Chris McDaniel in 2014 MS Senate debate
On Principles & Values:
Runoff recount denied by Mississippi Supreme Court
The Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday refused to reconsider its ruling denying state Sen. Chris McDaniel (R) access to unredacted poll books for inspection as he seeks to overturn a Senate primary.McDaniel has yet to concede in his primary fight
with Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), despite Cochran's 7,667-vote lead in the runoff, now over a month ago.
The challenger has spent the past month poring over poll books looking for illegitimate votes and went to the state Supreme Court in pursuit of
poll books without personal information removed, but was denied once before. That information, which includes birthdates, would help him evaluate whether any residents who voted in the Democratic primary came out to vote again in the Republican
runoff, an action barred by Mississippi elections law.
Cochran made an aggressive play for African American Democrats in the runoff, and McDaniel's supporters believe much of Cochran's win margin is comprised of "illegitimate crossover votes."
Source: The Hill weblog on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jul 25, 2014
On Principles & Values:
OpEd: Cochran accused of courting blacks for runoff vote
Chris McDaniel condemned racially charged questions asked by an unidentified participant during a press call with aides to Sen. Thad Cochran. Given a chance to comment on the remarks in a CNN interview on Friday, Cochran's GOP Senate primary challenger
in Mississippi condemned them but said his campaign doesn't know anything about the caller. "Certainly, we condemn any racist comments whatsoever, but bear in mind, we have no idea who that person is," McDaniel said. "Neither do you.
So, you understand there are people out there we have no control over. We have no idea who that person is."In a media call on Wednesday with Cochran aides, an anonymous caller repeatedly asked questions about the senator's interaction with
African-American voters. "If black people were harvesting cotton, why is it OK to harvest their votes?" the caller asked. Some McDaniel supporters have accused the Cochran campaign of paying African-Americans to vote for the senator in the runoff.
Source: Politico.com weblog on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jul 4, 2014
On Abortion:
Human life begins at conception
Question topic: Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.McDaniel: Strongly Agree
Question topic: Should abortion be allowed under extenuating circumstances? If so, what circumstances?
McDaniel: Only in the case where the mother's life is at risk.
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jul 2, 2014
On Budget & Economy:
Immoral to saddle our grandchildren with this much debt
Question topic: Free enterprise and the right to private property turn mankind's natural self interest into the fairest and most productive economic system there is, and are the key to national prosperity.McDaniel: Strongly Agree.
Question topic: Briefly list political or legislative issues of most concern to you.
McDaniel: Ending deficit spending. It is immoral to saddle our children and grandchildren with this much debt.
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jul 2, 2014
On Civil Rights:
Government shouldn't redefine marriage
Question topic: Marriage is a union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition.
McDaniel: Strongly Agree
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jul 2, 2014
On Education:
Oppose nationwide Common Core standards
Question topic: The federal government should establish nationwide standards (such as Common Core) for high-school graduation.
McDaniel: Strongly Disagree
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jul 2, 2014
On Energy & Oil:
No subsidies for wind and solar
Question topic: Governments should pay to develop wind and solar energy solutions when these are not economically feasible.
McDaniel: Strongly Disagree
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jul 2, 2014
On Government Reform:
Photo ID for voting
Question topic: People should be able to vote without photo identification.
McDaniel: Disagree
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jul 2, 2014
On Gun Control:
Opposes more gun restrictions
Question topic: More restrictive gun control laws are needed now to protect public safety.
McDaniel: Strongly Disagree
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jul 2, 2014
On Health Care:
Repeal ObamaCare to let our economy flourish
Question topic: It is the government's responsibility to be sure everyone has health care and a livable income.McDaniel: Strongly Disagree
Question topic: The Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) should be repealed by Congress.
McDaniel: Strongly Agree.
Question topic: Briefly list political or legislative issues of most concern to you.
McDaniel: Repealing ObamaCare. We must repeal it to allow our economy to flourish.
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jul 2, 2014
On Homeland Security:
Maintain a superior nuclear arsenal
Question topic: The United States must maintain a nuclear arsenal that is safe, reliable, modern and numerically superior to those of potential adversaries.
McDaniel: Strongly Agree
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jul 2, 2014
On Immigration:
Protect the borders; prevent illegal entry
Question topic: Government should enforce laws designed to protect the border and to prevent illegal entry of persons into the country.
McDaniel: Strongly Agree
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jul 2, 2014
On Principles & Values:
Judeo-Christian values established our government framework
Question topic: Efforts to bring Islamic law (shariah) to America do not pose a threat to our country and its Constitution.McDaniel: Strongly Disagree
Question topic: Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which permitted our
system of limited government.
McDaniel: Strongly Agree.
Question topic: Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
McDaniel: I'm a Southern Baptist, saved by God's grace at the age of 13.
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jul 2, 2014
On Civil Rights:
As host of Right Side Radio, railed against hip-hop culture
As host of "Right Side Radio" in the mid-2000s, McDaniel railed against hip-hop culture, referred to Mexican "mamacitas," poked fun at gay people, and derided a female candidate who he said was "basically using her boobies" to win. Critics, seizing on
those comments--and his appearance last June before the Sons of Confederate Veterans group--have attacked him as a racist, a sexist and antigay. His political speeches, though more subtle, evoke echoes of an earlier era, when 1960s segregationists
whipped up fears of outsiders, some scholars say."Millions in this country feel like strangers in this land--you recognize that, don't you?" he told an audience of farmers in Covington County. "An older America passes away, a new America rises to take
its place. We recoil from that culture. It's foreign to us. It's offensive to us."
[His supporters] see a candidate who grew up steeped in his Baptist faith, surrounded--and influenced by--the history and traditions of the rural South.
Source: N. Y. Times on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jun 13, 2014
On Principles & Values:
Revive America's Christian foundation
State Sen. Chris McDaniel (R) challenged a church crowd here to fight to revive America's Christian foundation during a Sunday speech at a southern Mississippi Pentecostal church. "Today is the day we begin to fight again," he told about 80 worshipers
gathered at the Word Alive Revival Center. "Go back out in your communities and make a difference again. It can't just stop at the church. Take it out to the streets. That's when you begin to reclaim your country again."The Tea Party-backed candidate
made no mention of his own challenge to Sen. Thad Cochran. Instead, McDaniel delivered a political sermon of sorts, drawing from the scripture of the Founding Fathers to make a case for Christians to stand up and fight to reclaim America's culture
and reestablish the nation's Christian foundation. He quoted an array of American figures endorsing America's Christian values and encouraging a God-fearing nation, including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and others.
Source: The Hill e-zine on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
May 18, 2014
On Environment:
Supported Katrina relief, but some funds were misspent
McDaniel repeatedly ducked questions about whether he would have voted for a Hurricane Katrina relief bill that McDaniel also described as laden with pork. "I would have to see the details of it," McDaniel said. "That's not an easy vote to cast."
Pressed on the 2005 Katrina bill specifically, he conceded: "I probably would have supported it," adding that "some of the money [in the Katrina bill] was misspent." When it comes to government spending, he argued, "It's one thing to provide immediate
storm relief and to protect people's lives and property, it's quite another to benefit campaign supporters."
Asked whether there was a specific instance of government abuse he had in mind, McDaniel responded: "Not that I can say. I think the people of
the coast understand that some of the money was misspent," he said. "I'm not alleging that Sen. Cochran misspent it."
A campaign spokesman reached out the morning after the interview to "clarify that Chris would've been a yes vote on the disaster bill.
Source: Politico.com on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Feb 19, 2014
On Welfare & Poverty:
No welfare state: "I'm not going to do anything for you"
When an Ole Miss student challenged McDaniel's past description of Mississippi as a "welfare state," McDaniel stood by that characterization. Electing him would mean discarding Cochran, the presumptive next chairman of the Appropriations Committee in a
potentially Republican Senate, for an outsider vowing no special deliveries for his constituents."I'm not going to do anything for you," McDaniel said. "I'm going to get the government off your back, then I'm gonna let you do it for yourself."
About an hour later and less than a mile away, speaking in the same fluid, confident patter, he hedged that statement. McDaniel said he was not prepared to take a position on either the federal farm bill or the Cochran-backed effort to fight rate
hikes in flood insurance--two local issues for which assertive federal action is plainly popular. "You can't very well send 1,000 government promises to people and then pull the rug out from under them the next day," McDaniel said.
Source: Politico.com on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Feb 19, 2014
On Environment:
Uphold property rights; oppose Supreme Court's Kelo decision
In contrast to most of the conservatives challenging Republican senators in primaries, McDaniel has been in elective office and state politics for several years. He won his state Senate seat in 2007 and has won widespread praise for his championship
of a bill to uphold property rights in response to the Supreme Court's Kelo decision. The bill was vetoed by McDaniel's fellow Republican, then-Gov. Haley Barbour, but the veto was over-ridden by a statewide initiative.
Source: NewsMax.com on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jan 20, 2014
On Foreign Policy:
Opposed Sec. Def. Hagel as "too soft on Iran"
The challenger pointed to votes on which he differs with Cochran: the senator's vote for the START arms control treaty, his support of tax dollars for United Nations peace-keeping forces, his opposition to building a fence along the Southern
U.S. border, and his vote to confirm Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, who McDaniel said is "too soft on Iran."At first glance, an outside observer might conclude that some of these issues won't resonate with the average Republican voter.
McDaniel sharply disagrees, pointing out "as Mississippi becomes a more Republican state,
there is a watershed split between moderates and constitutional conservatives. This is what this race is about and the times are changing."
Source: NewsMax.com on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jan 20, 2014
On Civil Rights:
Dems want homosexual marriage legal in all 50 states
Source: Huffington Post on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jan 14, 2014
On Homeland Security:
Why are Muslims never portrayed as villains by Hollywood?
McDaniel made [a comment about Muslims in the movies] during a 2006 episode of "Right Side Radio," a syndicated show he hosted before being elected to the Mississippi state Senate in 2007. The remarks were first reported by Dark Horse Mississippi, a
local politics blog.McDANIEL: It's funny how the movies have portrayed themselves lately and how the video games have portrayed themselves lately. There's one person that cannot be a villain in Hollywood, ever. One group that cannot be villains.
Who is that?
CO-HOST: The Muslims.
McDANIEL: Yeah, isn't that neat?
They'll go out of their way to find some Russian white guy that's just nuts, and he's the terrorist, which I've never seen that. But the Muslims, they've just disappeared from Hollywood's radar.
Source: Huffington Post on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jan 14, 2014
On Families & Children:
Hip-hop culture values prison more than college
In a promotional segment for his Christian conservative radio program, Right Side Radio, McDaniel conflated rap music with failing schools and broken communities. "Name a redeeming quality of hip-hop.
I want to know anything about hip-hop that has been good for this country. And it's not--before you get carried away--this has nothing to do with race.
Because there are just as many hip-hopping white kids and Asian kids as there are hip-hopping black kids.
It's a problem of a culture that values prison more than college; a culture that values rap and destruction of community values more than it does poetry; a culture that can't stand education. It's that culture that can't get control of itself."
Source: Mother Jones magazine AdWatch: 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jan 7, 2014
On Gun Control:
Blames rising gun violence on "hip-hop" culture
In a promotional segment for his Christian conservative radio program, Right Side Radio, Mississippi Republican Senate candidate Chris McDaniel blamed rising gun violence on a "hip-hop" culture that "values rap
and destruction of community values more than it does poetry."The comments were featured in a teaser for the program: "The reason
Canada is breaking out with brand new gun violence has nothing to do with the US and guns," McDaniel said. "It has everything to do with a culture that is morally bankrupt.
What kind of culture is that? It's called hip-hop. Name a redeeming quality of hip-hop. I want to know anything about hip-hop that has been good for this country."
Source: Mother Jones magazine AdWatch: 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jan 7, 2014
On Homeland Security:
Waterboarding was effective on suspected 9/11 terrorists
In a promotional segment for his Christian conservative radio program, Right Side Radio, McDaniel commented on the merits of torture. He specifically noted the waterboarding of suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammad was an effective
intelligence-gathering tool:"He wasn't gonna talk, was he? Unless something happened. That's right, something did occur: It's called waterboarding. Waterboarding is something they do to people to make them talk. It is torture, to the liberals.
It is a fairly humane form of torture, if you could classify it as such. Here's what happens: You make the guy believe he's going to drown. And it's a pretty strong fear--drowning. Well this guy, Muhammad, he spoke all day. He spoke all night.
Anything and everything, just let me avoid the waterboard. Because Muhammad apparently had a problem with drowning. And that worked."
Muhammad, who was waterboarded 183 times before the practice was discontinued, did talk, but not always truthfully.
Source: Mother Jones magazine AdWatch: 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jan 7, 2014
On Budget & Economy:
Era of big spending is over; age of appropriations must end
The primary could offer insight into fundamental questions about the Republican Party: whether longevity and clout in a Deep South state that has venerated such qualities are enough to overcome national trends toward limited-government conservatism.
Chris McDaniel has sought to seize on the new antispending fervor, casting Cochran--who has delivered billions of dollars in federal spending projects to his impoverished state--as an avatar of a bygone political culture. "The national debt is the
greatest moral crisis of this generation," McDaniel said. "So, let's go forth from this place making it perfectly clear that the era of big spending is over. The age of appropriations must end."
After Cochran announced his re-election bid Friday, the
Club for Growth, who have endorsed McDaniel, put out a statement that criticized the senator for his support of earmarked spending projects, for bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for raising the federal debt limit.
Source: N. Y. Times on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Dec 6, 2013
On Budget & Economy:
Those in D.C. don't appear to be listening
Thad Cochran voted for the budget compromise to reopen the federal government--giving any potential opponent fodder for attacks. "There are those in D.C. that don't appear to be listening,"
McDaniel said in the statement announcing his candidacy. "We stand today ready to restore this republic." [The endorsing groups commented]:- "Cochran supports earmarks and crossed over to vote with Democrats on a host of issues.
There are those like Senator Ted Cruz who not only vote with conservatives, but give voice to liberty-loving citizens across the country. Then there are those like Thad Cochran who are completely missing in action in the fight against ObamaCare."
- "Chris McDaniel has the courage to stand up to the big spenders in both parties."
- "Chris McDaniel is ready to take the fight straight to the liberals in Washington who have led us to $17 trillion in debt."
Source: Politico.com on 2014 Mississippi Senate debate
Oct 17, 2013
On Principles & Values:
Tied to Tea Party and endorsed by conservative groups
A trio of outside groups endorsed a Mississippi Republican state legislator's primary challenge to Sen. Thad Cochran. Club for Growth PAC, the Senate Conservatives Fund and the Madison Project PAC all offered support for State Sen. Chris McDaniel,
who has tied himself closely with tea party groups and announced his bid earlier in the day.The endorsing groups stressed that McDaniel has proven his right-wing bona fides. "Chris McDaniel is not part of the Washington establishment and he has
the courage to stand up to the big spenders in both parties," the Senate Conservatives Fund executive director said.
Cochran , mingled with about 70 donors at a reception this week at the National Republican Senatorial Committee headquarters.
He suggested this summer that it might take months before he shares his plans. Asked about the attacks, Cochran's spokesman emailed: "Senator Cochran has indicated that he will determine his plans regarding the 2014 election cycle later this year."
Source: Politico.com on 2014 Mississippi Senate debate
Oct 17, 2013
On Gun Control:
Preserve the rights of gun owners
McDaniel is authoring a bill he says will preserve the rights of gun owners in Mississippi. It's in response to a request from Gov. Phil Bryant that lawmakers adopt legislation that would defend 2nd Amendment rights against any executive action from
President Obama.McDaniel says the bill would mandate that no state agency would assist in the implementation of unconstitutional executive orders relating to gun rights.
McDaniel is also co-authoring two related bills. "All of these pieces of legislation will be challenged, there's no question about it," McDaniel said. "But, it's a debate we need to have in this country.
Right now, we have a president that is exercising far too much authority, we have a federal government that is trying to do too much to too many people and do too many things," he said.
Source: Report by Yall Politics on 2014 Mississippi Senate race
Jan 18, 2013
Page last updated: Dec 06, 2018