THE REPUBLICAN PARTY civil war between purists and pragmatists is not over: the viciousness of the 2014 party primary season proves that. But defeats for Tea Party-backed populists on June 24th confirm a big development. The party’s business-backed “governing” wing has remembered how to fight, and fight rough.Not for the first time in history, the lowest blows flew in Mississippi. Senator Thad Cochran—a genteel, big-government Republican and four-decade Washington veteran—broke every rule of Deep South politics and asked black Democrats and union members to cross party lines and cast votes in a Republican Party run-off contest. It worked, just:Mr Cochran won by about 6,700 votes, or less than two percentage points. A hefty turnout in mostly-black counties helped Mr Cochran beat off Chris McDaniel, a compromise-scorning state senator and former radio talk-show host.The McDaniel campaign was sidetracked for a time by the arrest of a supporter who had sneaked into a retirement home to film Mr Cochran’s wife, who has dementia. The Cochran campaign was deft at tailoring its message to different audiences. In black neighbourhoods its leaflets praised Mr Cochran’s support for food stamps and bashed Mr McDaniel for opposing Obamacare. In white districts it praised Mr Cochran for voting “more than 100 times” against Obamacare. Mr Cochran also touted himself as a conservative whose...
from The Economist: United States http://ift.tt/1lSeLjP
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