How they keep progressive Dems from being elected and reelected

[dutch508]

it's not who you think...

madfloridian  (1000+ posts)       Mon Jul-21-08 12:56 AM
Original message http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3651573
How they keep progressive Dems from being elected and reelected. Cohen, TN   
 Advertisements [?]Edited on Mon Jul-21-08 01:00 AM by madfloridian
The "they" meaning the conservative Democrats. They have their ways. I have seen it too often here in Florida...a good Democrat running and poof! they are out of the race.

I don't know much about Tennessee politics, but I understand that Steve Cohen has been speaking out powerfully in congress lately. I understand he is a real progressive in the true sense of the word.

Now I read that, to be quite blunt...that several of the Congressional Black Caucus and some of Harold Ford's family are supporting Cohen's opponent, Nikki Tinker. And Emily's list is supporting Tinker's blank slate against an incumbent.

Curious race for Cohen...Jake Ford running as independent against him and Tinker.

Just odd.

Cohen, Tinker, Ford

The race for Memphis' 9th District congressional seat, now held by first-term Democrat Steve Cohen, was always destined to be closely watched, inasmuch as it pitted Cohen against Nikki Tinker, the runner-up in the 2006 Democratic primary. There are obvious contrasts between Cohen and Tinker in gender, race (he's white, she's black), religion (he's Jewish, she's Christian), and, not least, political ideology, an area where Cohen's legislative record and several decades' worth of outspokenness are counterpointed by what is, relatively speaking, Tinker's blank slate. Moreover, both those campaign efforts are expected to be well funded, and Cohen has attracted an unusual degree of national attention during his first term -- much but not all of it for his close attention to matters affecting his predominantly African-American constituency.

....."But hold everything! As of Monday, this established pas de deux took on a third member, whose volatile presence, personal history, and family name seem likely to turn what had been a tidy ballet into a free-for-all.

Jake Ford, second son of one former District 9 congressman, Harold Ford Sr., and brother of another, Harold Ford Jr., picked up a petition at the Election Commission Monday to run as a Democrat for the 9th District seat against Cohen, Tinker, and several other less ballyhooed figures in the party's August 7th primary.

But hold on again! Having evidently rethought the matter, Ford returned to the Election Commission on Tuesday, picked up a new petition to run as an independent, and returned shortly thereafter to file it. That means that Cohen (or Tinker), having struggled through what will basically be a mano-a-mano primary, will have to do it all over again in the fall against Jake Ford.


Now we learn that Emily Ford, Harold Ford's new bride, has contributed the maximum to Nikki Tinker.

Harold Ford's New Wife Contributes to Tinker


-- Harold Ford Jr. just got married a couple of months ago, but he's wasted no time in taking advantage of one of the main political advantages of marriage - insulation from controversal political donations. Looks like Ford's bride, Emily Threlkeld Ford, has maxed out contributions to Nikki Tinker, the primary opponent of 9th district Congressman Steve Cohen.


I was just reading this nice article about Steve Cohen, and wondering just why they are doing this. Probably the same reason our party ran two good Democrats out of races and replaced them with millionaires..one a Republican millionaire.

Cohen runs on his record


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls him the "conscience" of the 110th Congress. He's been endorsed by his House Judiciary Committee chairman, John Conyers. Rep. Maxine Waters, the liberal California firebrand, calls him "brother."

..."Walking with him in the hallways of Congress, where he's stopped repeatedly no matter how fast he's moving to make a vote, it's clear that Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., has made a powerful impression in his first term. YouTube him and you'll find video clips of dozens of Cohen's floor and committee speeches about the Memphis Tigers basketball team, Stax records, Guantanamo and the war. When he asked Dick Cheney's chief of staff recently if the vice president was a "barnacle," the riposte lit up the blogosphere.

But beyond witty repartee, how effective has the unabashedly liberal and anti-war Cohen been for his constituents in Memphis' 9th Congressional District? Some, like former NAACP national executive director Benjamin L. Hooks, see a solid voting record consistent with a civil rights agenda. Hooks' view is upheld by the national NAACP's "report card" on 25 Cohen votes of interest to its members, where he scores a 96 percent. (Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican who represents West Tennessee's 7th District, by contrast, scores 28 percent.)


It's an excellent story about him, and it brings me to tears to see why the Republican wing of the party is supporting his opponent. If he were not doing a good job, that would be one thing. Primaries are not sacred, but it is important to me to see who is opposing him. This google cache article names two of the Black Caucus who are supporting Tinker.


At least two members of the Congressional Black Caucus are supporting an African-American primary challenger to Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen, a first-term Democrat, who is white and seeking re-election in his Memphis district, and more members of Congress may join them. Cohen's Democratic primary challenger in the majority black 9th district is Nikki Tinker, an airline executive.

The political action committee of Democratic Rep. Gregory W. Meeks of New York donated $2,000 to Tinker in February; and the campaign committee for Democratic Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio contributed $2,000 in December.

Tinker's campaign indicated in an interview that Tinker is "solidifying support" and a list of additional members of Congress who have signed on to support Tinker's campaign is scheduled for release in the coming weeks. Staff declined to specify members until their endorsements are made public.

Cohen told CQ Politics that "the situation as "a little awkward."


Yes, it seems to be awkward.

And not just awkward, but unnecessary. I know, the argument is that if progressives can run people against Democrats who are not acting like Democrats...then Democrats can run people against those who epitomize what good Democrats should be. The two are not the same thing.

Awkward.

 
can you say emplosion?

WCGreen  (1000+ posts)       Mon Jul-21-08 05:09 AM
Response to Original message
3. HArold is the son of a machine style political icon and was placed into 
 power by his daddy's machine.

You have to look at the political motivation of Ford and his cronies. It is to preserve standing in the community and thus allow them to make gobs of money and maintain a power hold on an otherwise powerless community.

It's the same here in Cleveland.

[jukin]

I don't know much,

FIXORD!!!