Posted on 03/08/2002 6:42:47 AM PST by ElRushbo
"Tenn. Sen . Thompson won't seek re-election
Best stick with Lamar. He's the safest candidate.
Ford is age 31, more than the 30 required to run for Senate, but he's only got major support in Memphis. He would have zero chance of winning a statewide seat.
Gore has already ruled out running for Thomspon's seat. He knows he lost the presidency due to his own state voting for the other guy. His popularity here hasn't improved any over the last year.
Lamar is a political has been, both realistically and by his choice. He'll never win another elected office.
Don Sundquist is almost universally reviled throughout the state, with the exception of those few who would benefit from an income tax. The mere mention of his name can launch an hours long diatribe with many in TN. If the Devil himself ran against Don Sundquist, the Devil would win it in a landslide. I cannot overstate how much hatred is directed toward this man by TN Republicans. And he deserves every bit of it. He campaigned in bad faith, promising voters one thing, then after the election he pulled off his mask and revealed himself to be the complete opposite of what he campaigned as. Left without any recourse to remove him from office, Tennesseans' hatred for the man has simmered and concentrated for over three years.
Thompson is a good man and a good conservative, hopelessly misguided and naive about campaign finance reform, but otherwise good. His career in politics is unlimited. He would make a very credible VP candidate in 2004 or a Supreme Court nominee. Since he was involved in prosecuting Nixon during Watergate, many Democrats probably feel sentimentally favorable toward him and would likely confirm his nomination.
Keep your eye on Ed Bryant. Without a doubt, he'll announce he's running for Thompson's seat. Whether he wins it or not is uncertain, but the Democrats won't have any better candidate.
I'll have more info from an inside source within minutes. I'll post what I know.
I'll assume you're not from TN. You're talking about Shelby County (Memphis). No conservative is going to have a strong following there. But statewide is a different story. As someone else pointed out, Tennesse is three areas politically. East TN is solid, reliable Republican. Middle TN in a toss-up trending only slightly (very slightly) toward Republican in the last few years. Then there's West TN, and more specifically, Shelby County. It's solidly Democrat. As you go outside of Shelby County in any direction, it's mostly conservative (blue dog) Democrats.
Democrats haven't fared very well statewide in TN for about ten years.
Lamar Alexander supports a strong national defense. He is a strong pro-lifer. A moderate on some issues and right leaning conservative on others. Alexander wants a return to Reagan's original "flatter" tax rates of 15%&28%. He supports privatizing Social Security and returning control of childrens education to local communities and parents. He supports the right of Americans to own fireaems for personal protection and recreation, but agrees with the assault weapons ban. He believes we should enforce existing gun laws before we try to create new ones. On CFR, Alexander is for fewer restrictions and fuller disclosure. He supports voluntary prayer in public schools. Alexander supports stricter enforcement at our borders and supports efforts to control the use of illicit drugs.
Lamar Alexander would be a good choice to replace Fred Thompson in the Senate.
I swear I'd vote for a Democrat before I'd vote for Taxquist again.
As for possible canidates, I have to agree that Blakburn would be a great senator and would be a great canidate to pull Middle Tennessee which has been slowly turning over the years from Liberal to Conservative, especially Williamson County which I believe is the fastest growing county in the state. She would carry East Tennessee easily. So if she got middle and East it would carry over all the West Tennessee Democratic vote.
Other possibles that I would like to see would be Senator Tim Burchett from Knoxville. This guy is a young standup conservative and actually has common sense. Although his roadkill bill from years ago would probaly bring him some good natured ribbing from the demos. I'd vote for him in a heartbeat.
It wouldn't surprise me if Victor Ashe, mayor of Knoxville, threw his hat in the ring since he is out in 2003 due to term limits. Whatever is done, we DO NOT want Victor Ashe. Although, it has been nice to seem him take on Taxquist and the DOT as of late.
I gotta tell ya, from way out here on the Left Coast, Ford comes across as a very attractive candidate. Although he's a Dem, he's not a rabid, raving turn-off like a lot of the Libs (both male and female come to mind: Charlie Rangel, Barbara Boxer, Mikulski, and that ilk).
He's nice-looking, articulate, and sounds reasonable. Again, I'm not a Tennessee voter, so maybe I should keep my big trap shut, but this guy is so mediagenic, that I wouldn't be surprised to see him pull it off with good campaign managers and the support of the DNC.
Harold Ford Jr. is a liberal, plain and simple. The ACU gave him a conservative rating of "8" in 2001. In 2000, it was "24". His lifetime rating is "12". Again Ford is a liberal, and doesn't have a conservative bone in his body! Just because he comes across as a nice guy on the idiot box, doesn't entitle him to receieve kudos here on FreeRepublic. Let's get real.
Here's a link to his voting record at ACU website.
A group of TN Republicans are trying to convince Lamar Alexander to enter the race. They've showed him polls indicating he has name recognition in the state at 93%, and has a high favorability rating. My source is predicting Alexander will enter the race, and quickly. I'm not so sure. But our own political biases are probably affecting our judgment.
Even though he's a good man with solid conservative credentials, I don't think he's the right man for the job. Between him and Ed Bryant, I believe Bryant is a much stronger candidate. He's a current representative popular in his district and it's long been anticipated he would move up politically. Alexander has been out of TN politics for 14 years and has two failed presidential bids behind him. He also does not have the toughness Republicans are looking for currently. He's seen as fairly meek and soft-spoken. Subjective and arbitrary as it is, those things matter politically, especially when control of the U.S. Senate is on the line.
Democrats are hoping Bart Gordon, John Tanner, or Bob Clement will enter the race. Of the three Clement is the only one likely to even consider it, as Gordon and Tanner are nearly guaranteed re-election as long as they want it. Clement and Bryant would be a close race, maybe a photo-finish.
If all three of those decline, the Democrats are looking at 2nd and 3rd tier longshots - mostly state legislators and career bureacrats.
Gore is staying away from it... period. He knows a loss in a Senate race pretty much dooms his political career forever.
That's the buzz.
Ashe began publicly berating Sundquist for not steering funds from the DOT to fund his budget instead of introducing a state income tax or raising the sales tax to a whopping 10%!!
Tennessee supposedly is 48th in education funding but 1st in road funding. The crux of Sundquist's tax increase request is to fund education.
What Mr. Sundquist doesn't realize is that an increase in education funding does not equal an increase in results. Plenty of studies have proven that.
WHAT ABOUT BLACKBURN?
I don't know what the percentage it is, but it is the power of the incumbency that gets these folks elected & re-elected year after year.
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