Thad Cochran

Two of the most reactionary and bigoted Democrats to have served in Congress in modern times were Mississippi Blue Dogs Gene Taylor and Travis Childers. Both amassed voting records that would make any right-wing, hate-filled yahoo delighted. Yesterday each announced his far-fetched plan to get back into Congress. Taylor, who represented Mississippi's Gulf Coast between 1989 and 2011, finally admitted what I've been saying for over a decade: he's nothing but a Republican.

I have a crazy old ex-boss why still calls from time to time, usually to harass me about politics, which he sort of follows from time to time. His father was a ward boss in the Bronx when FDR was president and later a municipal judge. My friend is a life-long Democrat, although he loves Rudy Giuliani "for keeping us safe" and because he's a HUGE fan of "stop and frisk." He constantly berates me for "your boy Obama" no matter how many times I tell him I voted for the Green Party candidate, not for Obama. And his ideal Democrats are Bill and Hill. He loves the Clintons.

As of June 30, Mississippi senior Senator Thad Cochran had only raised $773,953, not much for a U.S. Senator. It gave rise to some talk that he might be thinking of retirement. He was born in 1937 and by the end of his next term he'd be 82. Elected in 1978, he's the second most senior Republican in the Senate. And, for a mainstream conservative like Cochran, a Cruz-ified Republican caucus can't be much fun. But when you realize that the last time he was up for reelection he only spent $518,625, you have to reconsider his lackadaisical fundraising as proof he might be retiring.