July 9, 2014
In the GOP's continued saga of internecine warfare, there's another front opening in the Battle of Mississippi with a shot coming from... Missouri?
The chairman of the Missouri GOP wants the campaign investigated by the Republican National Committee, http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/missouri-gop-head-seeks-party-probe-of-mississippi-ads-alleging-racism/2014/07/08/e9610e1a-06eb-11e4-bbf1-cc51275e7f8f_story.html">according to the Washington Post. The Missouri GOP chair wants the RNC to investigate racially-charged robocalls and ads that appear to have been placed in Canton, Miss., and elsewhere in support of Cochran's run-off bid.
The head of the Missouri Republican Party on Tuesday asked Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to appoint a task force to investigate what he called “racially divisive ads and robocalls” critical of state Sen. Chris McDaniel in the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate in Mississippi.
Ed Martin, the GOP chair in Missouri, is apparently concerned that Henry Barbour, nephew of former Governor Haley Barbour, may be behind a radio ad that was reported by http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2672565/The-worst-race-baiting-ads-Ive-seen-Radio-ads-Mississippi-senate-race-accused-tea-party-candidate-Ku-Klux-Klan-links-drove-black-Democrats-vote-against-REPUBLICAN-primary.html">Britain's Daily Mail.
The Daily Mail story, which offers an in-depth investigation to determine who placed the ads and how, notes that the ads were tagged "paid for by Citizens for Progress," a group that isn't registered with the FEC.
According to the Daily Mail, this same group name had been used previously by Mitzi Bickers, an Atlanta pastor, who, coincidentally, was being paid by Mississippi Conservatives -- a "super PAC" created by Haley Barbour and run by his nephew, Henry Barbour.
The younger Barbour told the Daily Mail he didn't know about the radio ads, although he acknowledged hiring Bickers to run a robocall campaign in the Cochran-McDaniel runoff.
In the radio ad, McDaniel is linked to an "ally" of the KKK, and listeners are warned that a McDaniel victory could mean a loss of government benefits such as food stamps, lunch programs and disaster assistance.
Comments
donnaladd 9 years, 9 months ago
Wow, what madness. I knew the name "Mitzi Bickers" sounded familiar. We reported that http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/...">she was one of Tony Yarber's top contributors in the mayor's race this year.
donnaladd 9 years, 9 months ago
I'm a bit confused, though, why she's listed as a contributor when she tends to be paid by campaigns. This merits more research.
Here's a National Review article about her: http://www.nationalreview.com/article...">http://www.nationalreview.com/article...
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