Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith is in a tight runoff against Democrat Mike Espy for the last open Senate seat in a very red state. Espy has a chance of becoming the first African American senator in Mississippi since Blanche Bruce in 1875. Hyde-Smith has run the right-wing campaign most everyone expected a Republican in Mississippi to run. However, in the modern era, with phones and recording equipment readily available, and coverage of campaign stops more granular than in the past, Hyde-Smith’s Republicanism has become an issue. At one campaign stop, Hyde-Smith joked that she liked Gov. Phil Bryant so much that, "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row," which has gruesome and racist implications when you consider she's running against a black candidate in a state with one of the worst histories of lynchings in the United States.
It’s a hilarious joke on so very many levels. The first level is the racism. The second level is the racism. Come to think of it, all of the levels where this joke plays are racist ones. Since that time, Hyde-Smith has refused to apologize, because that’s the new Trump thing—unabashed bigotry and insensitivity to your fellow human being. So now, what was once a senate seat that was all but guaranteed to go to whoever had a red “R” next to their name on the ballot box is in question.
Judd Legum’s Popular Information has been going through the Hyde-Smith campaign’s FEC filings in order to out contributors. This has led to companies like Google being identified as having given donations. On Monday, Walmart was busted for contributing $2,000, long after Hyde-Smith’s comments and lack of an apology were pasted throughout the news. The story was picked up across the interwebs, which led to signal-boosting from people like actress Debra Messing.
With the pressure on, Walmart wrote:
Hi Debra. Completely understand your concern. Sen. Hyde-Smith’s recent comments clearly do not reflect the values of our company and associates. As a result, we are withdrawing our support and requesting a refund of all campaign donations.
They were not alone. Other smaller companies have also asked for their money back.
Guess that was a “check is in the mail” thing.
With one week to go, these small moves are drops in the bucket. But they expose one of the ways that our campaign finance system allows our democratic process to be riddled with white supremacist corruption. The fact remains that there are more than enough Republican voters willing to pretend that anything and everything offensive their candidate says is mostly a “mistake,” as the New York Times recently wrote about Republican voters and Hyde-Smith.
“It would’ve been so much better if she apologized,” Mr. Feaster said. “It would’ve helped smooth over the waters. She’s a rookie, though.”
“I thought it was inappropriate, but we don’t know the context of it,” he said. “Unless something changes dramatically, she still has my vote.”
But do Hyde-Smith and her critics agree on the exact context of it? Turning Mississippi blue is a long-term project we will continue to fight for.
Become a part of Mike Espy’s call-making team to help get out the vote for him this coming week!
