W hen Thad Cochran was running in 2014 for a seventh term in the U.S. Senate, there were two vulnerabilities that his challenger in the Republican primary, Chris McDaniel, was able to exploit in nearly pulling off the upset.
First was that Cochran wasn’t conservative enough, especially when it came to federal spending. The second was that he was getting too old to ably handle the physical and mental demands of the job.
Although the first one was a strange argument to make in a state that benefits hugely from federal appropriations, the second continues to dog the nearly 80-year-old senator.
Cochran’s recent monthlong absence from the Senate to deal with what has been described as a “urological issue” has generated scrutiny and speculation in Washington. Given the close votes on most of the key issues facing Congress, the GOP leadership and President Donald Trump are desperate for every supportive vote possible, especially in the Senate, where Republicans have a thin majority. In addition, this is crunch time on the budget, for which Cochran plays a significant role as chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee.
One Capitol reporter, writing for the website Politico, was able to interview Cochran briefly on Wednesday, the day after the senator’s return to Washington was seemingly rushed up in an effort to squelch some of the talk about his condition. The reporter described Cochran as “frail and at times disoriented” — a description that was also applied to him occasionally during the 2014 campaign as he tried to keep up with the pace of a challenger 35 years his junior.
Cochran is a well-respected statesman who has represented Mississippi with dignity and effectiveness. Hopefully he will rebound from this recent health setback and regain the vigor to capably serve out his term until it ends in 2020.
If he doesn’t, though, he should start developing an exit strategy.
As much as Mississippi would hate to lose Cochran’s seniority and clout on the Appropriations Committee, it would be wrong for him to hang on as a senatorial puppet while his staff runs the show. His staff wasn’t re-elected. He was. If his health does not allow him to handle the grind of congressional service, it’s time to come home — something Cochran probably would have done years ago had he not been talked out of it by those who felt Mississippi couldn’t stand to be without his pull in deciding where and how federal money is spent.
Certainly, it would be politically messy for Cochran to retire now, with Mississippi’s other Senate seat already shaping up to be a GOP brouhaha in 2018. An early departure would require Gov. Phil Bryant to appoint a temporary replacement until a special election were held for Cochran’s seat.
Still, there comes a time when your body and your mind tells you that it’s time to let someone else carry the load.
If that time has come for Cochran, we would hope he and his many admirers will accept it.
