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

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

[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.