One of the items available at Sen. Roger Wicker’s online store, launched by his campaign committee this week.

Sen. Roger Wicker, who is expected to face stiff competition in his 2018 re-election bid, launched a new campaign store featuring hats and drink koozies reading, “Clinging to my guns and religion since 1817.”

The campaign gear, which is being sold on a website called “Roger Wicker’s Great Campaign Store!” and paid for by Wicker’s campaign committee, is being advertised on several national political sites this week. The swag comes in several colors, including camouflage.

One ad reads: “Hunting season is here! Sport our camo hat today!”

Wicker, a Republican who has served in the Senate since 2007, may be challenged by state Sen. Chris McDaniel, an arch-conservative party member backed by former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.

Bannon, who has waged war on Washington’s establishment Republicans for years, has renewed that mission since leaving the White House in August, promising to dismantle the capital’s establishment system of Republican politicians, lobbyists and donors.

Wicker, a close ally of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, is among Bannon’s specifically named targets in 2018.

A banner ad running on several national political sites this week shows gear being sold from Sen. Roger Wicker’s new campaign store.

 

Although McDaniel has not announced whether he’ll run for the Senate seat next year, he has quietly been laying the groundwork for a campaign against Wicker for months.

His Facebook page — which has 70,000 more likes than Wicker’s — serves as the hub for his base with multiple posts from McDaniel per day.

For months, McDaniel has pointedly criticized Wicker’s “liberal voting record” and his inability to work with other Senate Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. McDaniel also has roused support from conservatives by highlighting Wicker’s desire to change the state flag, which is the last in the nation containing the Confederate battle emblem.

Further laying the groundwork for a potential McDaniel 2018 bid is a group of donors, led by the billionaire Mercer family, who are close political allies with Bannon. McDaniel told Mississippi Today last month that at least $1 million has been pledged to fund a Wicker challenger in Mississippi.

Robert Mercer already dropped a first check in a McDaniel-tied super PAC, as chronicled in a Y’all Politics report.

In the last week, McDaniel pushed about a dozen anti-Wicker messages on social media, including a screen grab of Wicker’s “liberal voting record” and a link to a Breitbart article claiming that Wicker has been part of “Haley Barbour’s political machine for decades” — yet another jab at Washington’s establishment.

Wicker’s new campaign gear is a play to Mississippi’s conservative base, who highly value both religion and Second Amendment rights.

Bannon pushes Chris McDaniel closer to Sen. Wicker challenge

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Adam Ganucheau, as Mississippi Today's editor-in-chief, oversees the newsroom and works with the editorial team to fulfill our mission of producing high-quality journalism in the public interest. Adam has covered politics and state government for Mississippi Today since February 2016. A native of Hazlehurst, Adam has worked as a staff reporter for AL.com, The Birmingham News and The Clarion-Ledger and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Adam earned his bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Mississippi.

8 replies on “‘Clinging to guns and religion,’ Sen. Roger Wicker launches campaign store”

      1. I did not know I was writing an essay for your evaluation. I apologize for the informal comment. Why did Thile not get the same reprimand? Did you get to excited when with I wrote bikinis? At least Wicker is up for the flag fight. I will give him that recognition.

        1. If Wicker’s up for the flag fight means “sounding tough on TV, but clinging to the 2001 vote as a noncommittal answer when replying to constituents via email,” then yeah, he’s totally up for the flag fight.

  3. “____ Days Since Some Dumb Politician Embarrassed the State of MS” swag would be more apt. Also, this “liberal voting record” schtick in reference to Wicker is a hoot. Especially coming from a state senator who had no qualms about voting for pork projects in his district and not much else.

    1. Wicker is a corn pone huckster, peddling his hats at the county fair. Wake up Mississippi and retire this tired old fool who does not care about all Mississippians.

  4. Slicker will say one thing to get your vote, then do as he pleases…..which is serve the Oxford and Jackson Plantations while getting rich. Time to put that silly grin out to pasture.

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