Club for Growth hammers Cochran for ‘hijacking’ runoff

The Club for Growth is launching a new pair of radio and television ads in the Mississippi Senate runoff, slamming Sen. Thad Cochran (R) for voting “with the liberals” and accusing him of “hijacking” the election by pitching for Democratic votes.

{mosads}The group has endorsed state Sen. Chris McDaniel in his battle with Cochran, and it hopes to put him over the edge in the June 24 contest. While McDaniel is favored to win, Cochran and his allies have gone on offense against him, with Cochran calling him “dangerous” and touting his own work for the state in ads.

The Club for Growth’s new ads, however, are sharply critical of Cochran’s long tenure in office and his play for Democrats in the runoff.

“It’s sad what happened to Thad Cochran. He served well, but after five decades, he’s lost touch,” a narrator says in the television ad.

The narrator goes on to knock him for voting “with the liberals … even on ObamaCare,” and “throw[ing] mud” in Mississippi.

“Thad Cochran is entitled to respect. He’s not entitled to a lifetime seat in the Senate,” the ad concludes.

The radio ad hits those same themes, but also declares that Cochran “is openly pushing Democrats to bail him out in the runoff.” Cochran’s team has suggested that to nab a win in the runoff, it will need to expand the electorate and potentially convince Democrats who didn’t vote on primary day to come out and back him.

Prior to the primary, supporters of Cochran ran an ad in an African-American weekly newspaper touting his work for minorities in Mississippi, a clear play for Democratic voters.

The tactic could backfire, however, if Republican voters see it as evidence of Cochran’s disloyalty to the party, as the radio ad declares.

“Thad Cochran has given up on the Republican Party. The only way he can stay in Washington is to have Democrats hijack the Republican runoff,” a narrator says.