If he unseats Thad Cochran in the U.S. Senate, Travis Childers said he would focus on three objectives: Expanding health care, raising the minimum wage and ensuring equal pay for equal work.
Childers, a Democrat, said those are the key tenets of his platform that set him apart from the Republican incumbent. The former First District congressman told The Dispatch Tuesday that, though he and his Republican counterpart are viewed as moderates in their respective parties, he differs with Cochran in that he will work raise the current $7.25-an-hour floor on what employers must pay their workers. He said he would support a gradual, three-step process to a higher wage to give small businesses time to plan for the financial adjustment.
“When you work for minimum wage and you work 52 weeks a year and you’re still under the poverty level, something is out of kilter,” Childers said. “If you’re not willing to negotiate, nothing gets done. That’s why I don’t really want to have this number that if you don’t agree with me, then you’re wrong. I don’t want to have that kind of attitude. I want to see Congress pass something in a stepped up, graduated measure over the next several years so we don’t have to go back to Congress every other year to try to stand up for the working people of our state and our country.”
Childers’ push for equal pay is rooted in his upbringing, he said. After his father’s death, he began working when he was 16 to help his mother make house and utility payments. His mother worked in a factory by day and was a waitress at night to make ends meet, he said, and he wondered if equal pay for men and women had been in place then if she would have needed to take a second job.
“I don’t have to look back any further than my own mom to tell people that I proudly support equal pay for equal work,” Childers said.
Cochran was chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations from 2005 to 2007, a post he would have a chance at reclaiming if he’s elected for a seventh term, and has been credited with using his influence to bring jobs to Mississippi through defense contracts among other projects. Childers said Cochran not being in the Senate, however, would not mean federal funding would cease to be steered into the Magnolia State. Childers said it’s not certain Cochran would be chairman for long if he’s re-elected and that he, along with Sen. Roger Wicker and the state’s four members of the House, would fight to make sure the state continues to get its fair share.
“I understand that some will say, but he could potentially be chairman. For how long? That’s a question nobody’s asked,” Childers said. “We have to be smarter about our spending in the future. Our debt is $17 trillion and growing, so what kind of trade-offs have been made sometimes to get money to Mississippi?”
Childers has also made the call for Cochran to join him for four debates — one in each Mississippi congressional district — including one at the University of Mississippi, both candidates’ alma mater. Cochran did not oblige Republican primary challenger Chris McDaniel’s numerous demands for debates, telling political blog Roll Call that debates ranked “pretty low down the charts of public appeal.”
Childers believes debates are necessary because they provide the public an opportunity to see candidates answer questions of importance to voters without the benefit of a script.
“I don’t think it’s an unreasonable request,” Childers said. “Why would a 42-year veteran congressman and senator shy away from debating a small businessman from small town Mississippi?”
Childers recognizes he’s an underdog and that history and fundraising are not on his side. It’s been more than 30 years since Mississippi has had a Democrat in the Senate. Childers’ fundraising total as of June 30 was $178,621 compared to more than $6 million for Cochran.
“I understand that I’m swimming upstream, but I’ve been the underdog before,” he said, “and I think a person will be the underdog in this day and time when he stands up for working folks and the middle class.”
Doing so is much more meaningful and productive, Childers said, than the mudslinging between his opponent and McDaniel in the primary and runoff. Childers noted that most of the $17 million spent in the primary as a whole was from out-of-state interest groups, which is a fault of the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The Supreme Court has basically said any race in America is up for sale or grabs to the highest bidder,” Childers said. “I hope Mississippians will say no to that. Of that $17 million spent in the primary, not one dime of that helped public education. Not one dime of that went toward helping the working poor have access to health care. Not a dime of it went to making sure women were paid equally to men when they do the same job. I just think that it’s time somebody looked out for working Mississippi. I don’t think those gentlemen can say that campaign did. I never heard them talk about issues. I heard them talk a lot about each other.”
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 46 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 46 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
