Davis’ Big Payback Probably Not What He Was Expecting

By Kleinheider Posted on June 18, 2008 at 11:16 am

Jeff Woods points out the one important point we have learned from the whole Democratic State Executive Committeeman’s “I heard on Fox News that Barack Obama may have terrorist connections” flap — Rep. Lincoln Davis and Harold Ford, Jr. aren’t as big a fans of each other as they used to be:

If we needed proof, this whole episode confirms that Davis and Harold Ford Jr. are really pissed at each other. The rub is that Junior is refusing to help anoint Davis as the 2010 gubernatorial nominee. As Davis said this week, “God bless Harold Ford Jr. Bless his little heart.”

Indeed. From a political perspective, one can almost say Junior is in the wrong here. Lincoln Davis, of the extremely rural conservative Fourth District, did a fair bit of vouching for Harold Ford, Jr. during the 2006 Senate race.

To be sure, Ford played the populist to a tee and went the places he needed to go to secure his good ole boy chops and assuage the fears of white Democrats and independents that he wasn’t like those “other Fords out of Memphis.”

But having a silver haired good ole Southern yellow dog Democrat standing next to him while he visited Confederate flag emblazoned diners and talked the Southern Populist palaver probably didn’t hurt ‘em any.

While in the days of old, the “I’ll scratch your back, if you scratch mine” quid pro quo was more explicit, to say that Lincoln Davis didn’t think he was banking a bit of love with Ford for giving him credibility with yellow dog dems would be naive.

Davis expect a return on investment. What did Davis get for his troubles? Not much it seems. While Lincoln vouched for Ford with rural whites going so far as loaning out his Chief of Staff to serve as campaign manager, when the wormed turned and Davis and his staff found themselves in a racial beef, not only did Ford not help Davis out, he threw his man to the wolves.

Now, one can say that this was just business. Ford was implicitly, but not explicitly behind Hillary Clinton in the most recent primaries, and this episode probably seemed like a good way to get in good with the new king of the Democratic Party.

But Ford’s statement does strike one as a bit of overkill. After all, despite the chronology implications in some articles Lincoln Davis’s Chief of Staff’s disavowal of the views attributed to him in the City Paper occurred before the Ford statement throwing him under the bus.

So considering what Lincoln Davis did for the almost successful Senate campaign of Harold Ford, Jr. it is understandable that Davis is a bit perturbed that Ford has not taken steps to return the favor, instead taking action that one could reasonably interpret as outright sabotage.

SEE ALSO: Braisted points out that this subterranean Ford/Davis feud is not new and recounts the acrimony between the two camps when various Ford operatives were talking up a Ford Gubernatorial run last Fall.

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Tags: Beecher Frasier, Confederate flag, Fox News, Fred Hobbs, Harold Ford, Junior, Lincoln Davis, terrorist connections, yellow dog  

The Tullahoma Terrorist Fistjab Con’t: Did Beecher Fraiser Throw The Liberal Wing Under The Bus?

By Kleinheider Posted on June 13, 2008 at 11:39 am

The comments of Beecher Frasier, Chief of Staff to Congressman Lincoln Davis, in the Nashville City Paper where he was reluctant to completely dismiss the possibility that Barack Obama has terrorist connections has raised the ire of the netroots. A blogger at Daily Kos suggests that Frasier’s stance is a deliberate political ploy designed to throw a progressive candidate to the wolves to enhance his bosses conservative street cred:

One thing to know about Beecher Frasier. In 2005, he conducted a smear campaign against the Democracy for America organization in Tennessee, saying that they and Howard Dean were a threat to the Democratic Party. Frasier tried, unsuccessfully, to accuse DFA members from going on local radio shows in East Tennessee to talk down his boss, Congressman Davis. When Frasier brought his accusations to the state party Chairman, Bob Tuke (now running for U.S. Senate), Tuke investigated Frasier’s claims and found them to be complete lies. It should be noted, too, that Beecher Frasier was a key figure in Harold Ford Jr.’s campaign for Senate in 2006. Insiders say that Frasier repeatedly advised Ford to run to the right and throw the liberal wing of the Party under the bus. You’ll remember that Ford lost very narrowly - possibly because of this strategy - making Tennessee the only Democratic Senate seat that the Party lost in ‘06.

Remember. Lincoln Davis is planning on running for Governor of Tennessee in 2010. Beecher Frasier will almost certainly be his campaign manager and if Davis wins, he’ll be a key advisor - if not the Chief of Staff or Deputy Governor - in a Davis administration. Do we want a know-nothing loser who uses Republican talking points to attack the presidential nominee to have such a strong influence on Tennessee’s possible future Governor?

The blogosphere is wild and woolly on this one and will likely remain so until a clarifying statement is released.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Beecher Frasier, Governor of Tennessee in 2010, Lincoln Davis, netroots, terrorist connected, yellow dog