Thad Cochran calls primary opponent 'dangerous' and 'extremist'

Thad Cochran calls primary opponent &#039;dangerous&#039; and &#039;extremist&#039;

(Image credit: Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images)

If you thought Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) would go gentle into that good night, you were sorely mistaken. As the Clarion-Ledger reports:

After months of milquetoast statements and letting surrogates do any campaign trash talking, incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran went on the offensive in Hattiesburg on Tuesday, calling his opponent Chris McDaniel "an extremist" who would hurt Mississippi with indiscriminate cuts to federal spending. [Clarion-Ledger]

Cochran went on to say, "It would be dangerous to have somebody like him elected."

Cochran's team had already signaled that they would attempt to woo Independents and Democrats (who did not vote in their party's primary election) to turn out for Cochran in the run-off, and this seems like the kind of messaging that could do the trick. It is also consistent with recent efforts to cast McDaniel as outside the mainstream.

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But this is also a high-stakes move. As others have pointed out, in the likely event that McDaniel wins the run-off, Democrats will now be able to use Cochran's sound bites calling McDaniel an "extremist" in general election ads.

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Matt K. Lewis is a contributing editor at TheWeek.com and a senior contributor for The Daily Caller. He has written for outlets including GQ Politics, The Guardian, and Politico, and has been cited or quoted by outlets including New York Magazine, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. Matt co-hosts The DMZ on Bloggingheads.TV, and also hosts his own podcast. In 2011, Business Insider listed him as one of the 50 "Pundits You Need To Pay Attention To Between Now And The Election." And in 2012, the American Conservative Union honored Matt as their CPAC "Blogger of the Year." He currently lives in Alexandria, Va.