senator, thad cochran. and chris mcdaniel was the source of a little bit of political embarrassment earlier this month when the news magazine, mother jones, wrote about his history with neoconfederate groups in his state. mr. mcdaniel has been keynoting events hosted by this group, which is a local chapter of the sons of confederate veterans. one of the events that chris mcdaniel did for them featured all of the attendees dressing up in confederate uniforms. and these are not just guys who celebrate the history of the confederacy. these are guys who think there ought to be a confederacy now. they fly the confederate flag and wear confederate battle uniforms. not just because they like that the south seceded once, but because they want the south to secede again, and for pretty much the same reasons that they did the first time. this was a political embarrassment when the neoconfederate, neosecessionist leanings of this guy were reported nationally, but it should be noted that it was not an embarrassment for

thad cochran has a primary charge, lamar alexander has a primary challenge.dd up to the -- make something happen as someone who has spent the last -- longer than 15 years watching this, i would not have said five years ago that this was a possibility. it was sort of the thing they always invoked to make things happen, but that it might not ever really happen. but i think it marks we're in a different time, a different able, andrea, historically in terms of partisanship and what is and what is not possible. i think today's vote is a reflection of that. >> there have been hundreds of cloture votes for routine matters in this senate as compared to previous senates. so that's the harry reid argument. we can't get anything done. >> that's right. and i would say, andrea, i think the reason that we haven't seen the nuclear option invoked until today is probably harry reid. democrats have controlled the senate since the 2006 election and reid talking to the past advisers and current advisers, i think he was loathe to do it. i think he understood the dangers of it. ca

and in the face of that, he reentered government as a chief of staff with his successor, thad cochran, of making wall street pay an imposing discipline on the banks and bringing the wrongdoers who swap led to the financial precipice to justice, which of course none of which happened. but it was for him in a matter of self-respect to recognize that he had been part of a corrupt system to make it good. and the book also has profiles with a number of celebrities from newt gingrich and politics to oprah winfrey and entertainment and robert rubin and finance and alice waters as well. they represented the elites and many of them came from this background as these main characters that i am describing. but in most cases they either were rising up through institutions that no longer were working as they showed like colin powell in the government and robert rubin on wall street and they didn't understand until it was too late that they were part of the problem and that their institutions were actually working directly to undermine what they had. the other is of the celebrities are more institut

you have people like thad cochran and lamb lamar alexander and mitch mcconnell from kentucky. and all of a sudden if the message is i am the most conservative person, vote for me. if that's the winning message, that has to frighten those folks up for election because they are very conservative senators but make deals with the opposition. >> i want to read a little bit of what the daily beast wrote regarding the runoff election and what it may predict. they say the divide is about what tactics republican activists think will be most successful as the next budget showdown loomz. do they have a fire brand that believes barack obama was born in kenya or political veteran who emphasizes the need to work with people and at washington and at home. their answer may influence strategy in capitol hill in the months to come, which is what you were saying in your analysis there. >> right, as we saw during the government shutdown, mitch mcconnell, even though he supported the republicans almost every step of the way, if he ended up negotiating a deal to reopen the government in the standof

senator, thad cochran.el was the source of a little bit of political embarrassment earlier this month when the news magazine, mother jones, wrote about his history with neoconfederate groups in

senator, thad cochran.cdaniel was the source of a little bit of political embarrassment earlier this month when the news magazine, mother jones, wrote about his history with neoconfederate groups in his state. mr. mcdaniel has been keynoting events hosted by this group, which is a local chapter of the sons of confederate veterans. one of the events that chr

thad cochran has an exit said what he's going to run for reelection. he said he would announce it late this year, early next year. i've been told that really watch the farm bill conference committee. it's that important to them. it's why he sort of bob pat roberts out of the rankings law. it has an impact on whether to look like him and then he will decide. the question is, he has not -- he has an announced opponent -- my question is, is the strategy to push them out or keep them in? the theory is that it might be easier to beat him in the primary than it would be for the candidate did someone else will get in this race. trust me, someone else will get industries. in terms of someone who's been elected statewide. >> okay. if republicans had a bad night, pick up three seats, maybe? >> on the site, if they have a bad night i can see -- i mean i really, like 2012 that night, i see them making one or two. spent okay. one or two which would give them 46, 47. if they had a great night, what might it be? >> fifty-one. if they have a great that they will get t