Some Mississippians want to change that.
From a front-page article in the Times today, "In Mississippi, Largess Helped a Senator, Until It Hurt Him: Thad Cochran Faces Chris McDaniel in a Primary Runoff Election Tuesday" (my emphasis):
Marty
Wiseman, a political science professor and the former director of the
John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development at
Mississippi State University, said he was astonished that so many voters
were choosing Mr. McDaniel in a state with the nation’s highest poverty
rate and lowest median household income and, according to the Tax
Foundation, a nonprofit Washington think tank, one that receives the
highest level of federal aid as a percentage of state revenue.
“It’s
the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” said Professor Wiseman, who
considers himself a liberal by Mississippi standards. “It defies logic
or reason for somebody to not only run on cutting off the supply of
federal money to Mississippi, but to actually be winning the race.”
Or maybe it's not so strange. Maybe the average Mississippian just doesn't see himself as a welfare queen:
“Everybody’s got their hand out like these damn people at the food stamp
office,” said Randy Harris, a retired auctioneer, between sips of coffee on Thursday at a
local barbecue restaurant. “They’ve got to put an end to all of this
spending.”
I wonder if Mr. Harris has any idea how dependent he and his fellow Mississippians are on the federal government. Do you think the Republicans would ever tell them that?
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