As the Mississippi Legislature prepares to reconvene tomorrow for a special session called by Governor Phil Bryant to help provide disaster relief for victims of the recent tornadoes that struck Mississippi, the question is: will Chris McDaniel find this a, “,” as he did with Hurricane Katrina relief? Will he say, ”,” if this will be a good thing? Or will he finally do the right thing for Mississippi and stop trying to appease his out-of-state backers?

Senator McDaniel promised Mississippians, ”,” in the Senate. Will he finally do something?

The Mississippi Realtors have launched a website in support of United States Senator Thad Cochran’s reelection. The Realtors cite Senator Cochran’s support for flood insurance reform, rural housing, and opposition to mandatory 20% down payments for all conventional loans as reasons for their endorsement.

“I’m grateful for the Realtors endorsement. I recognize the good work they do ensuring Mississippians have access to opportunities for home ownership,” Senator Cochran said. “Many Mississippians are employed in real estate and related industries, and contribute a great deal to the economic health of our state. I am honored to work with them on issues important to Mississippi families and businesses.”

The website can be viewed  and the endorsement video can be viewed .

In the wake of last week’s tornadoes that devastated multiple regions of Mississippi, Chris McDaniel was called out twice by writers of the state’s largest newspaper:

In the wake of one of the worst natural disasters in Mississippi history, U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel came off every bit as tone-deaf and Washington-centered as he’s accused incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran of being.

As 15 tornadoes tore through the state Monday, it appeared to be politics as usual for the McDaniel campaign. He was attending or planning “meet-and-greets,” and his campaign was streaming messages about McDaniel appearing on “The Blaze,” being endorsed by a political group and other campaign fodder.

Then on Tuesday morning, as people in the state he wants to represent in Congress were climbing through wreckage and finding and identifying those who lost their lives, McDaniel was given a national audience, on “The Laura Ingraham Show.”

McDaniel made no mention of the devastation in his state. He was focused on illegal immigration and criticizing Cochran.

He did note that “all eyes are on Mississippi” right now, but he was referring to his tea party-fueled challenge of a longtime powerful incumbent Republican.

McDaniel at one point in the interview said, “For a change, instead of playing political games, let’s focus on what really matters.”

Indeed.

He did get Ingraham’s endorsement during the interview, and she called him “the closest thing to Jeff Sessions I’ve come across.”

The McDaniel campaign didn’t appear to shift into thoughts-and-prayers-are-with-our-fellow-Mississippians mode until later Tuesday, after my colleague Sam Hall ripped into them on clarionledger.com.

Most of the state’s other politicians, including Cochran, had shut down their political machinery and shifted into disaster mode, pledging all the help they can get for those affected. McDaniel missed a golden opportunity to appear, well, all senatorial and statesmanlike.

Mississippi politics 101 would have seen him out, shirt sleeves rolled up and tie off, trying to help those in need. Or at the least taking a break from hardball politicking and campaigning.

McDaniel is smart and energetic and has been working his tail off crisscrossing the state campaigning from sunup until late night. Much of this blunder is probably attributable to campaign handlers. But folks hammered by storms probably wouldn’t parse such details.

Note to McDaniel campaign: You folks need to have a long sit-down meeting and decide your platform on natural disasters in Mississippi. What with waffling about support of Katrina relief and this, quite frankly, McDaniel is starting to look like he’s not a good man to have in a storm.

As the GOP Senate primary enters its final month, McDaniel’s campaign still appears focused on appealing to the hard-right, tea party-type folks in the Republican Party. But he’s had them locked down from the get-go. They’re fired up, mad and ready to vote against Cochran.

To win, McDaniel is going to have to broaden his appeal and make more people want to vote for him, not just against Cochran.

And when a close-knit, rural state like Mississippi gets hit with a major disaster, a politician needs to remember the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

When tornadoes were ripping through central and north Mississippi yesterday, I wasn’t all that surprised to see an email from Chris McDaniel’s campaign jump into my inbox. I assumed that it was a typical “our thoughts and prayers” email that is common.

Instead, it was a planning email announcing some upcoming campaign stops, including meet-and-greet events in DeSoto and Madison counties for today. It hit me the wrong way, and I almost fired off a snarky little tweet and posted something talking about how thoughtless and asinine it was to send out campaign emails on a day when Mississippi is suffering so much bad weather and loss.

But I let it go. The main reason: I wasn’t going to hammer McDaniel because one of his staffers was tone-deaf to what was happening outside the campaign bubble. Besides, it wasn’t a political email; just a planning piece. (Would have been smart to cancel those appearances today, though…)

Then the campaign sent out another email today, and that was the last straw.

“McDaniel Signs FAIR Immigration Reform Pledge, Calls on Sen. Cochran to Sign” is the subject of the email.

Republican Chris McDaniel, candidate for U.S. Senate in Mississippi, today announced he has signed the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) pledge to enact meaningful immigration reform aimed at restoring traditional immigration rates and protecting America’s interests, economic and otherwise.

“I am honored to stand along side FAIR and fight with them for common-sense immigration reform,” said McDaniel. “With tens of millions of adults sitting out of the workforce as a result of depressed wages and a sluggish economy, it is vital conservative Republicans stand and fight to complete the border fence. Sadly, career politicians like Thad Cochran repeatedly vote not to fund the border fence and encourage de facto amnesty,” McDaniel continued.

So, while the people of Tupelo, Louisville, Richland, Pearl, Brandon and places in between are trying to locate loved ones, reclaim lost personal treasures and grasp the reality of the devastation that has ripped across this state, Chris McDaniel is trying to score political points.

You remember when McDaniel said, “I’m not going to do anything for you” in relation to disaster relief? He was telling the truth.

Updated: A McDaniel supporter who didn’t like my post said I should look at the Mississippi Democratic Party’s Twitter feed for right after the storm. So I did. All last night was storm-related, just like state GOP. Today, six tweets: one storm-related, one overtly political, one about a meeting, one about voter registration and the others about an equality resolution. The state GOP: all storm-related.

State Democrats should give politics a rest as well. State GOP is doing it right. Still doesn’t change a single thing about what McDaniel and his campaign did, though, does it?

EAGLE PAC, which serves to advance The University of Southern Mississippi, released the following statement endorsing U.S. Senator Thad Cochran for re-election:

“Mississippi is fortunate to have a true statesman in the Senate that represents its people with integrity and shares the values that Mississippians hold so dear.

Senator Cochran has been a strong advocate for Southern Miss in Washington.  As a result of Thad’s commitment and dedication to Southern Miss, the university has garnered international respect in numerous fields such as polymer science, marine sciences, economic development and education.  Senator Cochran understands the critical role of higher education in ensuring that the private sector thrives.

After Hurricane Katrina Senator Cochran’s leadership was vital in assisting Southern Miss, as well as all of South Mississippi, recover from that devastating storm.  Whether the crisis is a hurricane, oil spill or tornado, Eagle PAC knows Southern Miss can count on Thad.

Because of his experience, knowledge and integrity, Eagle PAC believes that Senator Cochran will continue to advance Southern Miss’s interests and that he is the right person to represent Mississippi in the U.S. Senate.”

“I am grateful for the support of Eagle PAC,” said Senator Cochran. “The University of Southern Mississippi contributes to our state in many important ways. It’s educational focus, including being home to nationally-recognized programs such as its School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, create opportunities for our citizens. I look forward to continuing to work with Southern Miss to build Mississippi’s economy and quality of life.”

Today, U.S. Senator Thad Cochran’s campaign  about the major success of legislation approved in the Mississippi Legislature in 2010 that has reduced crystal meth production by 93% in Mississippi—and how Chris McDaniel voted AGAINST this important legislation. In fact, McDaniel was one of only four State Senators who voted against the bill that is now being called 

The new ad highlights the problem that Mississippi faced in 2009 when crystal meth production was reaching  Law enforcement needed help fighting the meth problem as the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics recorded  in the state—the highest number ever recorded in one year.  That same year, there were  reported in Mississippi, many that were taken into state child protection services and some who were physically and sexually abused.

The Mississippi Legislature answered the challenge by passing H.B. 512 with overwhelming support—including the support of then-Governor Haley Barbour and then-Lt. Governor Phil Bryant. While the legislation was being considered,  law enforcement was convinced this bill would be “the most effective way available to us to knock down the scourge of methamphetamine in Mississippi,” and , “We need to stop this plague that’s been imposed on our children.”

Inexplicably, State Senator  Chris McDaniel was only one of four members of the Senate who opposed the legislation that has  in Mississippi.

News reports have highlighted how effective the anti-meth production legislation has been in Mississippi as a  Statewide syndicated columnist Sid Salter , “Mississippi was among national leaders in an initiative to do something proactive to impede the manufacture of methamphetamine in Mississippi – an enterprise that had reached epidemic proportions prior to the courageous 2010 act of the Mississippi Legislature in adopting key legislation to make meth manufacture substantially more difficult in the state.”

Amazingly—even with the indisputable evidence showing a 93% drop in meth labs in Mississippi since the bill became law—just ten days ago (April 14), Chris McDaniel bragged about his vote AGAINST the anti-meth legislation in a  to the Mississippi Libertarian Party. In that letter, McDaniel cites ten reasons why he claims to be aligned with libertarian views saying his “record speaks for itself”—and highlighting his vote against the anti-meth bill as the second item in his list to prove it.

“The more voters in Mississippi find out about Chris McDaniel’s record, the more troubling it is—and the more questions it raises about his priorities,” said Jordan Russell, Communications Director for U.S. Senator Thad Cochran’s campaign. “As we’ve seen recently, Chris McDaniel has a history of not voting in elections that are important to Republicans in Mississippi, and his record for missing votes in the State Senate earlier this year was one of the worst. Now it’s even more troubling to see that Chris McDaniel was one of only four State Senators who voted against legislation to fight crystal meth labs. It’s legislation that has been very effective in reducing meth labs by 93% in our state. When Haley Barbour, Phil Bryant and almost every member of the Mississippi Legislature pulled together to help law enforcement protect our citizens in the fight against crystal meth, Chris McDaniel against this important bill. Even though out-of-state Washington, D.C. groups continue spending millions to fund advertising campaigns for Chris McDaniel, the facts are clear that when Mississippi needed Chris McDaniel to help fight crystal meth drug crime, he refused to help.”