It’s not exactly breaking news that we have two races for the U.S. Senate in Mississippi.

Republican Sen. Roger Wicker is up for re-election, while Cindy Hyde-Smith and state Sen. Chris McDaniel are among the candidates in a special election to complete the unexpired term of Sen. Thad Cochran, who retired April 1 for health reasons.

Hyde-Smith (I hate hyphenated names), the state’s former secretary of agriculture, was recently appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to fill Cochran’s seat until after a new senator is elected. McDaniel, who was out-smarted and out-hustled by Cochran a few years ago, and initially decided to run against Wicker, is seeking what he believes is his entitlement — the U.S. Senate.

At this point, I’m not going to get into the topics of whose running and why, or speculation whether a Democrat could win either or both seats.

But I am concerned about this race, especially among the Republican candidates. Part of that fear was born out early when McDaniel was going to run against Wicker. Some of Wicker’s early political ads focused on a theme that McDaniel was not as big a Trump supporter as Wicker.

One thing we don’t need is somebody getting elected because he (or she) supports President Trump more than the other candidates.

What we need is someone who willing to do the job they were elected to do — represent the American people, the folks who put them in office.

We have too many problems in this country that need addressing, and the current occupant in the White House has shown no leadership whatsoever in helping this country move forward. Donald Trump was elected on the slogan “Make America Great Again,” but the only thing he has made great again is Saturday Night Live and the late night talk shows. He spends more time whining and blaming his problems on past presidents, making wild unsubstantiated claims about immigration and the Russia investigation, and would rather tweet and play golf than do what he was elected to do — govern.

And since the president won’t lead and won’t govern, it’s time for Congress to lead. It’s time for those so far gutless wonders in the Republican Party to realize that its more productive to actually compromise (and compromise doesn’t mean “my way or the highway”) with the folks on the other side of the aisle and take a responsible attitude toward doing what they were elected to and not playing to special interest groups.

We need the Republicans in Congress to hitch up their big boy drawers and tell the president to grow up, and then do what we pay them to do.

But in the end, it doesn’t matter which party has the majority in Congress. What matters is that they realize it’s time to put petty bickering aside and work for common good of the country. These elections are about who can best represent us, not who’s better at sucking up to and kowtowing to Donald Trump.

John Surratt is a staff writer for The Vicksburg Post. You may reach him at john.surratt@vicksburgpost.com