Clinton Nabs Another Tennessee Super

By Kleinheider Posted on May 14, 2008 at 10:20 am

“Automatic” delegate to the Democratic National Convention, Vicki Harwell, President of the Tennessee Federation of Democratic Women,has thrown her lot in with Hillary Clinton:

“Hillary’s decisive victory in West Virginia is the latest evidence that she is the strongest candidate to take on John McCain and win back the White House,” Harwell said. “Hillary has the plans, leadership and experience to deliver real results as President.”

Harwell was an “add-on” delegate selected at a March 8th meeting of the Democratic State Executive Committee.

At the time of her selection, Harwell indicated she was “leaning towards” backing Senator Clinton but was recently quoted in the Tennessean confirming her uncommitted status while betraying a slight openness to Obama.

Harwell had received calls from the Clinton campaign soliciting her support but none from Obama. She expressed a hope that Obama was not making assumptions in his neglecting o reach out:

“I get really irritated with the media when they paint this as a choice between race and gender,” she said. “If he’s discouraged because of that, it’s a shame. A lot of our women are supporting Obama.”

Out of seventeen Democratic superdelegates from Tennessee four now support Obama, six are pledged to Clinton and the rest remain uncommitted.

SEE ALSO: Sean Braisted

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Tags: Barack Obama, Bart Gordon, Hillary Clinton, John Tanner, Lincoln Davis, Vicki Harwell  

Why You Gotta Bring Up Old Stuff?

By Kleinheider Posted on April 18, 2008 at 11:25 am

By now this is old news, of course, but for the last few days I couldn’t help but think just which Tennessee superdelegate was it Governor Bredesen was talking about in the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this week? For a refresher, let us look at the words spoken by the Honorable Phil Governor:

Another worrisome sign: Bredesen said some Democrats running for local and statewide office in Tennessee are now distancing themselves from both Obama and Clinton.

“One of the superdelegates said to me, ‘I’m in a swing district and both of them are poison to me,’ ” Bredesen said.

Making educated guesses and looking at the list of delegates many astute political watchers made assumptions as to whom the culprit was. John Rodgers of the City Paper seemed to cement the conventional wisdom by putting the word “think” in quotes when introducing this denial by Rep. Lincoln Davis’s spokesman, Tom Hayden:

“I don’t think the governor was speaking about Lincoln Davis because he did not say this to the governor.”

But is the key word “think” here or is it the rest of this sentence? I mean the denial is in there stated rather plainly after all, is it not? Why say “think” at all then? Well, the Governor is the Governor and one doesn’t put words in the governor’s mouth. Tom Hayden can’t say who the Governor was referring to because Tom Hayden is not the Governor.

Now, of course, the Governor is never going to say whom he was referring to and whomever said it to the Governor is not likely to cop to it. But if one takes at face value the Davis denial, if one accepts the explicit denial that Lincoln Davis did not say this to the Governor, I thought it only fair to get some responses from other possible suspects.

When asked for a confirmation or a denial that his boss, Congressman John Tanner, was the superdelegate being referred to, spokesman Randy Ford said the following:

I’m not in a position to confirm or deny. As you know, Congressman Tanner isn’t yet decided in the primary race but looks forward to a successful election year for the Democratic Party. He talks regularly with Gov. Bredesen and others in the delegation on a variety of topics, but we don’t comment on those private conversations.

The other member of the Congressional delegation who would seem to fit the description would be Congressman Bart Gordon of the Sixth Congressional District:

Congressman Gordon doesn’t recall having any conversations with the governor regarding the election. I would suggest you ask Governor Bredesen who he was speaking about since he has been all over the country talking about the issue.

Of course, none of this proves anything but if one is going to parse statements there is certainly plenty to go around, is there not?

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Tags: Bart Gordon, John Tanner, Julie Eubank, Lincoln Davis, Phil Bredsen, Randy Ford, Tom Hayden  

Post Politics: 11 April 2008

By Kleinheider Posted on April 11, 2008 at 3:03 pm

In somewhat of a surprise, State Rep. Joe Towns was certified yesterday by the Shelby County Election Commission as a candidate in the 9th District Congressional Primary. Towns name had been left off the initial list of candidates after questions arose over the validity of his qualifying signatures. Those questions were resolved and Towns will join Rep,. Steve Cohen, Nikki Tinker and two others on the Democratic primary ballot. Ford family scion, Jake Ford, is running as an independent. No Republican candidate qualified.

Sen. Andy Berke warns that the border battle between Georgia and Tennessee over water rights is anything but over.

A new study contends that 13 Tennesseans died every day in 2006 due to lack of health insurance.

The Tennessee Republican Party celebrates today, Tennessee Tax Freedom Day.

Congressman Bart Gordon argues that the financial burden for reconstruction in Iraq should fall on Iraqis, not U.S. taxpayers.

Brentwood mourns City Commissioner’s sudden death.

A Hillary Clinton delegate joins the race to succeed the retiring State Rep. Phillip Pinion.

Some members of our armed forces abroad will be issued handheld lie detectors for use in the field in the War on Terror.

Tickets go on sale this morning for the appearance of Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart at the Ryman on May 9.

State Sen. Steve Roller, appointed in January to the seat left vacant by the retiring Jerry Cooper, has announced intention to run for re-election, according to a Senate Democratic Caucus press release.

Former Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee discusses his plans for the future and blames evangelical leaders’ reticence to support his campaign early for his coming up short in the race for the Republican nomination.

The Donkey’s Mouth discusses the influence of neoconservatism on the political ideology of John McCain.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey likes his judges like he likes his Democrats.

Andy Sher reports that the state Senate voted 29-0 Thursday for legislation that would overhaul the fee structure charged by Tennessee’s 95 county clerks.

The federal deficit is at an all-time high.

East Tennessee Congressman Jimmy Duncan, one of only six GOP members of Congress to oppose the Iraq War’s initial authorization, has not heard anything recently from Gen. David Petraeus that would cause him to change his antiwar stance.

The Associated Press is in search of the perfect modern journalist.

Sen. Lamar Alexander makes the case that Davidson County is in dire need of an immigration judge due to the success of the 287(g) program.

Joe Powell gets deep into the proposed AT&T compromise cable bill and discusses some of the devilish details.

DUI suspects in Tennessee could soon see police given the power to administratively revoke their license at the scene of their alleged crime.

Rex Hammock on the political news value of Twitter.

The Tennessee Attorney General files action against a Kingsport dog breed breeder.

This Is Huge: State workers update Wikipedia while on the taxpayers clock.

A blogger defends jealousy as a motivator in the quest for social justice.

Rep. Steve Cohen praises the Memphis Tigers from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Tennessee Republican Party Communications Director Bill Hobbs is still railing against Department of Finance and Adminstration public information officer Lola Potter over her refusal to give him access to information on his terms.

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Tags: Andy Berke, Bart Gordon, Jimmy Duncan, Joe Towns, Jon Stewart, Michael Huckabee, Steve Roller