Thad Cochran Passed Away!

Thad Cochran passed away.

Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith (R-MS) replace him and won her special election to finish out his term. She ran like the racist she grew up to be. Had he been in perfect health, Thad Cochran would have served out his term.

Cochran died at the age of 81. He and former Indiana senator Richard Lugar were the few moderate Republicans left. Lugar died earlier this month.

Considered a rank and file, the former senator would be too moderate for today's Republican Party.

Cochran served the U.S. Senate for 45 years. He resigned in 2018 because of his ailing health. He passed away in Oxford. He leaves behind his second wife Kay Webber-Cochran and two children from his first wife, Rose Cochran.

He called the chaos in Washington, DC as an ongoing challenge.

Known as the "quintessential Southern gentleman" he would often be the broker of calm in a polarizing Senate. With folks like Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Marco Rubio, Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, Martha McSally, Joe Manchin, Susan Collins, Kamala Harris and Rand Paul dominating the news feeds, you often needed a voice of reason to calm nerves.

"Some people say that Thad Cochran is the last true southern gentleman, and I think there's a lot of truth to that. Some people say that he represents the lost art of being nice," said Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL).

Gov. Phil Bryant, Barack Obama, Mike Pence, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Hyde Smith all expressed their phony condolences to the late former senator.

Cochran was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978. He served as U.S. Representative for three terms prior. He was the first Republican to be elected statewide in Mississippi in more than 100 years. He served with then Senate Majority Leader at the time Trent Lott. Lott is best known for praising far-white bigot and hypocrite (by the way of an interracial daughter) Strom Thurmond.

Cochran with his successor Cindy Hyde Smith.

Cochran faced an onslaught of conservative outrage. In 2014, Sarah Palin, Sean "Softball" Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham and The Drudge Report marked him for defeat. They recruited Chris McDaniel to run against him.

McDaniel who ran a dirty campaign tried to play upon family values by denouncing Cochran who was dating his staffer Kay Webber while his wife Rose Cochran was dying.

Chuck C. Johnson, the far-white troll paid folks to expose Cochran. It failed miserably.

Cochran counted on open primary support from the Black voters. A largely Democratic base supported a Republican is amazing. He went on to defeat McDaniel in the primary.

Cochran would marry Webber soon after his wife's death and reelection.
Cochran was one of the few Republican senators to support the bill to make Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a national holiday.

I am not too keen on Republicans and I seriously believe that Donald J. Trump will destroy the party in the long run. For once I can say that Thad Cochran was probably one of the good Republicans.