Republicans are frightened people. Based on their moral hypocrisies, it is unlikely they believe in that God they say they fear so much. But make no mistake. They are afraid. They fear the public. They fear the democratic process. They fear their own words and ideas and feelings being discussed in the public sphere. Democrat Mike Espy is in a runoff against Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith for the last remaining Senate seat in Mississippi. Normally, historically even, an African American liberal man running for office in Mississippi would have zero chances of winning. But, this year, this president, and the abject moral failures of the Republican Party have made Espy’s run close. Tuesday, November 20, Mike Espy and Cindy Hyde-Smith are set for their one debate.
Hyde-Smith has been trying to stay as low profile as possible, since anytime her face or voice appear in public, she either says something wildly offensive or just simply represents something wildly offensive and racist. The Jackson Free Press reports that Hyde-Smith is not simply afraid of being seen in public, she does not want the public to watch her, or be anywhere near her during tonight’s debate, where “only the debate moderator, panelists and the production team will be allowed in the auditorium.”
Espy’s team wanted three debates, they wanted an audience, wanted the candidates to be able to answer a single question of one another, wanted press and the public to watch the debate. All of these things were nixed by the Hyde-Smith machine.
"They have rigged this debate for her to win," the second source said. "Espy's campaign wanted full access for the press and a live studio audience—they said no. Espy wanted no notes going in. Instead, she and her team will have time to build a crib sheet with everything she needs to say before hand. Espy wanted the candidates to ask the questions to each other directly—they said it had to be pre-submitted. Presumably that's because she isn't comfortable asking whatever gotcha question her handlers have hooked up."
This is kind of amazing. We all know that politics is theatre. We know that debates are public forums that can frequently—usually for Republicans in primary against Trump—favor the more entertaining personality. But, Hyde-Smith’s team has tried to turn this debate into a blackbox theatre performance art piece for no one. How was Hyde-Smith able to get all of these concessions? The only place she would debate Espy was under a donor roof.
The top board members for the Mississippi Farm Bureau, which is hosting the debate, have all donated to Hyde-Smith, including Farm Bureau President Mike McCormick, who donated $500 to her campaign in October; Farm Bureau North Vice President Donald Gant, who donated $500 in October; and Farm Bureau Central Vice President Ted Kendall, who donated $3,500 to Hyde-Smith between June and October.
Even before this single debate was agreed upon, Ms. Hyde-Smith tried to hide behind travel when bowing out of a debate before the November 6, election led to a runoff between her and Espy and fellow REPublican Chris McDaniels. After Senate Majority turtle Mitch McConnell freed Hyde-Smith up for recess, her campaign scrambled to find a new excuse.
"Cindy Hyde-Smith can no longer hide behind the veil of Washington to save her from facing the Mississippi voters," McDaniel said in a Friday press release. "We know she'll be here in-state, so there's no reason she can't stand on a stage and defend her stances."
The Hyde-Smith campaign is "looking at her schedule," its communications director, Melissa Scallan, told the Jackson Free Press on Friday.
She ended up discovering that she had to shampoo her hair that day. Tuesday night, she will face Espy, and even though she has stacked the deck, there seems to be reason to believe she’s still running scared. And with news that many of her donors are now publicly embarrassed and calling for her to return their money, and with images of her wearing Confederate headwear for fun times surfacing, Ms. Hyde-Smith should be terrified.
