Could Republicans lose a Senate seat in Mississippi?

(Image credit: (Facebook.com/ChrisMcDanielforUSSenate))

last updated 11 January 2015

Former Missouri Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) still haunts Republicans after his inflammatory remarks about rape during the 2012 election almost certainly cost his party a U.S. Senate seat.

Now another Akin-like character is popping up in Mississippi's U.S. Senate race.

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But recently leaked excerpts from a 10-minute clip from a radio show are enough to make any GOP strategist cringe. The recording from late 2006 or early 2007 has McDaniel riffing on topics from slavery reparations to homosexuality to living in Mexico.

A sampling as compiled by the Wall Street Journal:

On whether to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves: "If they pass reparations, and my taxes are going up, I ain't paying taxes."

On living in Mexico: "I think we all get together, go down there, build us a studio for like 26 pesos, uh and you know, put on a radio show right there in Mexico. Live the rest of our lives there."

On needing to learn Spanish: "Yes, regrettably…You'll have to learn just enough to ask where the bathroom is. Baños. Baños. That's what you say."

On a video game advertisement: "There's a white woman, and she's holding down a black woman. The world's gone nuts. Listen to this. Minority groups in California screaming that the image is racist. San Francisco politician Tom LeLand says, 'It's racially charged, unnecessary and clearly offensive to our community.' Well, she wasn't holding down a gay guy."

Listen to the whole clip here:

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political websites. He also runs Wonk Wire and the Political Dictionary. Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and COO of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. senator and governor. Goddard is also co-author of You Won â€” Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including The Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Christian Science Monitor. Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.