I’ve mentioned this a few times. I voted for ole Scumquist (who was a native of IL, a Combiner removed to TN) in ‘94, namely because he was our only possible first-tier candidate running for Governor (the only other two Congressmembers then were Paleo Jimmy Duncan in the 2nd, and approaching-80 year old Jimmy Quillen in the 1st, who had been in the House since ‘62). I was later warned by a TN FReeper that he was already putting out RINO-ish signs, but I didn’t see them, and frankly, in that election, I was 20 and subscribed to the mindset that ANY R was better than any D, a delusional thought process for which I’m still doing penance for.
Anyway, after ole Donnie threw out some red meat to the Conservatives (abolishing the elective Public Service Commission, thereby eliminating a whole pool of Dem challengers - the PSC was always all-Dem, I couldn’t even say when there was or if there was a Republican who ever served on it - but it was basically to eliminate Bob Clement’s sister, Sara Kyle, as a candidate, and with that, she was never heard from again in this state), he settled into the “business as usual” schtick, and was so far in bed with the corrupt Democrat establishment, he practically pushed them out the other end.
I had wised up by ‘98 and was no longer singing Annie’s tune. I angrily endorsed the Democrat, John Jay Hooker, first in protest, and then I endorsed him because I basically believed he’d be a better Governor and more committed to Constitutional principles ? Why ? Because the Democrat party hated him. Back in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s, he was their golden boy, the great liberal reformer. 28 years after he was nominated for Governor the first time, the liberal was now a populist Constitutionalist - and he couldn’t give a rat’s f*** about what the Dems thought of him. The Dems all came about as close to tacitly endorsing Scumquist as you could get, they just couldn’t officially “say it.” So, I voted for the Dem because he was to the right of Scummie, and didn’t regret it one iota.
So, it was during Scummie’s last term when he tried to shove the illegal income tax down TN’s throat, pretty well near inciting a bonafide riot downtown when outraged Tennesseans literally stormed the capitol building (tipped off by then-State Sen. Marsha Blackburn, which put the fear of God into the rodentry and RINOs - they thought there was gonna be a necktie party - it was beautiful, I’d have participated myself had my health not sucked back then, too).
So, anyway, with all the anti-IT politicians, Scummie was plotting revenge. When the redistricting plan came out (controlled by the Dem legislature, despite the fact that Republicans had since ‘94, received a majority or plurality of overall votes), Scummie was clear as a bell, he didn’t target a single Democrat - indeed, he mercilessly approved a plan to eliminate almost a half-dozen Conservative Republicans by placing them all into the same district and with the hope that the fallout from brutal primaries between incumbents could see the Dems possibly pick up the seats, thereby (despite getting at or above 50% of the vote) reducing the GOP presence to 1/3rd of the body.
It was so obscene, so grotesque, that even Democrats said, “Just damn !” The f***ing gerrymander-loving Democrats thought the RINO Scumquist was being TOO HARD on the GOP ! So as to look big and magnanimous after the GOP legislators screamed bloody murder, the Dems approved their own plan, essentially an incumbent protection plan, keeping a ‘94 plan in place, and placing only 2 GOP incumbents together in a rural district that had slow growth (so lost 1 seat).
By the time it was all over with, so as to make sure that either his fellow RINO puppet (read: Combiner, Tennessee style) won, or a Democrat outright, he made sure our ultimate GOP nominee had no money for the general election in ‘02 (the then-still respectable Van Hilleary) to compete against Pharoah Phil, who $hits hundred dollar bills. Bredesen, of course, won (despite breaking finance laws to do it, which weren’t enforced by the unaccountable rodent hack state AG), but by a very narrow margin, after drastically outspending Hilleary. Scumquist accomplished his goal and we’ve had 8 years of worthless Phil in office now... So, anyway, the next time some *uckwit tells me ANY R is better than any D, I’ll tell them to go take a long walk off a short pier.
...and we ain’t even gotten to Slick Willard, Willie Floyd Weld, and Christie Turd Whitman, yet.