Remember What Happened Last Time A Party Anointed A Last Name?

By Kleinheider Posted on July 20, 2009 at 12:46 pm

Ilissa Gold cautions Democrats coalescing around the gubernatorial candidacy of Mike McWherter to slow their roll:

For all I know, he could be a great candidate, someone who really knows what he’s doing, the answer Tennessee Democrats have been looking for.

But we don’t know that as of right now, and it bothers the hell out of me that we would quietly “anoint” someone and come to a consensus with so much unknown a year before the primary.

We have yet to hear where McWherter stands on a single issue. What’s he going to do about healthcare, jobs, education? What are his plans for taxes and budget issues? Had he been in the legislature, how would he have voted on the gun bills or on S.J.R. 127? I don’t think these are hostile questions, nor an unreasonable expectation that the apparent frontrunner for the Democratic nomination should be able to provide an answer.

The other candidates have records to run on (Kyle, McMillan, and Herron, even if Herron’s record is more than a little disjointed) or have come out with clear policy positions (Cammack). For all I know, McWherter’s policy positions could be the best of all of them. But we DON’T KNOW THAT because we have no idea what any of his positions are.

So my question is, are we going to find out any of that before the primary, or are we just banking on his last name to turn out voters?

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