Double Take: This Missouri Senate Candidate’s Take on Women’s Rights Raises Eyebrows

I must confess, I’ve not paid a great deal of attention to Missouri Senate candidate Courtland Sykes since he brashly announced his entry into the GOP fray last fall. Fair or no, my initial read on his candidacy was that it was a publicity stunt of some sort. I’ve never heard of the guy before and what little I did hear upon his announcement persuaded me that he’ll not be getting my vote come the primary in August, though I eagerly look forward to Claire McCaskill getting a run for her money in the general.

Turns out there’s a reason I’d never heard of him before. He’s not from Missouri, having only just moved here last fall. And his political experience appears to consist of working as a staffer for a U.S. Representative from Arkansas, Bruce Westerman — another name unfamiliar to me.

In fairness, the fault could lie squarely with me for being woefully uninformed. Be that as it may, I’ve paid little mind to Sykes up until today. Which may actually go a long way toward explaining this:

Hold the phone, there, fella. I may not be inclined to sport a vagina hat, and I happen to adore men, but this doesn’t sit well with this female Missouri voter. I suspect that’s the point, though. Sykes’ “statement” strikes me as rhetoric purposefully designed to ruffle feathers and get folks talking about him. (Hey, look – it worked!) It’s certainly not designed to endear him to moderate or independent women. And I’m not all that certain it will appeal much to even those who lean harder right. Particularly not when there are other more palatable — and viable — candidates from whom to choose.

I don’t get the impression that matters all that much to Sykes. Coverage from the time of his announcement sheds a bit more light on what’s going on here:

Sykes described himself as an admirer of former White House Strategist Steve Bannon, whom he met at an Eagle Forum event in St. Louis this past weekend. Bannon, who runs the website Breitbart, has made similar attacks on globalism.

….

Sykes’ candidacy announcement coincided with hardline conservative Judge Roy Moore’s victory in the Alabama Republican primary for Senate on Tuesday and comes at a time when Missouri’s GOP frontrunner for Senate, Attorney General Josh Hawley, has faced questions about whether he supports Trump’s agenda.

An admirer of who?  Coincided with who? Given the recent trajectories of his purported kindred spirits, it appears that Sykes’ candidacy might need a bit of a shot in the arm. And this statement appears designed to assist in that regard.

I doubt he’ll be interested in my advice but on the off chance he is, I’ll start by suggesting he retain a copy editor.  “Hell-bent feminist she devils who shriek from the tops of a thousand tall buildings they are [sic] think they could have leaped over in a single bound — had men not [sic] “suppressing them…” needs a little work.

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