Republican Party. The Republican Party has almost always taken this state’s electoral votes; indeed, it voted for a Republican president for more than a century. State X has only elected one Democratic senator in its entire history.

More below.

The Lounge – Random Road Trip Thoughts

There’s nothing like a long road trip for allowing time to think. Many, if not most, of the thoughts are silly or nonsensical. However, some seem worth sharing.

Pre-trip thought: God, I love Google Maps.

9:30 pm – 1 am CST

The trip from Memphis, Tennessee to Genesee county Michigan is 800 miles. The first portion runs east on I-40 from Memphis to Nashville. This leg of the trip is a little over 200 miles. It seems longer. I came to the conclusion that it feels longer, because it is running east instead of north. It doesn’t feel like the trip back to Michigan begins until you get to Nashville. No wonder it seems so long.

Another thought that came to me through this stretch is that Tennessee is a beautiful state with more than its share of bigots and small-minded people. The Tennessee Republican Party gives the Texas Republican Party a close race for the most offensive state political party in the country.