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Economy

unemployment rate and jobs report

The Labor Department said Friday the U.S. economy added 217,000 jobs in May, just slightly below economists’ expectations of 218,000 jobs. The headline unemployment rate remained flat at 6.3 percent, though it was expected to have increased slightly due to Americans reentering the workforce.

The labor force participation rate, a key gauge of the percentage of working-age Americans currently employed, has been disastrous as vast numbers of workers have left the workforce each month out of frustration in finding a decent job. The number of unemployed persons was unchanged in May at 9.8 million. To be fair, the rate has also been exacerbated by the number of people either eligible for retirement or forced into early retirement.

The abysmal 62.8 percent labor force participation rate, which is at its lowest level in four decades, is the only reason the unemployment rate has fallen rapidly in the years since the recession ended in 2009. David Kelly, chief global strategist for JPMorgan Funds, said weakness in the labor force participation rate is a reminder of “some sluggish U.S. economic fundamentals.”

“Lack of investment spending in recent years has sapped productivity growth while the retirement of the baby-boom is largely responsible for the weakness in labor force growth and neither of these problems are likely to be remedied over the next few years,” Kelly said ahead of the release of Friday’s labor report.

“The participation rate has shown no clear trend since this past October but is down by 0.6 percentage point over the year,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in their report. “The employment-population ratio, at 58.9 percent, was also unchanged in May and has changed little over the year.”

The employment-population ratio is actually seen as a better indicator of labor force strength or weakness, though media tends to focus on the participation rate.

The Fed’s has become increasingly alarmed over inflation recently, causing economists to more closely scrutinize the monthly wage figures.

Wages were essentially stagnant in April, again, with average hourly earnings for nonfarm employees staying put at $24.31. Still, over the past 12 months average hourly earnings have increased slightly by 1.9 percent, which is just below the Fed’s 2 percent target rate for inflation. However, the cost of health care and other goods and services are increasing faster than wages can keep up with.

The Fed knows the headline unemployment rate is misleading as an indicator for the health of the broader economy, so they have opted instead to focus on the inflation rate to make future policy decisions, including the inevitable raising of interest rates.

Wages will play a key role in pushing inflation higher toward the Fed’s desired threshold. As wages move higher, workers naturally spend more money, which creates demand for goods and ultimately pushes prices higher.

The headline unemployment rate remained flat at

Politics

haley barbour thad cochran ms senate race

Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour (left) and Sen. Thad Cochran (right).

Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is a staunch supporter of incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran, who not only failed to reach the 50 percent threshold on TUesday, but trailed the insurgent challenger Chris McDaniel by roughly 1400 votes at last count. Barbour made some comments after the race that has McDaniel’s supporters responding ever-so candidly.

“You’d be hard pressed to find a more desperate person than a Washington lobbyist who thinks his fees are being threatened,” Club for Growth Spokesman Barney Keller said in an email to PPD.

“Haley Barbour is supposed to be all powerful, but he’s losing a race in his own backyard, and his influence business in Washington will take a big hit when he no longer has a Mississippi senator in his back pocket. It would be nice if Haley Barbour thought more about the country’s fiscal condition than about his own.”

Barbour was once and in many ways still is a beloved political figure in his state, and according to Alexander Burns at Politico “remains a Godfather-like figure in Mississippi politics” today. He is ironically attempting to frame the Mississippi Senate race as an insider versus outsider contest, but rather than McDaniel playing the role of insurgent, it is Cochran who is supposedly representative of the people of the state.

“This has been portrayed as the Tea Party grassroots versus the establishment, but in Mississippi it’s actuality about some out-of-state outside groups run by political gunslingers who have put millions and millions of dollars in here to get a scalp,” he said to RCP. “Cochran is their last chance to beat a Republican in a Republican primary.”

However, when we look at the voting totals, it would appear that Mr. Keller is on to something. Actually, he’s on to two somethings.

The Club for Growth had framed the race as “a choice” between the old guard and the new guard. Or, perhaps better put as ” a time for choosing” between the same old broken Washington that rewards its friends and a new Washington held accountable to the people. If we look at the vote totals by county, as well as the demographics groups voted, it’s clear that the Club for Growth has the more valid argument.

First, the demographic data by age shows the younger the electorate the better the results were for McDaniel. Despite what Barbour and other supporters of Cochran say leading up to the runoff, young to middle age Mississippi voters agree with the insurgent’s supporters when they say “in with the old and out with the new.” On average, polling showed McDaniel enjoyed a more than 20-point advantage over Cochran among voters under 45, and a 7-point lead among voter 45 to 65. Cochran, however, only won with voters 65 and older.

Second, if we overlay a map of the state of Mississippi breaking down each county by their vote totals, with a map of the state breaking down the counties who are benefitting from lobbyists’ efforts, then we easily conclude Cochran’s ability to deliver pork kept him from getting outright clobbered.

Voting results show Cochran’s main support came from his home county, Lafayette, where he took just over 64 percent of the vote. Hinds county, a wealthier and more populated area, also voted 2 to 1 for Cochran. Rankin and Madison counties around the city of Jackson also went big for Cochran, as did Harrison counties along the Gulf Coast.

What do all of these counties have in common? They are all nursing off of Mother-Washington’s forced reallocation of taxpayer dollars.

Remember, it is extremely difficult to unseat an incumbent for a reason, and barring a disastrous scandal it is even less likely to see one completely blown out of the water. Yet, the anti-incumbent sentiment was strong on Tuesday, so strong that even Jackson County, which also benefits greatly from Cochran’s pork, voted for McDaniel by just under 2 percentage points.

While the voting behavior of Jackson County was a surprise, it wasn’t the biggest surprise. That belongs to Lee County, which was widely expected to go for McDaniel. It didn’t. Cochran took Lee County by a 56.8 to 42.2 percent margin. The heavily populated region has voted for more conservative candidates in the past, which made my eyebrows raise when totals were counted. That is, until PPD confirmed that there was a premeditated effort on the part of the Cochran campaign to convince large numbers of Democrats to cross over and vote for their guy.

When asked to comment about the activists’ allegations, they brushed off our inquiry by claiming they had openly said they would so weeks before Election Day. Contrary to recent speculation, conventional Democratic wisdom held that the seat was nearly impossible for Travis Childers to win, regardless. And if they had to choose between Chris McDaniel, a conservative, and Haley Barbour’s choice, Sen. Thad Cochran, then they felt Cochran was someone they could work with. Worth noting, Democrats may be looking at polling that shows either Cochran or McDaniel would decimate Travis Childers.

If there was any doubt that conservative groups had a good reason to oppose Cochran, Barbour recently made a comment that explains it all.

“Cochran has a lot more opportunity to increase his support,” he started. Regarding McDaniel’s support for eliminating the Department of Education, Barbour noted the state receives “more than 15 percent of our education budget from the federal government. When Mississippians find out he said, out of his own mouth, that we shouldn’t get this money, then I think we can increase the electorate.”

And there you have it. Conservatives believe the Department of Education is an obstacle to education reform, which should focus more on parent control and charter schools, not sending more taxpayer dollars to greedy unions in failing school districts. Of course, “increase the electorate” translates into asking more Democrats to switch over and vote for Cochran.

“Senator Cochran has served honorably, but the rationale for his candidacy ended yesterday,” President Chris Chocola said. “He said he didn’t want to run again, but everyone asked him to. Well, a plurality of Mississippi Republican voters just proved that they don’t want him to.”

Because of the amount of money at stake and the number of lobbyists waiting to collect it, I wouldn’t hold me breathe. But I also would be shocked if they found their efforts were successful after the June 24 runoff. And truth be told, so would Cochran, which is why he didn’t even bother to show up to speak to supporters on election night.

(UPDATE: A prior version of this article stated the runoff was on June 26. The primary is on June 24, as we first stated here. It has been updated to reflect those changes.)

The Club for Growth hit back on

Economy

weekly jobless claims

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, according to a Thursday report from the Labor Department. First-time weekly jobless claims for state unemployment benefits increased 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 312,000 for the week ended May 31.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast first-time applications for jobless aid rising to 310,000 last week.

A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors influencing the state level data.

The four-week moving average for new claims, which is considered a better indicator of underlying labor market conditions due to it smoothing out week-to-week volatility, fell 2,250 to 310,250. That’s the lowest level since June 2007.

Last week’s data will not be included in the Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs employment report released for the month of May on Friday. Nonfarm payrolls are expected to have increased 218,000, a slowing down from April’s outsized 288,000 gain, according to a Reuters survey of economists. However, the ADP jobs report released earlier this week ahead of the BLS survey missed Wall Street’s expectations.

The jobless rate is expected to rise one-tenth of a percentage point to 6.4 percent from a 5-1/2 year low in April, likely driven by people entering the labor force in search of work. The unemployment rate fell only due to the amount of people who left the labor market, or quit looking for the American dream.

If the BLS report shows slowed growth, which it likely will, then some economists will say it should not be viewed as a loss of momentum in the labor market, because it would still be around the average for the preceding six months. But economic growth is not achieved by matching averages or even slightly increasing from the average, rather growth is achieved when reports shows data that consistently beats the average.

Further, the U.S. economy must add at least 250,000 private sector jobs monthly in order to simply keep pace with population increases, let alone grow an abundance of opportunity.

The weekly jobless claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid declined 20,000 to 2.60 million in the week ended May 24. That was the lowest level since October 2007, but in large part due to the fact that we are simply running out of eligible applicants and they are running out of benefits.

Still, to some extent continuing claims have declined for five straight weeks, which suggests some measure of long-term unemployment is decreasing as people are finding work. The unemployment rate for people collecting unemployment benefits has held at 2.0 percent since April.

The number of Americans filing new claims

Science, Video

A NASA flying saucer that will hopefully help to land large payloads on Mars is in the testing phase, potentially hitting operational status within a week.

NASA has been challenged by the basic principal that says the “bigger you are the harder you fall,” meaning it is harder to slow down a descent when the load is heavier and larger in mass.

Equipped with a heat shield, parachute, and inflatable doughnut-like apparatus surrounding the craft, the two-stage landing process outlined in the prototype will help to slow down the vehicle enough to avoid damage upon landing and impact. While the prototype, itself, is roughly 10 feet in diameter, the actual craft to be sent to Mars would be more like 100 feet in diameter.

Of course, the ultimate goal is to eventually send human beings to the red planet, but the first missions if successful would likely carry larger rovers. Even though the craft is scheduled to be tested within the week, it may be tested as early as tomorrow.

The next mission to Mars is set for 2020, a project that is currently running a year ahead of schedule and is designed to bring more rovers equipped to further explore Mars in more detail.

A NASA flying saucer that will hopefully

World

obama and Poroshenko in poland

June 4, 2014: U.S. President Barack Obama, right, meets with Ukraine president-elect Petro Poroshenko in Warsaw, Poland. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Obama criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for using “dark tactics” in eastern Ukraine, characterizing them as the actions of a by-gone era that won’t stand in the 21st Century.

“Our free nations will stand united so that further Russian provocations will only mean more isolation and costs for Russia,” he said behind protective glass. “Because after investing so much blood and treasure to bring Europe together, we refuse to allow the dark tactics of the 20th century to define the 21st.”

Prior to the speech, President Obama also announced Wednesday that the U.S. has pledged to the Ukrainian government another $5 million to supply body armor, night-vision goggles and communication equipment. The aid is desperately needed by the new government in Kiev’s ongoing struggle against Russian-backed separatists in the east.

Obama announced the aid following a meeting with Ukrainian President-Elect Petro Poroshenko in Warsaw, and the new leader is due to be sworn into office this weekend.

“The Ukrainian people made a wise selection in someone to lead them thru this period,” Obama said of Poroshenko. “I have been deeply impressed by his vision, partly because of his experience as a businessman (though unsurprisingly, he didn’t feel so warm about Mitt Romney).”

Administration officials told People’s Pundit Daily that Obama has approved more than $23 million in non-lethal security assistance to Ukraine since early March, including meals ready-to-eat, money for medical supplies, clothing, sleeping bags and generators.

Poroshenko vehemently thanked the American people for offering their support, and pledged to enter a crucial phase aimed to bring about a peaceful political process to end the current crisis.

Obama was in Warsaw to help commemorate the 25th anniversary of Poland’s first partially free election, a prime example of democratic progress that the U.S. president plans to point to in a speech later Wednesday as a model for Ukraine. He used the platform ahead of a D-Day anniversary ceremony later this week, where Mr. Obama and Mr. Putin will come face to face, to slam Russia for the same accusations frequently hurled at the U.S. by the Russian leader.

“Bigger nations must not be allowed to bully the small, or impose their will at the barrel of a gun or with masked men taking over buildings,” the president said addressing a Freedom Day celebration in Royal Castle Square. “And the stroke of a pen can never legitimize the theft of a neighbor’s land. So we will never accept Russia’s occupation of Crimea or its violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty.”

Though Crimea voted earlier this year to secede from Ukraine, the U.S. and its European allies do not recognize the vote, a vote that was largely seen as illegitimate and fraudulent. While many in the region — perhaps even a majority — supported Russian annexation, opposition parties refused or feared voting.

Meanwhile, Mr. Obama and new G7 will meet Wednesday night in Brussels. The meeting — which will include the U.S., Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan — was originally set to be held in Sochi, Russia, and obviously it was supposed to include Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the U.S. and its allies canceled the meeting to punish Russia for meddling in Ukraine.

Obama’s meeting with Poroshenko came just 10 days after he became Ukraine’s first elected leader since its pro-Russian president fled and Moscow annexed the Crimean Peninsula, in a confrontation that’s reignited old global divisions.

“He won everywhere, and clearly has been given a mandate to try to lead the country into a new era,” Secretary of State John Kerry after meeting here with Poroshenko ahead of the president.

Ahead of a face-to-face encounter with the

Polls

obama approval rating and generic ballot polls

Polling data on Obama approval rating suggest Democrats may be headed for a worse Election Day than in both 1994 and 2010.

A series of public polling data released this week found the number of Americans who approve of Obama’s handling of foreign policy is at an all-time low. The polls were conducted amid growing controversy over the prisoner exchange that resulted in the release of five uber-dangerous Gitmo detainees in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a deserter and potential collaborator captured and held by the Haqqani network in Pakistan for five years after he abandoned his post and fled toward enemy lines.

Polling conducted jointly by ABC News/Washington Post, CNN/Opinion Research, and Rasmussen Reports all have been more favorable to the president than the median average of all pollsters. Yet, the numbers bode bad for Obama’s agenda to close the detention center at Gitmo, as well as potentially damning for embattled Democrats up for reelection in November.

Overall, President Obama’s approval rating now sits at 43.5 percent to 52.5 percent who disapprove, as aggregated and calculated in the PPD average. Worth noting, much of his approval is propped up by daily tracking by Rasmussen Reports, who has been an even more wild outlier as of late than they have typically proven to be in the past. Currently, tracking for the Obama approval rating measure by Rasmussen sits at a margin of 52 percent approve to 47 disapprove, a finding not explained by the “likely voter” model they claim lays at the heart of the variance.

Nevertheless, on foreign policy, the last four of five polls conducted have each posted all-time lows for Obama’s job approval rating. The latest CNN poll conducted by Opinion Research Center found just 40 percent approve of Obama’s handling of foreign policy, while a whopping 57 percent disapprove. The ABC News/Washington Post poll, which we were recently forced to downgrade on our pollster measurement for past inaccuracy, found just 41 percent approve, an all-time low measured by the pollster.

Meanwhile, Rasmussen Reports released a new survey Wednesday that found most American voters are staunchly opposed to hostage negotiations with terrorist groups like the Taliban. However, without being told the details of Berghdals captivity, voters are almost evenly divided over the prisoner exchange.

The survey found that 40 percent of likely voters agree with the U.S. government’s decision to release five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay prison “in exchange for the one U.S. military prisoner of war” held by the Taliban in Afghanistan. However, 43 percent disagree with that decision and a sizable 17 percent are still undecided. Those numbers are likely to get more negative for the president for two reasons.

First, the details surrounding Bergdahl’s capture — as in the fact he is a deserter who is responsible for the death of 14 soldiers — were not widely circulated until one day ago. Who wouldn’t want to see a family reunited after five years of being a prisoner of war? Unfortunately, Rasmussen asked the question in a manner that was completely inaccurate to the actual events, which will become increasingly clear over the following weeks and months.

Which brings me to my second point.

The number of Americans who say they agree are a mixed bag that include hard-line leftists opposed to Gitmo at all costs, as well as sensible yet compassionate Americans. That number will dwindle as the more compassionate Americans learn more about the truth and change their minds. The large amount of undecideds either weren’t particularly familiar with the story or have decided to reserve judgement until they’ve heard more about the story.

Because the details of the story are bad — very bad, to the point of building public outrage — it is a safe bet that they will disaproportionately side against deserter and soon-to-be subject to UCMJ penalties, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

The polling is bad news for a president who is currently touring Europe and meeting with Ukraine’s new government to sure up America’s support. Whether it is bad enough to expect it will likely influence November’s results, is yet to be seen.

Recent polling measuring the Obama approval rating

Economy

service-sector

(Photo: Reuters)

Dual reports Wednesday suggest the U.S. labor market is floundering in the second quarter, with job creation missing the mark and gains only in the low-paying service sector.

First, the half-way good news.

Growth in the low-paying services sector increased in May, rising at the fastest pace in nine months and fueled by increases in new orders and business activity.

The Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday its services sector index rose to 56.3 in May, up from 55.2 in April and beating expectations for a read of 55.5.

The report marks the 53rd straight month the index was above 50. Readings above 50 indicate expansion, while below 50 indicates contraction. The May measurement was the highest since August’s report of 57.9, which was a seven-year high.

The gauge of business activity also increased to 62.1, up from 60.9 in April. While it was the highest read for the index since February 2011 and beat economists’ forecast of 60, activity remains slow in higher-paying working class sectors.

The new orders index rose to 60.5, which was the highest level since January 2011, up from 58.2 in April. Meanwhile, the employment index rose to 52.4 from 51.3 in April, but the prices paid index rose to 61.4, its highest since October 2012 and from 60.8.

Now, the bad news.

Private companies hired just 179,000 workers in May, which was the lowest monthly increase since January and missed market expectations. The U.S. economy must add 250,000 monthly to simply keep pace with population increases, a mark consistently missed during the Obama presidency.

A report by the payrolls processor ADP showed on Wednesday that private job gains in April were also revised down to 215,000 from 220,000. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast that the ADP National Employment Report would show an increase of 210,000 jobs in the month of May.

The report is jointly developed with Moody’s Analytics.

Dual reports Wednesday suggest the U.S. labor

Opinion

obama scandals and overreach

I think the left wing needs to seriously reassess its priorities. Think about what we have seen from this administration in the past few weeks.

Veterans are left waiting for medical care and the only response had been to retire two men who had nothing to do with it and, more importantly, have been allowed to keep their pensions and benefits.

The president’s own spokesman has resigned from the pressure and as he did so, the president blew a kiss to him.

We have traded 5 dangerous men for what appears to be for a soldier that went “native” and Obama allowed parents who were sympathetic to the enemy trash America in the Rose Garden at the White House. Our president has violated numerous laws to recover what may be a traitor. Instead of prosecuting him for desertion for his modern day John Dunbar (“Dances with Wolves”) impression, we will probably promote and pin a medal on him.

We have a Marine who is being tortured and abused in a miscarriage of justice in Mexico with little effort to recover him. This is in light of the fact that busloads of illegal immigrants from this very same area of the world are given food, clothes, shelter and a safe haven from prosecution here.

Our military has been sacrificed for the false “green” agenda and our military can no longer protect us from an attack on the homeland — by the Pentagon’s own estimate. Additionally, our government has ensured the economy cannot recover now or in the immediate future by placing restrictions on the coal industry and power generation which accounts for 30% of this nation’s energy needs.

Congress is investigating the possibility that our former Secretary of State may have colluded with intelligence services that provided arms to the enemy and killed 4 Americans, including our ambassador to Libya. Our current Secretary of State is falling asleep in public on leaders that are under attack from a hostile nation.

During all of this, our president has suggested that dictatorial-like powers would fix this government and that the normal process of check and balances is an antiquated process. Meanwhile, bureaucratic departments like Social Security, the IRS and the BLM are stockpiling weapons and ammunition.

I have only one question.

What is wrong with our leadership that they have allowed this man to remain in office? I fail to see the reason why the Democrats in the Senate are standing by him and refusing to move forward on the obvious and logical course of action to deal with a president that is clearly incompetent, if only to protect their precious jobs.

I had predicted that the GOP might not win the Senate in the fall. This may be the first prediction I made that was so far off base.

Or sadly, was right on target.

Thomas Purcell is host of the Liberty Never Sleeps podcast show and more of his work can be read at libertyneversleeps.com. 

With all of the Obama scandals piling

Economy

trade gap

The U.S. trade deficit widened to its highest level in two years in April as imports hit a record high, raising concerns the trade gap could wipe out second-quarter growth. In the first quarter, the U.S. economy contracted as a by 1 percent as result of the trade gap. Trade subtracted nearly an entire percentage point from first-quarter gross domestic product.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday the trade gap increased 6.9 percent to $47.2 billion, which was the largest increase since April 2012. The data followed March’s revised $44.2 billion gap.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected the deficit to widen to $40.8 billion, up slightly from a previously reported $40.4 billion shortfall. The government also released its annual benchmark revisions with Wednesday’s data.

When calculating the deficit and adjusting for inflation, the deficit again increased to $53.8 billion from $50.9 billion in March.

Imports increased 1.2 percent to an all-time high of $240.6 billion in April. Imports of automobiles, capital goods, food and consumer goods all hit record highs in April.

The trade deficit with the European Union was also the largest ever recorded, particularly noteworthy was the trade gap with Germany, a country deeply dependent on Russian energy.

Imports from South Korea also touched a record high, while Chinese imports rose by a whopping 16.3 percent, increasing the trade gap with China to $27.3 billion from $20.4 billion in March.

Exports slipped 0.2 percent to $193.3 billion.

The U.S. trade deficit widened to its

Politics

chris mcdaniel

Chris McDaniel promises a victory to a late night audience Tuesday July 3, 2014, at the Lake Terrace Convention Center in Hattiesburg, Miss. McDaniel and six-term Sen. Thad Cochran dueled inconclusively Tuesday night at close quarters in Mississippi’s primary election Tuesday night (AP Photo/George Clark)

People’s Pundit Daily projected last night that no one will outright win the Mississippi Republican primary for U.S. Senate. A candidate needed to earn more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff, which the Cochran camp desperately hoped to do tonight.

However, with roughly 100 percent of the vote tallied, Chris McDaniel edged-out Sen. Thad Cochran with 151,842 votes (49.6%) to 151,842 votes (48.9%). The two will square off again in three weeks in if the numbers holds steady after absentee and affidavits are counts and considered.

Senator Thad Cochran and his supporters posted up at Jackson Hilton Hotel while they awaited voting results, while state Senator Chris McDaniel and his supporters gathered at Hattiesburg Convention Center.

Speaking to supporters, McDaniel said he expects to win, “whether it’s tomorrow or three weeks from tonight. This is a historic moment in this state’s history. And because of your hard work, because of your dedication, we sit here tonight leading a 42-year incumbent.” Cochran did not speak to supporters Tuesday night.

In Jackson County, election commissioner Danny Glaskox said Republican turnout has been heavy while Democratic turnout in some precincts was “non-existent.” Republicans had cast 400 absentee ballots in Jackson County to roughly 40 Democratic absentee ballots. McDaniel carried Jackson county 50 – 48 percent. Fast-growing DeSoto County and Jones County were was all McDaniel country, with a 63 – 36 percent margin separating the two in DeSoto.

Another factor in the race that received little attention from pundits took place in the southeastern region of the state, which was ground zero for a competitive Republican congressional primary.

History also suggested that the northeast corner of the state, primarily the heavily populated Lee County, should have been prime territory for Chris McDaniel. Cochran carried Lee County by a 57 – 42 percent margin. We have confirmed that Democrats crossed over in large numbers to support Cochran, and that the incumbent welcomed the meddling in this county and others. A Democratic activist described the thinking behind the effort.

“If it’s North Carolina or Missouri, two states we know we can win with an extreme right-wing candidate, then we’d help them,” she said. “But Mississippi is still red, and we’ll take Cochran because we believe we can work with him on immigration reform, and such.”

The Cochran camp didn’t even bother to deny it, claiming they had welcomed Democratic cross-over votes openly for weeks. Whether or not those voters helped Cochran keep McDaniel under 50 percent, can never truly be known, despite the credit Democrats are quietly taking. There moment of happiness as a result of their meddling will likely not last, as the lower turnout will almost certainly benefit McDaniel on June 24.

Cochran’s base of support came from his home county, Lafayette, which is in the northern region of the state, where the wealthier population centers of Hinds, Rankin and Madison counties border up around Jackson and Harrison counties along the Gulf Coast. Cochran also performed well in the city of Jackson, which was expected considering the entire region has benefitted greatly from Cochran’s decades-long pork projects.

McDaniel had been gaining momentum in the race until a campaign bomb came in the form of an arrest of a 28-year-old political blogger accused of taking a photo of Cochran’s bed-ridden wife at the nursing home where she has lived since 2000. Three others were also later charged, including a tea party official connected to McDaniel, though all claimed he had no knowledge.

Cochran first rode Richard Nixon’s coattails to Washington in 1972. After over 41 years in the Senate — coupled with his time in the House gives him the distinction of the longest-serving Republican lawmaker ever — it appeared he wasn’t interested in running for a seventh term. At 76, Cochran underscored that he was drafted into the race by party heads, claiming Senate leaders felt Mississippi would likely elect a anti-establishment candidate to send Washington.

Worth noting, this was Mississippi’s first election since the new voter ID law took effect, and predictably there were no major incidents reported.

The Mississippi Senate race is rated “Safe Republican” on PPD’s 2014 Senate Map Predictions.

The Mississippi Senate race is headed to

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