"For God's sake, VA, it's only the Midterms, just turn on the radio."
I turned on the BBC - national news radio for the UK, and much to my surprise and chagrin, it did not have detailed coverage of Volunteer State elections.
I had to have some coffee and wait for the PC to warm up before I found out the Tennessee result. If you don't already know the result...then you can read the heartening words of Rex L Camino
In the event of a Corker victory: Um, yes, congratulations on electing a smaller version of what you already had, Republicans. I suppose rubber stamps come in all sizes.
In the event of a Ford victory: Congratulations on electing someone who voted for the war, invokes the name of God in every sentence, and who strongly opposes gay marriage. That’ll really teach those Republicans.
I'm a big loser
The Democrats might have done well nationwide, but if my ballot had been a betting slip, I'd be crumpling it up and throwing it on the floor and walking out of the betting office in disgust. Yeah, I did vote for Bredesen - but the odds were so bad on that I'da barely got my money back. I'm disappointed, but not surprised that amendment 2 (tax breaks for profligate old people) passed. And I'm disgusted, but not entirely surprised that amendment 1 passed.
Those who said they were defending marriage by voting on prop 1 did the wrong thing. Things are moving in such a way that businesses and other employers will be granting benefits to same sex couples. Hospitals will be granting visitation rights to long term same-sex partners. And as same-sex couples get these rights by hook or by crook (because they can't get them through marriage), hetersexual couples who are too lazy, too decadent or too anti-establishment to marry will demand these rights, too. (We're starting to see this in the UK.) In the end, denying rights to homosexual couples will have a greater eroding effect on the institution of marriage.
I'm sorry, too that Harold Ford didn't win. The Vol-in-Law said "Well, that's what you get for putting up a black candidate." I think he was kidding. Maybe he was kidding on the nose.
But for those who might say that the Democrats have lost Tennessee forever with this loss, I don't think this is the case. This was a dirty, hard-fought and close run campaign. The Corker campaign sank low - and it was hardly a landslide victory.
What really chews me up about this is Bob Corker is a nobody. If Lamar Alexander - a guy with real political experience - can't pack a punch at the national level why in the world would Bob Corker be able to do so? He's boring. At least Harold, you know, he woulda been a player.
Good night for the Vols
Heath Schuler, former University of Tennessee quarterback, won his North Carolina 11th District Congressional seat. Go Vols!
4 comments:
One last post for you to ignore, the Nashville Daily Fishwrapper and writer Bonna de la Cruz tried its best to paint every white person who did not vote for Jr. as a red-neck racist. But, failed to use the same broad brush when they recognized that the vast majority of blacks would vote Jr. simply because he is black.
And, I suspect the household income cutoff to qualify for the property tax freeze will be around $50,000.
Cheers.
The $50,000 cutoff does make me feel better, but that wasn't printed on my ballot - so I couldn't vote on that basis.
Don't knock Chattanoogans! While Corker wasn't my first choice for Senate, he's a good leader and an excellent business man. He will most likely prove to be a mini-Frist though. Next time you're in TN, you need to venture down to Chattown and see how fabulous it is now.
I honestly don't believe that racism had any factor in the election. East Tennessee is solidly Republican will most likely always be. Even though Ford is a moderate and Corker is a moderate masquerading as a Conservative, it came down to the R and D after their names and not black and white. That's a huge step for Tennessee. Also factor in how much the Ford name is hated in East Tennessee, and you have Corker's small victory.
"I honestly don't believe that racism had any factor in the election"
I was indeed kidding, albeit on the nose. After the Vol explained to me that Ford was, despite appearances, black, it made me wonder if the "Call me Harold" ad might raise doubts in some potential voters - not exactly that they wouldn't vote for a black man, but they might start to second-guess themselves, start thinking about how they disliked west Tennesseans, etc. I thought Ford did great by not screaming "Racist!" at the ad, which would definitely have doomed his campaign. He came out looking dignified. And as you said, for a Dem to win in Tennessee currently is always going to be hard.
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