Posted on 03/19/2002 7:41:10 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
The Democratic Senate field in Tennessee is now down to one. Rep. Bob Clement announced Monday that he will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated with the retirement of Republican Fred Thompson.
Another Democrat, Rep. Harold Ford, Jr., had considered running for the seat, but announced Monday he is backing Clement for the nomination. A published report quoted Ford as saying that he considered himself too liberal, hailing from Memphis, for the rest of the state.
Tipper Gore, wife of former Vice President Al Gore, also decided against running for the seat on Monday and announced her endorsement of Clement. The Senate seat in question is the same one Al Gore held before being elected vice president in 1992.
Tennessee Republican Gov. Don Sundquist said Tuesday "the stakes were too heavy" for Tipper Gore to run for office, given the possibility that her husband might run for president again in 2004. "Why should he put all his political fortunes in a Senate race that she might win or she might not win?" Sundquist asked at a news conference.
Clement did conclude it was the right time for him to launch a statewide race.
"I have tested the waters before and at times I have run into a lot of roadblocks, too. I've run into a lot of barriers. And this was a good fit this time. And when I tested the waters people responded, not only conservatives, but conservatives, moderates and liberals, all responded to our candidacy," Clement told reporters in Nashville.
On the Republican side, Lamar Alexander, a former presidential candidate, U.S. education secretary and Tennessee governor will face Rep. Ed Bryant in the party primary Aug. 1.
Clement is the son of former Tennessee Democratic Governor Frank Clement. He was first elected to the House in a 1988 special election in Nashville.
Before being elected to Congress, Clement was a Tennessee Public Service commissioner, a Tennessee Valley Authority director and the president of Cumberland University.
Clement spelled out familiar Democratic themes during his announcement, promising "better schools, good jobs, affordable health care, a Social Security system that's sound and reliable, a clean environment."
"Tennesseans are committed to equal opportunity, too, because they know in their hearts that there's no freedom without justice," Clement said. "And there's no justice unless there is justice for all.'"
He supports changes in campaign finance law, including a ban on all soft money, the unlimited and unregulated contributions to political parties or political-action committees.
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