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OPINION

Nichols: Cochran is no conservative

Robbie Nichols

State Sen. Chris McDaniel has secured the endorsement of Sarah Palin in his campaign to replace U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran.

Palin says, “The Mississippi Senate race is a clear fight for the future of the Republican Party against the entrenched interests of the permanent political class in D.C. We desperately need new conservative leaders in the U.S. Senate who will serve with passion, intelligence and integrity. Chris McDaniel is just such a leader. He is in this race not for career, but for conservative change.”

There is simply no justification from a conservative standpoint to re-elect Sen. Thad Cochran, especially in a state as conservative as Mississippi. Like many old-bull Republicans, Cochran has voted for endless spending, tax increases, abortion funding, energy regulations and most recently — for Obamacare. And Cochran has supported treaties that weaken our sovereignty and threaten our national security, such as the new START treaty and Law of the Sea Treaty. Cochran also voted to confirm Obama appointee Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel who is now trying to downsize our military.

Of the Farm Bill recently passed by Congress, 80 percent of the spending is allocated to food stamps. Food stamps and farming are two separate issues, but they are lumped together into a nearly $1 trillion bill that Cochran admits is done for political reasons to “help get the farm bill passed.”

True conservatives cannot tolerate pork-barrel projects. For years earmarks served as a way for Cochran to channel money into Mississippi. Earmarks are a symptom of Washington, D.C.’s runaway spending. Cochran campaigned aggressively against, and was one of the 10 Republican senators who voted against, the Earmark Moratorium in 2010. Cochran has earned his nickname as the “King of Pork.”

On the whole, the longtime senator from Mississippi is not a conservative on fiscal, social or national security issues. He rarely votes with conservatives. He certainly never speaks out on important issues like the IRS scandals, with the targeting of conservatives, tea party groups and Jews. Have you heard him calling for hearings on the Benghazi scandals? No! Have you heard him calling for Eric Holder to resign? No! Have you heard him saying our Second Amendment rights should be protected? No! (Cochran does not have a 100 percent record with NRA like his ads are saying.) Cochran does not have a 100 percent record with Right To Life and has voted many times for funding of Planned Parenthood, and no on parent notification for teen abortions. Maybe Cochran has never heard of these scandals as he himself said last month when asked about the tea party. He said, “I do not know anything about the tea party.”

As a state senator and a constitutional attorney, McDaniel has written, sponsored and supported numerous pieces of legislation in Mississippi designed to protect individuals from federal overreach into our basic individual rights. He has fought for private property rights and to restrict the use of eminent domain. He introduced the Firearms Freedom Protection Act to protect against federal encroachment on Second Amendment rights. As chairman of the Mississippi Senate Conservative Coalition, he has spoken against job-killing increases in taxes and in support of a reduction of Mississippi dependence on federal dollars that bring stifling regulation to our state.

McDaniel is a strong proponent of limited government, free enterprise, civic participation, reduced tax rates, a strong national defense, states’ rights and a return to the original checks and balances of the Constitution. He is a lifelong resident of Jones County and resides in Ellisville with his wife and two children. He is a member of Ellisville Baptist Church and is in his second term representing the 42nd district in the Mississippi State Senate.

Cochran has been in Washington for 40 years. He is out of touch with the people of Mississippi.

The people in Washington created the fiscal mess our country is in. If we keep voting for the same people, we will keep this same mess. I have voted for Cochran every time he has run. I believe, this time, Mississippi has a better choice.

Robbie Nichols is a guest columnist.