Of course the Democratic nominee to take on Tom Cotton would drop out of the race hours after the filing deadline, leaving his party without. Of course Tom Cotton--the man the left loves to hate in Arkansas--wouldn't have major party opposition. Of course this would be one of the few U.S. Senate elections this year without tons of TV ads pouring into our living rooms.
This is 2020. Everything's off.
Tom Cotton might be the left's focus so often in Arkansas as a matter of default. Who are you going to pummel in the lefty opinion columns in Arkansas? Bruce Westerman? John Boozman? They give the left little ammunition. Tom Cotton, however, doesn't seem to mind making certain quarters stark raving Twitter.
As a former military man, Sen. Cotton knows that the world is a target-rich environment. And the man shoots. Figuratively speaking, of course.
There's Red China, which, before it unleashed this virus on the world, was stealing intellectual property, and not just intellectual property, from American businesses. And knocking down churches in its own country. And imprisoning Muslims for their beliefs. Tom Cotton made so much noise about all of Beijing's many sins that the Chinese government announced sanctions against him personally. Which he wore as a badge of honor. As he should.
There's Iran, too. Only last month, Tom Cotton was calling for even more sanctions against its economy. He has correctly pegged Iran as an enemy of the United States for years, even during the last American administration, which mostly did not much in that area.
The junior senator from Arkansas has been a hard-liner on rioters in the streets, immigration, the aforementioned enemies of the country, etc. But many Americans probably first noticed him this year, when The New York Times printed an op-ed by the senator, only to have its own staff mutiny. (We don't remember the staff's outcries when Muammar Gadhafi had an op-ed published in the paper of record. But that's another editorial or eight.)
Allowing a United States senator room on its opinion pages for an opinion piece was too much for some Times employees. The editorial page editor had to resign or else face the mob. Of course.
And once again the right in this country could point to the national media as a source of overwhelmingly liberal bias. And be correct in the assessment. Tom Cotton also seemed to wear that controversy as a badge of honor. Of course.
The man is a true-blue (true-red?) conservative. A combat veteran. A leader in the Senate in fighting against illegal drugs coming over the border. And, as a lawyer, Tom Cotton was supposedly on the president's short-list for United States Supreme Court.
Not bad for a 40-something from Dardanelle, Ark.
Tom Cotton may not face "major party" opposition in this election, but there'll still be opposition on the ballot, and we expect even a minor party to get a slice of the electorate against a man who so often tells it with the bark off.
If there really is a coming wave in Washington, D.C., next month, We the People will need a Republican Senate. If for no other reason than checks and balances.
So for all those reasons, we endorse Tom Cotton's re-election to the United States Senate.
Of course.