It is a very sad thing that the Tea Party has supported Chris McDaniel in his bid to be elected as a senator for Mississippi.

If he were to be elected to replace Sen. Thad Cochran, it would be a major disaster for Mississippi.

As a senator in the Mississippi Legislature, Chris McDaniel has accomplished absolutely nothing.  No, I am sorry, he did manage to have the State Legislature allow several of his friends to have special designations for their automobile car tags.

There is absolutely no reason to expect that he would do any better on a national level when he has been a total failure to Mississippi. He and his campaign manager, Melanie Sojourner, were two of the only three Mississippi Senators who voted against the state’s bond issues, which are vital to the economy of Mississippi.

They specifically caused the loss of a $6 million bond issue designated for the desperately needed restoration of a Mississippi Landmark building in Natchez, Melanie’s hometown.

This 1927 building is used as the major performing arts center for all of southwest Mississippi and is extremely important to the cultural and economic vitality of this entire area, with constant major operas, ballets, artists, concerts, Broadway plays and other such nationally acclaimed activities taking place there and enhancing tourism to this area.

This is not just any building; as such an important venue for major cultural and artistic activities, it is the source of a great amount of income to Natchez and Mississippi.

If you consider his campaign, there is nothing that McDaniel can claim, or even has tried to claim, that he has accomplished for this state.

His entire campaign has been filled with empty promises about what he can accomplish with his “leadership” and negative attacks on one of the finest leaders in the nation.

Unfortunately, there have been no results that McDaniel can show from his “leadership.”

On the other hand, Cochran has not only helped Mississippi; he has been a brilliant national leader of the highest integrity who has achieved success in every field of endeavor conceivable.

With Chris’s stated opposition to educational funding on a national level, all of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (all of our community colleges, colleges, and universities) would be destroyed, along with the vital research taking place in them.

My late son was a faculty member of the University of Mississippi Medical Center and was involved in medical research on an international level, as were many of his colleagues. Such important research benefits the entire world, and must be supported on a national level.

I ask for your support and vote for Cochran, whose seniority and leadership in the United States Senate place him as senior member on the Senate Appropriations Committee, among many other high leadership positions. I cannot begin to list all of the fabulous achievements that Cochran has accomplished for Mississippi and for the United States of America.

For example, Cochran has voted 102 times to oppose, defund and repeal Obamacare and has co-sponsored the Obamacare Repeal Act with Sen. Ted Cruz.

Cochran has voted for and repeatedly sponsored a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. He has brought tremendous numbers of good paying jobs to Mississippi, which are vital to our national security and which must be accomplished somewhere. Because of his leadership and his position on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, many have been located in Mississippi. We cannot afford to lose this outstanding conservative leader who has worked to enhance the economy and quality of life not only for those in Mississippi, but for everyone in the Nation.

He is in a position to continue his leadership and to benefit Mississippi in countless ways.  We in Mississippi are exceedingly fortunate to have a senator of his intelligence, national leadership, and love of Mississippi.

Cochran deserves our everlasting support, our gratitude and our votes.

 

Rena Jean Schmieg

Natchez resident