Mississippi is giving Florida a run for its money when it comes to right-wing insanity. Police are currently investigating what three people, including a high-ranking member of Tea Party Senate candidate Chris McDaniel’s campaign, were doing locked in the Hinds County Courthouse in the early morning hours after election officials had said the building was closed.
Before this latest intrigue, the McDaniel’s campaign was caught up in a scandal over a break-in at a nursing home. A right-wing blogger named Clayton Kelly broke into the facility where incumbent Thad Cochran’s wife, Rose Cochran, lives. While inside, Kelly collected images, photographing Mrs. Cochran. He then put together a video and published it through his website.
McDaniel’s campaign made a series of conflicting statements regarding its knowledge of the video.
Police have now arrested three individuals in connection with that scandal and including a high-ranking member of the regions Tea Party.
The Courthouse incident is currently being investigated but no charges have been formally filed.
The Senate election that is currently underway in Mississippi is hotly contested despite McDaniel’s embroilment in scandal after scandal. McDaniel’s campaign is asking that the public ignore these issues as a distraction from the issues that Mississippians really face.
Cochran’s campaign has issued a statement that recognizes the obvious point that, of course a campaign that is “up to its eyeballs” in break-in scandals would want the public to ignore that.
How many times do the people of Mississippi need to catch the McDaniel’s campaign in association with these activities before they realize that he’s just too close to these criminal activities to be trusted?
Joshua is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire. You can follow him on Twitter @Joshual33.