Ashamed in Tennessee...

[cynatnite]

For one thing...we are more red than we were in 2004...





Another is Phil Bredesen...

I've always been a strong supporter, but now am rethinking after reading what he wrote at Politico...

As for its meaning, I do have a respectful request for the president-elect this morning. The strategy that produced our national win came at a real cost to Democrats here in Tennessee. We lost seats in the Senate, and this morning we have the first Republican House since the civil-war era. With the red landslide here in Tennessee, and with many counties with Democratic officeholders voting in the high 60s and even 70s for McCain, it’s very hard to swim against that current.

http://www.politico.com/arena/archive/74.html#2499D9E3-0CF1-41FB-8821-1BAFA819A8C8

Seems like he's blaming Obama for the Democratic losses here in Tennessee.

:(

[budkin]

1. More racists than any other state most likely.

[budkin]

2. Other than Utah that is!

[apnu]

8. Or maybe both places are just full of gullible single-issue voters and party loyalists.

Not everything is racism. We don't know if those Republican voters were thinking in the booths. They could have just been going through the motions of voting, yet again, against their best interests.

[TornadoTN]

54. 3/4 of them are single issue voters and fundamentalists

1/4 of them consist of people who just voted Republican because they or their family always have and a small mix of racists.

It's a goddamned shame that the state party didn't do a thing to prevent this. They sat on their hands and did nothing for eight years.

[apnu]

66. Well maybe that will change now. Dean's 50 state strategy paid dividends again this year

With several inroads to the West. Plus VA and NC are more blue now than in a long time. Perhaps all this will convince the power brokers of the party that being competitive everywhere is a good idea.

I have hope for the future.

[mollymongold]

53. utah i doubt is that racist, just full of fundies. okla. gave mccain his biggest margin.

[iamthebandfanman]

3. thats a bold statement

given the amount of racist in the entire country ;)

id say its a close one between about 4-6 states... i wouldnt go placing tenn at the top ;)

[Kalyke]

4. It's not racism

It's the fact that we have nothing but right-wing media from radio to newspapers to television.

Seriously.

[TornadoTN]

10. Completely agree

The state is one of the most beautiful in the whole union and the people (I don't believe) aren't any more racist than any other place in this country. It's just that our media is dominated by the right wing and the churches control public policy to an extreme degree.

I'm just at a loss. God damn fundies and Republicans....

[Cha]

70. That's too bad...

but there's other evidences of sea change so maybe someday in the beautiful state of Tennessee.

You still gave us Al Gore Sr and Al Gore Jr.

[Sebass1271]

11. I feel sorry for you guys really.. I hope president elect

Obama does something meaningul about the media. Right wing radio can't continue their smears, lies and hatred.

[ingac70]

14. TN is in desperate need of the Fairness Doctrine. n/t

[Sebass1271]

15. dont' you have at least Randy Rhodes over there?

not one liberal comentator?

[Kalyke]

26. Heck no!

We have NOTHING.

We had Lionel for a short time - not that he's liberal, but more so than anyone else.

My local station has right-wing local guy, Boortz, Rush, right-wing local guy, Hannity and Savage.

[ingac70]

29. No... none, nadda.

[cynatnite]

36. The closest we've got is a local DJ for a hard rock station...

One time she complained about the bible thumpers. I remember laughing my ass off over it. Since then she's had to tone it down, but every once in a while she'll make a veiled remark. She does a cool whip sound on her show that I love. It's been a while since I listened to her.

[Kalyke]

40. Is that Trixie? eom

[TornadoTN]

50. Mistress Melissa, I bet

Tri-Cities radio - 99.3 I think.

[cynatnite]

85. Yep, that's her! I think she's awesome. n/t

[R. P. McMurphy]

81. In Johnson City (NE TN) the local NPR station carries Amy Goodman . . .

on Democracy Now!. The station received some complaints but during the pledge drives donors specifically state their support for the program. The station manager said that he believes it is important to keep the show on-air because it is the ONLY alternative to right-wing talk shows in the region.

If you want Randi Rhodes or Air America in this area you have to stream it via the internet.

[TornadoTN]

83. In 2006, WJCW/WKIN flirted with the idea of carrying Air America

WJCW 910 is a major station for Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, Ingraham and Gallagher and always has been. Sensing a sea of change getting ready to take place, the station manager started giving credence to the idea of spinning one channel into a liberal talk radio station. I remember some people here even talking about it.

But Citadel Broadcasting shut down the idea for a variety of reasons, one of which was the massive amount of hate mail they got from Rush Limbaugh listeners in this area. Nevermind that they would keep their channels and their programming, they wanted to make sure that there were no liberal values being promoted in this area.

And such is way the way things go in this state. Once the Hate Wing Radio players get involved and the Fundamentalists get on board, it's an uphill struggle. That's why we need a viable state Democratic Party and a grassroots to push back.

[Zookeeper]

77. I posted a couple of comments on a Knoxville newspaper site...

a few months ago and the interesting thing was that people didn't argue with my points, they just tried to bully me by saying that I had no business posting my sort of views there.

Apparently, they were accustomed to their echo chamber.

(BTW, I have connections to that part of the country, so I found it pretty disappointing.)

[blueclown]

5. As the national Democratic Party moves more liberal

the Tennessee Democratic Party moves more conservative.

Tennessee was once a relatively Democratic state. But trends have changed that. The Tennessee Democratic Party has left the national Democratic Party.

[SharonAnn]

62. I moved to east TN in 2000 and found it's version of GOP politics quite interesting.

Though racism is real, the biggest challenge in East TN is the fundamentalist churches. They're quite unbelievable. As one who went to Catholic schools all my life (including college and post-graduate degree), I had theology and comparative religion as required courses. They gave me a lot of knowledge and understanding which I even used to question the Catholic faith.

The fundamentalist churches here often don't know much about their bible or purported theology. Many small churches have as a pastor someone who felt "called" and may have no formal religious training. A few others are huge congregations. We have lots and lots of religious "beg-a-thon" channels on TV, lots of religious channels on the radio (FM and AM) and often people spent much of their time at their church and related church activities. Some of these people don't spend any significant amount of time with anyone outside their "faith family". It's an interesting form of brain-washing and cult-thinking.

There is the gun issue. It is HUGE! There is no reasoning around this. They KNOW that Democrats want to take their guns. Minds are closed to any other possibility.

Then there is the anti-choice issue and anti-homosexual issue. They are HUGE! They KNOW that Democrats promote abortion and homosexuality. Minds are closed to any other possibility. It's interesting that there's a high rate of unmarried, teenage pregnancies. I think homosexuals move out of the area so people don't have to deal with actually knowing one.

It's quite irrational. "I'm a Republican, my daddy was a Republican, my grand-daddy was a Republican. We're Republicans going way back." That's just who they are.

And since there's an extremely strong anti-intellectualism strain in this Appalachian GOP area, there's no way to deal with this bias by "informing" people.

The area is geographically beautiful and I'm fortunate enough to live in a beautiful development. Since I'm no longer working full-time, it doesn't matter much to me that there are no decent jobs in the area. I do feel sorry for the locals whose kids can't find decent jobs here but there's only so much I can do to try and help that.

Also, the state Democratic party is not a very mature party. Until this election, the TN state legislature has been controlled by the Democrats so they got used to a lot of infighting and did almost no positioning as a statewide political party. In a political science textbook I read a few years ago, the analysis was that Tennessee had a very "immature" political system. Lots of cronies, relatives, infighting, etc. Not much policy apparatus.

A perfect example is the county Democratic Party invalidating the Primary Election of the Democratic State Senator, Rosalind Kurita. They were mad at her for voting with the Republicans on the Senate leadership. Of course the Republicans were in the majority but some of them were very afraid of the 40 year Senate leader (an octogenarian who was a throwback to the plantation days of pre-civil war) and who has a reputation of "getting even" with those who vote against him. I say the Democrats should have thrown him out years ago. He was absolutely awful. Sort of a Strom Thurmond type. Anyway, we lost that Senate seat to a Republican, since Rosalind couldn't run. It was a shame but the county party is sure they did the right thing. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

So, this election may end up being good for the Democrats in Tennessee. We'll have to decide if we want to continue to fight with each other or start to fight with the Republicans.

[Zookeeper]

79. Thanks for the informative post.

You mentioned that you live in a nice development. I have extended family in E. Tenn, and one source of resentment toward "newcomers" I have heard, is in regards to the way developers exploit poor rural people who feel driven to sell their land for these developments, especially around the Knoxville area.

Sometimes the land being sold was settled by the pioneer ancestors of the sellers. The developers take advantage of the desperation and lack of knowledge of the locals, so it isn't surprising that it's hard for the sellers to stomach seeing huge "fancy" houses being built on the same land.

That might be a good issue to explore and raise awareness about, if need be.

I'm glad to hear that you think about the long-time residents of your community. :hi:

[TornadoTN]

82. The development problem is a major issue

It's further exacerbated by the fact that these developers are getting elected to office just to shape the zoning laws in their favor. No more is this more prevalent than in East Tennessee.

Here's the interesting part: These developers are running for office as Republicans and the only issues they trumpet is religion and guns. The people can't stand them and they know at some level why these guys are running for office, but yet they can't vote against them because of those two issues. It really is bizarre because it doesn't make sense.

I agree with the comment that you replied to. The Tennessee political system is immature by today's standards because its stuck in a post-1865 mentality. It is wondrous to ponder that this state delivered Al Gore Sr. and Jr. because since 1994, the Tennessee Democratic Party has fallen completely apart and is perhaps the most ineffective party apparatus in the country. In just 8 short years, the state party has allowed this state to go from a reliable state for Democrats to a shoe-in for Republicans.

[Unsane]

6. He should apologize for his racist, backward state instead of blaming President Obama.

[ecstatic]

23. Yep. TN and other southern states reinforced the meme

of the South being full of racists who are not over the Confederacy days.

[TornadoTN]

56. Racists and Fundamentalists

The racists are just a small portion of the voting populace - it's the fundamentalists that hold the power in this state.

We have to somehow bridge that gap and convince the more rational Christians that it's ok to vote Democrat and it doesn't go against their religion or beliefs. That will be the point when Tennessee turns blue and after 8 years of the TN Democratic Party doing nothing and sitting on their hands, it's going to be a long time before we even see it.

[TornadoTN]

7. Tell me about it - this is a bittersweet win for me

I've been beyond ashamed this election. The fundies and the "Greatest Generation" turned out in droves and offset the gains we made by getting the youth and the AA community involved. That cost us the legislature and other offices.

I knew this state would be a long-shot, but I didn't think it would be a complete ass kicking.

I'm ashamed to say I'm from this state. There were so many Obama supporters that came out this year that it gave me hope, but the numbers tell a much more horrific story.

I feel like the rest of the country ran away from us the other night - destined on a greater path. I took down my TN flag avatar that I've worn proudly since I joined here. My pride is gone.

[cynatnite]

16. I had some hope after 2006 we were going to be a purple state...

Blue was out of the question, but to see this state take a step back is just shameful. I know not everyone who didn't vote for Obama is racist, but given some of the people I do know both in my family and outside of it, racism played a huge role. I heard one person say that if Obama is elected then the blacks will take over. That was his reasoning.

Yep, the numbers can't lie about what happened here.

[Sebass1271]

21. Let them be awaken to a nice surprise

and realize Obama is for all the people.

[TornadoTN]

38. Problem is - 3/4 of those people will never accept it

I likened it in this thread to the theory that if Obama personally came to everyone in this state and gave them all a million dollars, they would still hate him and wouldn't accept anything that he does as being in their best interests.

The fact our state party and the national party left us on our own doesn't help either. While Democrats made huge gains elsewhere, we were left to wither on our own and we're going to be paying for this for years to come.

[ingac70]

9. Since we have open primaries here in Tennessee...

I am going to start a disruptor campaign for 2012, asking all Democrats to vote in the Repuke primaries for the candidate most likely to lose the national race (probably whoever is running against Palin or Huck, since those are Tennessee faves).


Start spreading the word now.

Those goofballs around here loved them some Palin. Our local RW radio personalities make Hannity and Rush look like libertarians.

[TwilightGardener]

12. oopsie-dupesie

[TwilightGardener]

13. Bredesen has made stupid comments about Obama before. I don't know how

Obama could have possibly reached out MORE to small town America and the WalMart underclass--WTF is he TALKING about, in terms of Obama's "strategy"? Did Obama not extol the virtues of redneck inbred backward racist NASCAR fucks enough for Bredesen's political benefit?

[Sebass1271]

17. let's write to him now.. he can't get away with that statement!!

[TornadoTN]

20. I'm done with Bredesen

I've been a strong supporter of his for years, but no more.

When he first was elected, he was a Democrat cut from the Clinton mold. Now, he's at best a Conservative Democrat - far beyond even the DLC types.

I hope he gets out of office and just goes away from the public view. He's done more to set back the Democratic party in this state than any other politician could have done if they had tried.

[Kalyke]

22. Well, to be honest, Obama didn't spend much time here.

He came to the debate in Nashville and had one rally.

I know his time was precious, but I think he could have had more rallies. The O campaign didn't even fund the Knoxville office, nor any others outside of Nashville and Memphis.

[TwilightGardener]

28. It would have been an utter waste of time and resources. TN was hostile to him

during the primary--I think Hillary beat him by something like 30 points. Obama had internal polling, remember. He knew where to spend his time, and where not to bother. Wasting further time in a state that went EVEN REDDER would have been stupid.

[Kalyke]

31. But it's even more stupid to let it just go.

It may not have gone redder had there been more effort by the national Dems.

[TwilightGardener]

34. Al Gore lost his home state. You guys are as doomed as Oklahoma.

[TornadoTN]

35. Completely AGREE - The National and State Dems abandoned this state

This cycle, they disappeared. They didn't put any thought into selecting candidates and the ones that they did select, they left them to their own devices with no money and no support.

In District 1 - a GOP stronghold - the RNC gave $750,000 to their candidate, while our state party didn't give a penny to the Democratic candidate. NOT ONE PENNY or ANY support.
Bob Tuke, the former head of the party here, was done largely the same way in his Senate race against Alexander.

I understand spending money where its needed, but this state was wrote off and dismissed outright.

[Kalyke]

41. I read in the Metro Pulse that they barely funded ANYONE in

the state.

I think I need to write a letter to Dean and plead with him for future help. Would you sign it?

[TornadoTN]

45. Yes I would and so would many others

I'm trying to get involved with our Congressional candidate in my district and get some kind of grass roots movement started. We are on our own here, so we're going to have to do something to organize. The state party will do nothing.

Yes, I am with you in whatever way I can be of assistance. It's clear its the only thing we've got.

[ingac70]

55. I would sign it. n/t

[TwilightGardener]

Obama can't be everywhere--he didn't do too much Wyoming campaigning either--

should they complain up there too?

[TornadoTN]

42. It's not as much Obama as it is our State Democratic Party

They did NOTHING this election cycle. They made NO efforts to field viable candidates or assist in any way. In fact, the Democratic party here in my area was told that they shouldn't even bother. If it hadn't had been for a few dedicated volunteers, there wouldn't have been a field office or even a candidate in several districts.

We were making strides, as evidenced by 2006, but the state party completely threw the state under the bus and set us back YEARS.

Obama has little, if anything, to do with what happened in this state. He had to calculate his campaign and I don't blame him one bit. But there's no excuse for our own organization to let us down.

[TwilightGardener]

58. Well, I can sympathize, being in a red state myself--although Nebraska

Dems have been trying a little harder this year, I must admit.

[cynatnite]

27. I read somewhere that Bredesen said it wouldn't help Obama to campaign in the South...

He discouraged it.

I'll have to see if I can find it.

[TwilightGardener]

33. I remember he openly criticized Obama last summer for not

giving enough red-meat substance in campaign appearances, or not getting out there and connecting with "average joes", or some such blather recycled from the primaries--he clearly had not been listening to Obama's stump speeches. This was when the media interviewed several Dem Gov's who were willing to take jabs at Obama, and Bredesen's and Strickland's comments stuck out to me the most.

[Leopolds Ghost]

68. So it wouldn't do him any good to get out there, but then it would, huh?

Sounds like Bredesen is a racist to me. Cut from the ol' Dixiecrat cloth.

[TornadoTN]

69. Probably. The one thing for sure is he's a spineless, weak "leader"

I use the term "leader" loosely because he's yet to do anything worthy of being described as risk taking or inspiring.

[ingac70]

47. He didn't help Kerry in '04 either. n/t

[TornadoTN]

52. No he didn't - and the state party has been absent since then

Harold Ford, Jr. had to rely on the DLC and his own operations because the TN Democratic Party went AWOL then too.

It's entrenched with "good ole' boys" and they have willfully sat on their hands for four years now, perhaps eight.

Bredesen is a joke and a fool. The good things he's done for this state are negated by the fact that he could have done so much more if he actually had a backbone to be a leader.

[Renew Deal]

18. I really love TN. That's sad to see.

But I remember driving down one of the main drags in Nashville (down the street from the Parthenon near the Vandy Marriot) like 3 years ago and there was a guy standing on the sidewalk waving a confederate flag. There's a lot of screwed up people in this country and it looks like they are concentrated in a few areas.

Besides all that, Obama pretty much didn't campaign there at all during the entire election.

[kickysnana]

19. You have a "third man" tabulator setup, might be one explaination.

Before the 2000 election a distant cousin who I had been sharing genealogy resarch with me told me that he visited a small town outside Nashville and ran into an militia practicing in the local cemetery. He did not do any research that day. I know that other cousins in small towns are afraid to even talk politics by email there.

On the other hand my Mom's very, very racist first cousins in Nashville and Memphis now have mixed race grandchildren. My great-uncle Bill would probably have found a way to drown them like kittens if he were still around.

[TornadoTN]

25. That's the thing - here in Red, Red Eastern Tennessee change was in the air

We had more volunteers and donors than ever before. People proudly displayed Obama signs and stickers and there were very few incidents of reprisal. We knew the state was going to be a long-shot, but there was hope that we could at least make it close and build on that momentum in 2010 and 2012.

So many people expressed support that I was sure that we would surpass the 2004 numbers and we did in most respects - but the fundies and the "Greatest Generation" rushed out of their homes to make sure that any progress we made was null and void.

[cynatnite]

30. During the last 30 days of the campaign I saw a surge of signs and bumper stickers for McCain...

I knew then the state would go red, but I hoped for a good purple color.

I really despise Brokaw's 'Greatest Generation' mantra now.

[GainesT1958]

24. Don't be ashamed...

Grit those teeth and work hard to re-build the Democratic brand there! After all, it's the state that produced Al Gore, Sr. and Jr., Jim Sasser and Harold Ford, Jr. Can't be ALL bad!

Seriously, though, this is the same feeling I had afterr the '84 election here. We knew Ronnie was going to take the state in a landslide, but we still had high hopes for Gov. Jim Hunt beating Jesse Helms for the senate seat. Didn't happen. And we got only our second Repub governor in the previous 100 years.

But things changed in North Carolina--more progressive people moved in, and a newer generation of indigenous North Carolinians were far more open-minded. It took a few years--and yes, more putting up with the likes of Jesse--but we've made progress. And look where we are today. Pat McCrory, the very-popular Repub mayor of Charlotte, could not even carry his home county against Bev Perdue. We kicked out Liddy Dole, and we carried the state for Barrack, to boot.

Stick with it; things can--and will--change in Tennessee, too. Maybe in two or four short years!

B-)

[TornadoTN]

32. I had hopes of becoming the next North Carolina in 2010 or 2012 - not as much now

Until the "Greatest Generation" types pass on and the Fundies somehow lose some power, this state will be stuck in a black hole.

We had been attracting more progressive people into the state, but when the economic troubles set in, the growth slowed down to the point that most people just went to NC or VA. It's only going to get worse here.

I'm not going to stop working for progressive causes, but this election destroyed a lot of what we had been building. The only silver lining is that 1/4 of the people who voted McCain are persuadable in 2012 if Obama is able to reverse the direction of the country. The bad news - the other 3/4 won't vote for him even if he personally came to their house and hand deliver one million dollars to each of them.

[nomaco-10]

37. Obama won Davidson County (Nashville) 59%-39% Won ...

Shelby County (Memphis) 64%-36%. Once you get out of the two major cities, Tennessee is largely rural and it's been almost impossible to swing these people because of long held religous, cultural and closeminded points of view that have been perpetuated over many decades. Lack of education, a fear of gun laws, outsiders (anybody different) have made them ripe pickings for the republican party.

We're working very hard, but it's gonna take time. Try to be patient, we're not giving up. Don't give up on us.

[iamthebandfanman]

39. the university of tenn?

maybe we need to focus more on gettin some college kids out in knoxville?

[Kalyke]

44. We do.

They hardly voted.

Only 5,200 students voted out of about 30,000 at their precinct. I realize others may have voted elsewhere, but that's just pitiful.

[iamthebandfanman]

48. wowie

thats an impressive difference in numbers...

one wonders what would have to be done to prevent such complacentcy... the stakes were pretty high this election, youd have thought more would have been motivated to participate...

i know when i was still in school, me and my buddies used to make election day an event... wed get done what we needed to get done ... went to vote and then spent the rest of the day partying waiting on results ;)

[TornadoTN]

49. Big problem though - the Fundies outnumber the youth by a large margin

The answer to this isn't as simple as turning out the youth. We have to make gains in giving people an alternative news source other than right-wing radio and right-wing sources. Right now, there is none.

Beyond that, we have to somehow get it across to the more rational Christians that it's ok to vote Democrat, that its not against their religion or contrary to their beliefs. That's going to be the biggest obstacle to overcome.

The issue of age will solve itself - they will eventually pass on and a more balanced youth will take their place. But we have to start attracting progressive support in this state and that takes money. Without a strong economy, progressives won't move here and those that are here will keep their money or give it somewhere where it will help.

[nomaco-10]

59. Not fundies. Most students are sent their by rich pub parents from ...

other parts of the state that want their hell raising brats close to home. There are about a thousand fundies schools across the state, UT would be the last place they'd send they're kids. They think it's the sodom and gommorah of the south.

[TornadoTN]

60. I know, I'm not talking about UT specifically, I'm talking about the state as a whole

Sorry, should have made that more clear.

[colonel odis]

73. i went there. it may be. :-)

[nomaco-10]

51. UT is always ranked in the top 10 of party colleges....

It is not known for it's academic turnout, but rather the number of football players it sends to the NFL.

[cameozalaznick]

43. Same thing happened in parts of Texas.

And it's because the presidential ticket DID NOT CAMPAIGN HERE! I still a little pissed about it. Obama lost the suburbs here in Houston, because he didn't ask for our votes. And because of that we lost a very good congressman. We also didn't win as big in the statehouse and after the re-districting disaster pushed by Delay a few years ago, we now know how important the state leg is.

Texas could have been a swing state if they had only campaigned here. 50-state strategy my ass.

[ingac70]

46. He used every dime winning what he got.

He didn't waste alot money on losing states.

[TornadoTN]

57. Just look at the map on the other side of Tennessee on the North Carolina border

On the TN side, it's DARK RED - but the counties bordering it in North Carolina are light red, Watauga county is BLUE!!! These are the same demographics only separated by an imaginary line.

I just can't believe this state and our party here. It's pitiful.

[Leopolds Ghost]

71. You should remind people of this EVERY TIME people say they should not waste money in TN.

[TornadoTN]

76. I know. It feels like a world away though

Just that imaginary line should prove that spending money in our state is not a lost cause - just look at the result in North Carolina. When I say that they are the same demographics, they really are. Some of the people on the NC side of that imaginary line come across on Sundays and go to church here and vice versa. We shop together, play together, essentially live together - yet this is the result.

It's a crying shame and I really hope that there is some backlash at a state and national level against our leaders here who felt that they didn't need to work or spend money in this state. Obama is excused from this because he had to focus his funds where they would be the most effective, but the State party and to a degree the National party take the blame here.

[Elidor]

61. Keep this in mind

Almost 1.1 million Tennesseans voted for Obama. McCain took the state by about 400,000 votes, iirc. It's not a lost cause here.

As for Bredesen, meh. Never was a fan.

[fiorello]

63. With respect: the racism epicenter is Alabama-Mississippi

The county-wide vote totals and the change from 2004 doesn't show it - because the huge African American vote often masks what is really going on.

From CNN exit polls: whites in Alabama and Mississippi voted: 88% McCain, 10% Obama.

That's beyond politics. That's disgusting.

The white vote for Obama was 30%-35% in the not-quite-so-far-south: including North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas (26% in Texas). The maps don't show it - often they just reflect the size of the African-Am. population.

By the time you reach West Virginia, Obama gets 40% of the white vote.

So, it's discouraging that just 30% of whites in Tennessee voted for Obama - and that the southern + border areas were the only locations where the Obama vote was smaller than the Kerry vote in 2004. But the real epicenter was Alabama and Mississippi. That is where (sadly) rigid racial voting is locked in.

Based on:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#USP00p1

[Leopolds Ghost]

72. People should point this out every time West Virginia is blamed for being more racist

They aren't.

[Hamlette]

64. 43% voted Kerry, 42% voted Obama, not enough to worry about, look at OK, UT, WY

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

where the vote for Obama was 33 or 34%, FAR less than TN

[TornadoTN]

67. My biggest problem is that the State Party has done NOTHING

You see the results across the state - and our candidates did ok on their own but not enough to put them over the top. But the real travesty is that the Tennessee Democratic Party did NOTHING to help any of them. NOTHING.

They've sat on their hands for 8 years. I don't even know why we have a state party at all, we just need to do away with it and form our own grassroots organization. It's the real shame of this election. The rest of the country goes resoundingly blue and Tennessee gets more red because our side can't even put together the funds to campaign with.

[ieoeja]

65. Did Obama campaign in Tennessee at all?

I would guess not given Bresden's comments below:

"My respectful request is this: I ask you to now reach out to all those people in my state—and across America— who attend small-town churches, who shop at WalMart, but who weren’t quite there for you yesterday; make them too a part of your vision for America. They will increase your understanding of our wonderful country, they will strengthen your ability to govern, and they need you."


Obama did just that extensively through March. After that he turned to fund-raising, getting out the vote (which meant hitting the cities and colleges), and preparing for the next step (GE then Presidency). I didn't particularly like this either though it did certainly work. Had Obama not changed strategies after March, he might well have won some of those latter primaries that he ceded to Hillary. More importantly, he might have helped local Dems.

Basically, Bresden is accusing Obama of *not* following the 50-State Strategy. Obama mostly did. The exception would seem to have been that belt from Arkansas through West Virginia, and we did see losses in that small belt. I would like to see him spend a lot of time in that region over the next couple years trying to shore up the Democratic Party there.

[TwilightGardener]

74. No. Re-read it. He's not accusing Obama of not coming to TN, he's accusing

Obama of not making enough effort with "small town Wal Mart shoppers"--in other words, he's either charging that Obama is an elitist, or just cultivated support among urban blacks (small town Wal Mart shoppers = white people). Either way, he's dead wrong and sounds very patronizing to a man who just won the White House.

[TornadoTN]

75. We need to flood Bredesen's e-mail about this

I'll do it and I sincerely hope that all of you will as well, whether you are a resident of this state or not.

[southernyankeebelle]

78. I don't get it.

Am from another state on the east coast. Most of these people here in the rural areas are by no means rich. Am surprised they voted against their financial interests. This area I live in is a strong bible belt. I see on one hand they go to church on Weds, and Sun and preach gods word. Yet they see nothing wrong girls having children out of wedlock. Its not unusual to see grandmothers in their 30's. Am shocked by that. You get this impression that southerns are suppose to be really nice and respectful, blab, blab, blab. These people are really crazy. Bredesen is a good governor. Yes they just got the first republican house. These hillbillys don't realize what this state is in for. Already I heard on the radio they are going to bring a bill up to outlaw abortions that way when the supreme court does it they will be ready. These fools don't realize that even birth control of any type is a form of abortion. They will work on that to. At least the catholic church will. Right now all we have is the veto of Bresden. God help these fruit cakes. Am old but am worried for my grandchild. The only hope we have are the young people. I know where my son works the majority of them voted for Obama. My husband and I did vote for Obama. I know some did also but not many.

[VaYallaDawg]

80. Stop that! No need to be ashamed - just inspired to work more.

Obama was right, we need to stop thinking about red states and blue states - we're all Americans, and we need to be proud of our individual voices.

[FUCK_BUSH]

84. Tennessee is Scary .