Susan J. Demas: Open primaries are good for democracy, bad for party bosses and Tea Party

Sarah Palin and right-wing Republicans are calling "shenanigans" over the Mississippi U.S. Senate race this week.

(Full disclosure: Whenever someone uses that hokey phrase, I chuckle and think of the "South Park" episode when third-graders denounced ripoffs at a local carnival). 

Anyway, here's what happened in the Magnolia State, which isn't quite as funny.

Establishment GOP U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran bucked the odds and history after a narrow primary loss to Tea Party favorite Chris McDaniel.

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