This is responding to Will Hall’s Oct. 16 column (“Elect McDaniel, oppose establishment”). I would first like to commend Hall for sharing his political views in such a public fashion. As a former DM opinion editor and writer, I know that opinion columns can be received in a hostile manner. I would now like to address a point that Hall offered in support of a potential Senate race by current state Sen. Chris McDaniel.
Hall proclaims, “(McDaniel) lives in the nightmares of Senate Republicans who would prefer inaction to action when it comes to making America great again.” I found this depiction of Sen. McDaniel as a man of action to be confusing — especially, if one includes getting legislation passed as a part of the “action.” The vast majority of Sen. McDaniel’s bills (the ones that he was the principal author) since being elected have died in committee. This is partly explained by the fact that he could not convince his own Republican colleagues on the merit of his policy ideas. Many of the bills signed by the governor, that McDaniel was the principal author of, focused on commending local sports teams. It’s difficult for me to follow the line of thinking that would basically argue that a state senator who has had very little success convincing his Mississippi colleagues on the merit of his policy ideas needs to be elected to the U.S. Senate. To me, it seems as though one should be successful in Triple A before going to the Majors. Maybe I am missing something here.
Tim Abram is a 2014 graduate of the University of Mississippi from Horn Lake.
