Tennessee Democratic Rep. John Tanner to retire (Another Blue Dog calls it quits)

The Washington Post ^ | 12/1/09 | Chris Cillizza

[LdSentinal]

Tennessee Democratic Rep. John Tanner will retire next November, creating an open seat in an area that strongly favors Republicans.

Tanner's decision, according to those familiar with it, was made weeks ago and based on his desire to return to the Volunteer State after more than two decades in Washington. The decision was first reported by the Hotline.

Tanner, first elected to the 8th district in 1988, has run without a serious challenge in recent years despite the fact that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) won the seat with 56 percent in 2008.

Tanner is the second House Democrat from a swing seat in the past few weeks to take a pass on re-election joining Kansas Rep. Dennis Moore on the sidelines. In total, nine Democrats are retiring from the House or running for higher office in 2010; 12 Republicans are leaving the House.

Democratic strategists immediately insisted that nothing should be read into Tanner's decision regarding a broad-scale series of retirements in the face of a potentially difficult political environment next year.

But, Tanner's departure seems to be evidence of a validation of House Republicans' concerted effort to recruit credible challengers to longtime Democratic members sitting in GOP-leaning districts. Stephen Fincher, a farmer, collected more than $300,000 over the last three months.

That strategy, which includes challengers to Reps. Ike Skelton (Mo.), Bart Gordon (Tenn.) and John Spratt (S.C.), is straight out of the playbook of Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff and formerly the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

What's good for the goose....

[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

I don’t know if Tanner was spooked or not, but Jim Geraghty at the Campaign Spot had reported in October that Tanner’s second tier opponent had raised $300,000 to Tanner’s $62,000 in one quarter. That’s not to say Tanner was in serious trouble, but he probably was going to have to fight for re-election for a change.

I wouldn’t say TN-8 is a lock for us either, but it’s definitely not a Zero district, and we may end up with the right environment that even a lesser known Republican could win the seat.

[Coldwater Creek]

I received a political letter this morning from Stephen Fincher. Evidently he had decided to run before knowing that Tanner was going to retire.

Do you know anything about this man? I live in Tipton County and have never heard of him.

[fieldmarshaldj]

If I hear correctly that State Sen. Roy Herron is running for the Dems, that is an excellent first-tier recruit for them. He comes from the rural area of that district and would be more in the tradition of Tanner. As for Stephen Fincher, I know nothing about him. There were 2 other Republicans running, including James Hart, who was disavowed by the state party for his views on eugenics, who was a prior nominee who got under 30% of the vote in the general. As I said, I’m not sure who is the best person to run, but we need to find a first-tier recruit. Mr. Fincher, although he raised a respectable amount, would still need close to $1 million to make it competitive, and he remains more a second-tier candidate.

[Impy]

But, Tanner's departure seems to be evidence of a validation of House Republicans' concerted effort to recruit credible challengers to longtime Democratic members sitting in GOP-leaning districts.

That's a good strategy. Is someone at the NRCC actually doing their job?

So this one looks like a tossup now.

Hopefully there are more rat retirements to come.